ME074

Tal-y-Gareg Camp  

01/08/1989  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Llangelynin  

257424  

303591  

Defence  

Hillfort  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a hillfort, which probably dates to the Iron Age period (c. 800 BC - AD 74, the Roman conquest of Wales). Hillforts are usually located on hilltops and surrounded by a single or multiple earthworks of massive proportions. Hillforts must have formed symbols of power within the landscape, while their function may have had as much to do with ostentation and display as defence. Tal-y-Gareg hillfort is an earthwork enclosure complex occupying a ridge-top position. A subcircular banked enclosure c.22m in diameter is ditched on the south-west, where an additional bank and ditch cuts across the ridge. On the north-east is a subrectangular area, c.40m by up to 35m, defined by concentric lines of scarps on the north-east and north-west, and resting on abrupt natural slopes on the south-east. Monuments such as this were often maintained and sometimes built anew, during and beyond the Roman period. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of later prehistoric defensive organisation and settlement. The site forms an important element within the wider later prehistoric context and within the surrounding landscape. The site is well preserved and retains considerable archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of evidence relating to chronology, building techniques and functional detail. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.