HLW (D) 12

Stackpole Warren  

2001  

Special  

Designated  

Stackpole Warren is located on the south coast of Pembrokeshire at the eastern end of a Carboniferous limestone plateau, about 3km wide and 12km long, extending from Linney Head in the west to Stackpole Head in the east. The plateau is remarkably level, the result of marine and later glacial erosion, and although seldom rising to more than 50m above OD, the way in which the surface extends almost horizontally right to the coast where it culminates in spectacular cliffs and stacks, gives it an air of impregnability, especially when viewed from the sea. Stackpole Warren itself lies between about 30m and 35m above OD and is separated from the main plateau by a gorge, now artificially flooded. The warren forms a discrete, but distinctive, landform unit bounded by a series of well-defined physical characteristics: the gorge to the west, the sea cliffs between Broad Haven and Barafundle Bay to the south and east, and two dry valleys to the north, up which access to the warren can be obtained from Broad Haven and Barafundle Bay. The two valleys are separated by a narrow neck of land about 200m wide between their heads, but they add to the almost insular character of the warren, and it is probably significant that the main group of prehistoric ritual sites in the area, centred on the Devil’s Quoit standing stone in the north west, is sited precisely at this point, a neck of land, where there is level ground between the warren and the surrounding terrain. A distinctive feature of the warren is that about half the area is covered in calcareous blown sand. The sand dunes have both enhanced the preservation of prehistoric sites and landscapes, and have produced a clear separation of horizons. As a result the warren is an area of exceptional archaeological significance and potential, and although very small compared to other historic landscape areas identified in this Register, it presents a landscape of extremely coherent historic interest. Fieldwork and limited excavation had been carried out before a major joint programme of excavation and survey work by the Dyfed Archaeological Trust and the Department of Archaeology, University College of Wales, Cardiff, took place in 1977–79. During the excavations, the buried soil of former ground surfaces revealed beneath the blown sand produced flint and stone weapons and tools from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, as well as significant assemblages of middle and late Neolithic, Beaker and early Bronze Age pottery. At the Devil’s Quoit site, a well-preserved roundhouse, comparable to Bronze Age roundhouses elsewhere in Britain, was found at the pre-sand loess level of early Bronze Age date, below the standing stone. The beginnings of sand incursion were shown to be of late Bronze Age date, contemporary with a remarkable ritual complex, of which the standing stone was the only indicator above ground, consisting of pits, a setting of more than 2000 pitched small stones and a pivotal alignment of water-worn stones. Although the complex became covered by sand, the site retained its ritual significance; the latest occupation in its vicinity was domestic and of Iron Age/Romano-British date. South of this site, traces of an extensive field system were recorded as buried walls below dunes; boundaries and field areas were excavated and besanding had preserved the imprints of cattle hooves, as well as plough marks, in the buried soils. Studies of the preserved shells of land molluscs from these horizons added to evidence of the prehistoric environment and land use. It is important to note that the sites and landscape features excavated are typical of those known from elsewhere from lowland South West Wales, albeit much better preserved. Nor does the coastal location seem to have been important in the prehistoric economy. This fossilized landscape of prehistoric farming communities has the hard boundary of coastal cliffs and sandy bays to the east and south. Inland the boundary comprises the limits of the sand dunes which have allowed the preservation and survival as integrated, part-buried landscapes of sites and features found only in a denuded sub-surface form to the north and west. In the medieval period, the area was part of the Stackpole Estate which goes back to just after the Norman Conquest. Documentary evidence indicates that the warren was a distinctive area at this time and that the sand dunes had led to its use as a rabbit warren. Its inclusion in the Stackpole Estate has resulted in emparking and landscaping to the north and west. A series of monumental lakes and ponds was produced by damming narrow valleys on the west of the warren (Bosherston Lily Ponds). The estate descended to the earls of Cawdor in the late 18th century. They were the dominant aristocratic family of South West Wales in the late 18th, the 19th and the early 20th centuries. In the 20th century, the area was used as a military training ground in both World Wars. Today, the National Trust owns and manages the estate. Despite later changes and clearances, however, Stackpole Warren remains an area of exceptional archaeological potential. The northern area contains the largest extent of buried prehistoric stratified archaeological deposits, stretching over several hundred metres, known from any location in South West Wales. Excavation of some 2% of the total serves to demonstrate the diversity of the prehistoric landscapes and their fine state of preservation. Buried landscapes of the quality and proven potential of Stackpole Warren are an archaeological resource that is by national standards very rare in Wales.