ME137

Gamallt Hut Circle Settlement  

30/07/1993  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Ffestiniog  

273488  

343772  

Domestic  

Hut Circle Settlement  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a settlement consisting of a scattered group of circular huts, enclosures and field boundaries with a more recent structure, possibly a hafod, superimposed on it. The monument is situated on a rocky, S-facing slope in craggy, undisturbed upland pasture on the NW side and above the Afon Gamallt. The valley floor is quite boggy and two streams can be traced either side of the settlement. On the S side of Afon Gamallt is the disused trial mine of Llynau Gamallt, a mineral exploration of the late 19th century. The settlement has not been excavated but can be dated by analogy to the Iron Age or Romano-British periods (c.800 BC - AD 400). The remains have been slightly disturbed by the hafod, but generally the hut foundations and stony banks are visible. The site is particularly important because of its proximity to known mineral deposits. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric domestic life and social organisation. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of structural evidence and associated archaeological features and deposits. There is also the potential for environmental analysis in the low lying wetland at the foot of the slope. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.