ME162

Settlement and Field System at Bron y Foel Uchaf  

21/11/1996  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Dyffryn Ardudwy  

260968  

325059  

Domestic  

Unenclosed hut circle  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a palimpsest of early settlement from the Iron Age or Romano-British period (c. 800 BC - AD 400) through to medieval and possibly post-medieval times. The settlements include both circular and rectangular hut foundations as well as slightly larger rectangular foundations set on specially levelled platforms. Around these structures there is clear evidence for the fields which sustained the settlements. Altogether, the monument can be subdivided into 5 archaeological items: a) A small hut circle settlement of three huts b) A single platform settlement c) A settlement of small rectangular huts d) A single platform house settlement e) A field system including lynchets, low walls and clearance cairns. The remains lie on an undulating upland plateau below the west side of the steep slopes of Moelfre amidst the irregular stone-walled fields characteristic of the Meirionnydd uplands. The monument is of national importance because the field system is particularly well preserved and the association with a wide range of settlement types gives the monument significant archaeological potential. In addition, the proximity of wetland indicates that important environmental data may survive. The significance of the monument is also enhanced because of the existence of a significant number of other possibly related sites in the wider area. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.