CN221

Pen-y-Gaer  

26/09/1994  

Designated  

Gwynedd  

Llanbedrog  

232352  

331464  

Defence  

Promontory Fort - inland  

Prehistoric  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. A promontory fort probably dating to the Iron Age period (c.800 BC - AD 74, the Roman conquest of Wales) facing a similar fortified enclosure at Nant y Castell (CN036) across a very steep-sided gorge. The site is a sub-oval enclosure, about 76m north-east to south-west by 57m, sited on level ground within the angle formed by cliffs on the W and S and cut off from the main plateau by three defensive banks on the E. The innermost bank is built of loose stone and remains up to 0.9m high, spread to approximately 7.5m-9m with a few large blocks of an outer facing in places. There is a suggestion of a ditch outside it, and a gap in the bank represents an entrance. The middle bank is slighter, up to 0.75m high, consisting of stone and earth and is recognisable only where its outer slope protrudes (up to 3m) beyond the modern field wall which crowns it. There is no associated ditch but there is a gap of about 9m, not exactly opposite the entrance in the inner bank. The outer bank is preserved only as a slight swelling in the field at the NE, spread to between 9m and 15m. It is parallel to the inner bank and appears to end at an entrance opposite that in the inner bank, its continuation on the SE has been completely ploughed down. The inner and outer banks seem to have been planned together, about 24.5m-27.5m apart. The middle bank is less obviously defensive and its more sharply defined profile suggests a more recent origin. Both forts (CN221 and CN036) benefit from all-round views with the most significant being the view between them and along the ravine that separates them, along which now runs the A499. The views eastward to the sea are also significant. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric settlement and defence, the interior is relatively undisturbed, and therefore retains considerable archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The location of the site immediately opposite a similar monument of roughly the same date adds to its significance and group value. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.