Gwersyll Hillfort

Iron Age Hillfort

Gwersyll is a semi-circular rampart situated on a broad ridge within an enclosed, uncultivated pasture area, surrounded by a forestry plantation.

The rampart appears to be an incomplete ringwork, as no marking out ditch is visible on the ground, but faint traces complete the circular pattern when seen from aerial photos. It has a diameter of approximately 52m, and if completed, the enclosed area would have been around 0.2 hectares. The defences consist of a bank, ditch, and counterscarp bank, measuring 11m in width and nearly 2m in height overall. The likely entrance was located at the eastern end of the rampart, where a slight bank curves around the end of the ditch. A causeway is present across the ditch on the southeastern side, but there is no corresponding gap in the bank.

Within the enclosure, there are two platform cairns. These cairns stand about 0.3m in height and show evidence of excavation, although no visible cists are present. The larger cairn measures approximately 11m by 10m and has a displaced coverstone near the centre. It consists of an irregular oval ring of stones, approximately 1.2m wide, with a large stone slab measuring 1m by 1m in the middle. Outside the stones, there is a bank measuring 1m in width and 0.2m in height, which is clearly visible on all sides except the western side.

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