Llancayo Camp

Iron Age Hillfort

The monument you are describing is a hillfort located at the northern end of a ridge on the eastern side of the Usk river valley. It is believed to date back to the Iron Age period, specifically around 800 BC to AD 74, during the Roman conquest of Wales.

The hillfort has an oblong shape, measuring 285 meters from southwest to northeast, and 140 meters from northwest to southeast. The entrance to the hillfort is located in the southeast corner and is 2.5 meters wide. The bank and ditch on either side of the entrance are massive. The bank has an internal height of 2.5 meters and an external height of 8 meters. The ditch is approximately 6 meters wide and has a causeway across it opposite the entrance. Outside the ditch is a wide bank that is 2 meters high with a dished top that is 0.5 meters deep. Beyond this bank is another ditch that is 0.7 meters deep on the outside. The ditch and outer bank continue to the edge of the steep slope to the west.

To the east of the entrance, the ditch is 1.3 meters deep on the outside. Along the west and northwest sides, the bank becomes a steep scarp that is 4 to 6 meters high and is covered with brambles and trees. Outside the bank is a berm that is 4 meters wide with a track running along it. Below this is a steep natural slope. The scarp becomes lower towards the northern end, measuring 2 meters in height. The scarp and berm continue around the northeast end. Along the southeast side, the bank is 3 meters high at the northern end and gradually rises to 6 meters high at the southern end. At the northern end, there is no internal height, but it gradually rises to 1 to 1.5 meters at the southern end. The berm is 7 meters wide, becoming a ditch at the southern end, with an external depth of 1.2 meters. The ground slopes away gradually on this side beyond the berm or outer bank.

To the south of the fort, there are a series of external earthworks. To the southeast of the main entrance, a wide gently sloping bank measuring 1.2 meters in height runs east to west. On its southern side, there is a short stretch of ditch at its eastern end, measuring 2 meters wide and 1.6 meters deep. A bank measuring 2 meters in height on the eastern side and 0.4 meters in height on the western side runs south from the eastern end of this bank. Halfway along this bank, there is an inturned entrance that is 2 meters wide. Just to the south is another smaller gap. The height of the bank at the southern end is 1.2 meters. Running west from the end of this bank is a large broad bank that is 1.5 meters high on the inside and 1.8 meters high on the outside, rising to 2.2 meters on the outside and 3 meters on the inside. Inside the bank at the western end is a ditch that is 3 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. The bank then curves around towards the northwest and ends at an inturned entrance. On the western side of the entrance, the bank is 1 meter high. A scarp measuring 3 meters in height then runs northwest towards the southwest corner of the fort. At its northern end, there is a double bank with an outer ditch running east to west. The northern side of the bank is the outer side of the ditch of the fort and is 2 meters high. The top of the bank is wide and dished to a depth 0.5m. The outer side is 3m high with a ditch outside it 0.7m deep. A farm track runs from the inturned entrance in the SW corner past the E end of this bank and ditch and into the fort through its main entrance.

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