Sully Island

Iron Age Hillfort

Sully Island hillfort encompasses the remains of a promontory fort that likely dates back to the Iron Age period (around 800 BC to AD 74, during the Roman conquest of Wales). Located at the eastern end of the small tidal island of Sully, this fort stands out from the larger forts along the western coast due to its small size and widely spaced ramparts.

The outermost rampart, found on the western side of the island, appears as a 1.5-meter high scarp with a slight external ditch. It runs in a north-south direction and spans across the approximately 45-meter width of the island. The northern boundary of the enclosure is formed by the cliff, just outside of this rampart. About 15 meters to the east is the second bank, which reaches a height of about 2.5 meters externally and nearly 1 meter internally. It was accompanied by a ditch, now filled with silt but still visible in the cliff face as a 3.5-meter wide and almost 1-meter deep feature, with rubble against its inner scarp from a fallen revetment. The overall width of these defenses seems to have been about 7.5 to 9 meters. The promontory continues at approximately the same width for another 80 meters before suddenly narrowing to about 25 meters.

This narrower projection is safeguarded by a third rampart, which appears as a stony scarp nearly 2 meters high, along with a slight ditch in front. There is a gap of 3 meters wide, possibly an entrance, between the northern end of this rampart and the cliff edge. The promontory extends for another 25 meters, narrowing slightly and sloping towards the southeast. At its end, there is a low mound, possibly a barrow, measuring approximately 4.5 meters in diameter and nearly 1 meter in height.

Sites near Sully Island