Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort

After a recent visit to Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort in Wales I decided to include this brief summery regarding the possibility of it being an alternative site for Caradoc's last stand against the Romans.

Many historians believe that this area was indeed the place where the battle was fought, and it does meet almost all of the criteria described in the sources that are available to us concerning the battle, namely the description given by Tacitus in his work, "The Annals of Imperial Rome."

The Caersws Basin.  (Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust.

The River Severn meandering its way through the Caersws Basin flows at the foot of Cefn Carnedd and does have all the appearance of presenting a substantial barrier to an invading army. The steep slopes leading up to the hill fort would also greatly hinder the progress of any direct assault. There are also a series of mounds and ridges rising from the river valley and becoming steeper as you approach the hill fort which, if we are to believe Tacitus, could have been strengthened by the addition of rough built stonewalls. The countryside abounds with Iron Age enclosures and, '…A large oval enclosure surrounded by an interrupted bank and ditch has recently been discovered just to the north of Caersws, and excavations have provided an Iron Age date from the ditch silts.'

Anyone visiting the site cannot fail to be impressed not only by the beautiful landscape, but also, for all those who have an interest in Caradoc, by the fact that the place seems to fit-in exactly with the ground described by Tacitus. However, there is one problem, which, for the moment, cannot be resolved. No Roman marching camps have been discovered in the vicinity, and although there is a Roman fort just east of Caersws village, and that it dates from around AD 50, with a new fort replacing it in AD 75, these structures are far too small to accommodate the size of the Roman army that engaged Caradoc in battle. The initial marching camp, like the one at Brampton Bryan described on this site, would have covered over 60 acres (or over 20 hectares). Since no such camp has thus far been located then, sadly, no firm claim can be made that Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort was the place where a battle occurred.

 

Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales)	Roman fort near Caersws (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales)
View of the Severn Valley from The summit of Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort. Photograph, Robert Lee 2005 (Click to enlarge)	Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort taken near Caersws Sports field. Photograph, Robert Lee 2005 (Click to enlarge)
To see the panorama below, you may have to 'allow blocked content' in Internet Explorer.

Click and drag over image to look around, "+" and "-" to zoom in and out.  Many thanks to Panorama Tools.

Panoramic view from Cefn Carnedd Hill Fort.

I am very grateful to Robert Lee and Dr Bob who accompanied me on the visit to Caersws and Cefn Carnedd which, despite a brief panic attack when it was thought that the car keys had been lost, turned out to be a most pleasurable experience - thank you chaps!