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Castle Head coastal promontory fort

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NPRN305367
Map ReferenceSM71SE
Grid ReferenceSM7977011190
Unitary (Local) AuthorityPembrokeshire
Old CountyPembrokeshire
CommunityMarloes and St Bride's
Type Of SitePROMONTORY FORT
PeriodEarly Medieval
Description

1. A small coastal promontory fort, attached to the mainland by a narrow neck 17m wide. Across this neck is a bank and ditch, with a causeway leading across the ditch to an entrance through the bank. The 1.5m high bank continues around the east and west sides of the promontory, and is likely to have once enclosed the whole promontory, but has been lost due to active coastal erosion that has significantly reduced the size of the promontory. Today the area enclosed is around 0.14 hectares. The nature of the enclosing bank potentially suggests an Early Medieval, rather than Iron Age, date for this enclosure. In the area are several Early Medieval monuments, including a chapel and cemetery at St Bride’s Haven (NPRN 544132).

2. On the headland adjacent to the promontory fort are a set of denuded First World War practice trenches, largely obscured by bracken (NPRN 421967).

3 In March 2022, the EU-funded CHERISH project (RCAHMW) noted new erosion and collapse on the east side of the promontory during coastal monitoring, in the area. Collapse of the bank revealed sections of stone walling. Ground and UAV photographs were taken to record this.

Toby Driver and Louise Barker, CHERISH Project/RCAHMW, 5th May 2023.

CHERISH PROJECT 2023. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme 2014-2020. https://cherishproject.eu/en/

CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) is an EU-funded Wales-Ireland project (2017-2022) led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, in partnership with the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Geological Survey, Ireland.