Gwernyfed Gaer is a defended enclosure occupying a ridge between steep slopes rising from the Wye Valley and a small stream to the east. An oval area, about 120m by 45m, is enclosed by double banks and ditches, except on the east, where it is defined by natural scarps. Excavations in 1951 produced Neolithic and Roman material, the latter associated with iron workings in nearby Gwernyfed Park (NAR SO13NE12). The site lies within a seventeenth century deer park (700401). It is depicted as a feature on an estate map of 1756 (reproduced in Briggs & Lloyd 2006, figs 7 & 8a). It is suggested that it was fitted up as a deer pen (ibid, 19).

Sources: Lloyd & Savory 1958 (Brycheiniog IV, 53-71)
Briggs & Lloyd 'Old Gwernyfed' in Gerddi IV (2005-6), 7-37.

John Wiles 02.04.07

RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance on 2nd December 2004 under extremely low winter sunlight revealed further defensive earthworks of the hillfort to the north of the present main gateway. The main gateway as surveyed (by the Ordnance Survey) currently comprises a bivallate inturned arrangement. The aerial photography shows a well-marked hollow way, beginning in the north part of the hillfort interior, passing through the main gateway north along the ridge for some 70m, before curving slightly northwest and fading out. Midway along this hollow way and some 15m from the gateway is an outwork on the west side, comprising a short length of denuded rampart c. 34m east-west.

T Driver