Project Background

The scheduled site of Caerfai Camp / Penpleidiau Promontory Fort (PE294) occupies a very large and visually dominant natural coastal promontory located to the south-east of St Davids.

The site is located on a coastal headland, defended by cliffs on the west, south and eastern sides. The site is made distinctive as heavy erosion has created a ‘chasm’ and a sub-rectangular parcel of land connected at the very tip of the long natural promontory. Running parallel to the chasm on its northern side is a series of four banks and ditches which were constructed and adapted throughout the prehistoric period.

The ramparts to the north of the fort are covered in vegetation but are still strikingly visible, showing clear lines of banks and ditches, with the inner bank standing 3m above the interior and 3.5 over the ditch on the outside. The entrance to the fort lies between the eastern end, the banks and ditches, and a steep coastal slope which runs down to the top of vertical sea cliffs. The grass-covered interior slopes gently down from north to south and is rectangular c.100m N-S and 120m E-W. On the southwest, south and east sides, the interior slopes down gently before ending in sea cliffs.

The fort itself is unusual. It is rare for a coastal promontory fort to have four lines of banks and ditch, and normally the defences are designed to seen from the landward site. At Caerfai, the flat landscape means that only the outer bank is visible, with the other banks hidden behind it. Only at the approach to the entrance can all four lines of bank and ditch be viewed and appreciated, especially to those approaching from the sea.

Little else is known about Caerfai Camp itself, except for the devastating impact that coastal erosion is having on the archaeological remains along Wales’s coastline. Coastal erosion has had a noticeable impact upon the archaeology in this region, especially at Caerfai where there a considerable amount of the site has been lost to the sea.

Our goal is to map out the full extent of the fort and its associated settlement, and learn as much about its story as we can – before it’s too late.