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Unless otherwise stated, this image is the copyright of the submitter. Contact them for permission to reproduce it. |  | | Description | From the left Breiddin hill (also spellt Breidden) with New Pieces, centre and Moel y Golfa, right. Viewed from the south.
The hillfort on Breiddin hill made national news in July 2000 when the culmination of a decade of diligent deforestation showed the remains of this settlement, hidden for over 1500 years.
At well over 1000 feet above central eastern Powys (formerly Montgomeryshire), not far from the Shropshire border, the fort has a panoramic position. As one would expect, the extremeley steep hill upon which the fort sits affords it great defensive capabilities.
Evidence for occupation has been found in six phases, covering mesolithic, neolithic, bronze age, iron age (from where the most obvious remains date), through to the conclusion of Roman activities in Britian.
The stone ramparts, dating to circa 900 BC, are reported to have been up to 20 feet high.
Additionally, there are iron age field systems (refs SJ298142, SJ292142, and SJ298840 are recorded) between New Pieces and Breidden Hill, which would give well protected and supervised land at some considerable height.
Access is from footpaths only, at some distance and very steep climbs; the best place to find suitable car parking would be at Middletown.
The hills - Moel y Golfa, Middletown Hill (home to Cefn y Castell hillfort), Breiddin Hill (SJ292144), and New Pieces make for a wonderful vista, albeit a distracting one when on the roads in the area.
A superb view of the four hills is from the ridge where the famous National Trust property, Powis Castle, is sited. The best view, however, is from high inside the north side of the castle, in the library. Unfortunately, photography is not permitted within the castle building, even when using no flash on a bright day, to take an image of features many miles away! I did ask the room stewards, and was politely and firmly refused, even when I pointed out mitigating circumstances. Nevermind. The gardens offer reasonable views of the hills, as well as being a wondrous spectacle themselves. |
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