<< Our Photo Pages >> Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) - Hillfort in Wales in Flintshire

Submitted by blingo on Friday, 04 September 2009  Page Views: 14600

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) Alternative Name: Moel y Gaer
Country: Wales County: Flintshire Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Northop  Nearest Village: Rhosesmor
Map Ref: SJ21116904  Landranger Map Number: 117
Latitude: 53.212542N  Longitude: 3.182782W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire)
Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) submitted by blingo : Grid ref: SJ211690 Lat: 53:12:45N (53.21248) Lon: 3:10:58W (-3.18291) Condition:4 Ambience:4 Access:5 (Happy Summer Solstice. taken 4:50 this morning!) (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hillfort in Flintshire. This fort can be seen to the centre / left of the A55 when entering Wales, when passing the Mold turn off. There is another Moel y Gaer hillfort to the SW near Ruthin.

Located on Halkyn Mountain, the Iron Age hillfort occupies an isolated grassy hill, with a commanding outlook. There are fine views to the west along the chain of hillforts on the Clwydian Range, and east and south across the Dee Estuary to the Wirral and Lancashire.

Moel y Gaer is important because of the results of excavations in the 1970s. Within the fort different phases of roundhouse construction were found, including a period when a rectangular building was constructed. As well as traces of roundhouses, three small 'four-posters' were detected. They were probably storehouses or granaries kept off the ground to protect food from vermin.

Acidic soil conditions meant that few objects were preserved but heaps of water-worn pebbles were found against one of the earlier phases of ramparts. These are believed to have been caches of slingstones, possible evidence of warfare and raiding. The prominent inner rampart includes an inturned entrance on the south-east side and the site was defended by ditches as well as a low bank 10m outside the main ditch on the south and west.

None of the roundhouses or other buildings are now visible - and don't be confused by the reservoir. A triangulation pillar has been positioned on top of a Bronze Age round barrow.

Note: Hill fort dates back 3,000 years, see latest comment
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Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire)
Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) submitted by andcampbell : Moel-y-Gaer from the air looking northeast (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SJ2169 : Rhosesmor by Pete Hughes
by Pete Hughes
©2021(licence)
SJ2169 : Moel-y-Gaer bronze age hillfort looking north-west by Roger Davies
by Roger Davies
©2010(licence)
SJ2169 : Moel y Gaer by Rude Health
by Rude Health
©2013(licence)
SJ2169 : Moel y Gaer hill fort by Adie Jackson
by Adie Jackson
©2007(licence)
SJ2169 : Ramparts and Ditch, Moel y Gaer, Rhosesmor by Chris Andrews
by Chris Andrews
©2023(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 61m N 350° Moel-y-Gaer Circle Timber Circle (SJ211691)
 1.8km WSW 248° Hendre Farm Round Barrow(s) (SJ19426838)
 2.8km WSW 240° Ffynnon Leinw Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ18636767)
 2.8km WSW 258° Pen-Y-Gelli* Round Barrow(s) (SJ18316851)
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 4.2km NW 320° Parc y Prysau 2 Round Barrow(s) (SJ185723)
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 6.7km NW 325° Brynford* Barrow Cemetery (SJ174746)
 6.8km NW 313° Gatehouse Farm Round Barrow(s) (SJ162737)
 7.0km N 5° Bagillt Stonehenge (Modern)* Modern Stone Circle etc (SJ2179576045)
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"Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire)" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Re: Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) by Andy B on Tuesday, 29 June 2021
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Prof Howard M R Williams visits:

Archwilo defines Moel-y-Gaer as ‘mutlivallate’, but I noticed one principal bank and ditch with counterscarp bank. as per the Coflein description above. The in-turned entrance described is indeed present.

There was also a presumed Bronze Age mound within the hillfort on the northern side, 15-17m in diameter and 1.3m high. A timber post possible funerary monument was also found during excavations by Alex Gibson (CPAT 70263). However, as Archwilio records, the visible mound might equally be a Roman signal station or a later watchtower/beacon.

Another feature found during the 1972 excavations was a Napoleonic beacon on the top of the hill: indeed given its strategic location the idea that this might have been a beacon site for earlier periods, including the Mercian frontiers of Wat’s Dyke and Offa’s Dyke, must be seriously entertained. Both the actual course of Wat’s Dyke to the NE, and the speculated northern continuation of Offa’s Dyke (as ventured recently by Professor Keith Ray) could have readily utilised this spot to communicate over long distances as well as along the dykes themselves. Therefore, while characterised as an ‘Iron Age’ monument, Moel-y-Gaer might have potentially had a far more complex intermittent history of use and reuse, including potential Roman, early medieval and modern phases of activity.

In summary, Moel-y-Gaer is yet another Welsh monument coded ‘Iron Age’ but clearly with a more complex multi-phased story to tell in relation to its wider landscape.

https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2021/06/29/moel-y-gaer-halkyn/
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Re: Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) by sem on Thursday, 01 June 2017
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Coflein "The site enfolds a tumulus on the summit of the hilltop (Nprn307100)." further "An oval mound, 17-15m in diameter and 1.3m high, set within the circuit of Moel-y-Gaer hillfort (Nprn95090)."
Yet another example of a 'hillfort' that acknowledges a previous monument.
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Re: Hill fort dates back 3,000 years by VirtHist on Tuesday, 07 December 2010
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It's been a long time since I've been here and I'd just like to update what I wrote above. There is a greater chance that the name does not derive from Caer Afallach, but from Caer Mallwch.
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Hill fort dates back 3,000 years by Andy B on Friday, 04 September 2009
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Archaeologists have discovered that a hill fort in Denbighshire may be almost 3,000 years old.
Experts excavated Moel y Gaer in the Clwydian Range after tests suggested the Iron Age settlement (700 BC to 34 AD) might be older than first thought.
Samples of metal slag and dry stone facing taken from an entrance suggest parts may date back to the Bronze Age (2,300 BC to 700 BC).

Read more at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8231433.stm

Thanks to MikeAitch
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Re: Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) by VirtHist on Monday, 23 July 2007
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It's interesting that this hillfort, with the name of 'The Hill Fort', should have a hamlet to the south of it called Caerfallwch. Is this derived from Caer Afallach, as suggested by Blake and Lloyd in their searches for the historical Arthur? Afallach is a king certainly assosiated with North Wales and Isle of Avalon derives from the Latin Insula Avolnus which is from the Welsh Ynys Afallach (pronounced av-ARH-clhokh). This has always been interpreted as the island of Afallach (Avalon), but in Old Welsh 'ynys' could also mean 'realm', which would make it the Realm of Afallach. Wouldn't it be great if Moel Y Gaer was the legendary Avalon!
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Re: Moel-y-Gaer (Flintshire) by Andy B on Sunday, 07 November 2004
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Flintshire Council guide: http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/webcont/newRealWeb.nsf/vwa_docref/jpul63jju3
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