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Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure is a medieval settlement site in Wales, protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument under reference GM593. The settlement comprises a series of terraced house platforms and an associated enclosure, typical of upland farming communities of the medieval period. Such platforms were cut into sloping ground to create level building sites, essential in the rolling terrain where permanent settlement would otherwise be impractical.
The site lies on bedrock of the South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, comprising mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete deposited during the Westphalian period. This geology would have influenced both the landscape and the resources available to medieval inhabitants. The ferricrete layers, in particular, would have created naturally hardened ground on which to construct platforms, whilst the ironstone deposits indicate the mineral-rich character of the South Welsh uplands.
The house platforms at Coed Ddu represent the permanent domestic occupation of upland Wales during the medieval period, when communities adapted to challenging terrain through careful landscape engineering. The associated enclosure suggests agricultural activity, probably livestock husbandry suited to the moorland environment. Such settlements provide evidence of medieval Welsh land use and settlement patterns away from the more heavily documented lowland areas.
Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference GM593. View the official record →
Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure is a medieval settlement site in Wales, protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument under reference GM593.
Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a house platform. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is GM593.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Pen-Rhiw-Angharad Round Cairns (7.3 km), Blaen-Cwmbach Camp (7.6 km), Blaen-Cwmbach Earthwork (7.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Coed Ddu house platforms and enclosure stands on South Wales Upper Coal Measures Formation, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.