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Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm is a prehistoric fortified settlement situated on Lower Devonian sandstone and conglomerate bedrock in Wales. The rocky foundation, formed during the Early Devonian period, would have provided natural drainage and a firm base for construction. The enclosure's defensive character suggests it served as a stronghold for a prehistoric community, with earth and stone fortifications designed to protect inhabitants and livestock from external threats.
The monument's location on undifferentiated Lower Devonian rocks reflects the topography of the surrounding landscape, where the interbedded sandstone and conglomerate strata create distinctive terrain. This geology influenced the choice of site, offering defensible high ground and material suitable for stone-faced ramparts. Such positioned settlements were typical of Bronze Age or Iron Age communities in Wales, occupying locations that commanded views across adjacent valleys and lowland approaches.
The enclosure remains today as an important archaeological record of prehistoric settlement patterns in Wales. Protected by Cadw under reference PE546, the monument contributes to understanding how Iron Age and Bronze Age peoples adapted to the Welsh landscape, organising their communities around fortified strongholds positioned on naturally defensible geological foundations.
Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference PE546. View the official record →
Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm is a prehistoric fortified settlement situated on Lower Devonian sandstone and conglomerate bedrock in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference PE546.
Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a enclosure - defensive. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm 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 PE546.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Hodgeston Moated Site (6.1 km), Medieval Building at Kingston Farm (6.6 km), Kingston Burial Chamber (7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm'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.
Defended Enclosure 800m NNE of Upton Farm stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.