Scheduled MonumentsWalesDinas Dinlle Camp
Prehistoric · Promontory Fort - coastal

Dinas Dinlle Camp

Conwy, Wales
Cadw SAM CN048
Period
Prehistoric
Site type
Promontory Fort - coastal
Broad class
Defence
Nation
Wales
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Dinas Dinlle Camp is a prehistoric promontory fort positioned on the North Wales coast, commanding views across the Irish Sea. The fort occupies a naturally defensible headland where Whiterock-age mudstone, siltstone and sandstone geology creates steep coastal cliffs that form a formidable barrier on three sides. This geological foundation has protected the site from substantial erosion, preserving the earthwork defences that enclose the seaward-facing promontory.

The fort's defensive strategy exploited the landscape's natural advantages by constructing ramparts across the narrow neck of land connecting the headland to the mainland. This arrangement created an enclosed stronghold accessible only from one direction, a common design principle for promontory forts across prehistoric Britain. The site's commanding coastal position would have offered strategic control over maritime approaches and communication routes along the Welsh shore.

Dinas Dinlle Camp is protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw, the Welsh heritage organisation, under reference CN048. The fort's survival owes much to its remote coastal setting and the resistant bedrock that underpins it, allowing archaeologists and visitors today to trace the outlines of fortifications that represent an important phase of Welsh prehistoric settlement and defence strategy.

Dinas Dinlle Camp is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN048. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Dinas Dinlle Camp?

Dinas Dinlle Camp is a prehistoric promontory fort positioned on the North Wales coast, commanding views across the Irish Sea. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference CN048.

What period does Dinas Dinlle Camp date from?

Dinas Dinlle Camp dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a promontory fort - coastal. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Dinas Dinlle Camp?

Dinas Dinlle Camp 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 CN048.

What other scheduled monuments are near Dinas Dinlle Camp?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Y Foel Camp (5.8 km), Cross Inscribed Stone Near Capel Uchaf (6.6 km), Sundial in Clynnog Fawr Churchyard (7.1 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Dinas Dinlle Camp

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Dinas Dinlle Camp's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Dinas Dinlle Camp

Dinas Dinlle Camp stands on Llanvirn Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Whiterock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.

The wider landscape

Around Dinas Dinlle Camp

Bryn Celli DduArchaeological site · ~9.5 miles