Scheduled MonumentsWalesGreat House Camp
Prehistoric · Hillfort

Great House Camp

Wales
Cadw SAM MM105
Period
Prehistoric
Site type
Hillfort
Broad class
Defence
Nation
Wales
The designation
Reference
Cadw SAM MM105
Authority
Cadw
Designated
1950-07-06
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Great House Camp is a prehistoric hillfort in Wales, protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument under reference MM105. The site exploits the natural defensive properties of Lower Devonian bedrock, comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formations that underlie the Welsh landscape. This Early Devonian geology shaped the topography which the hillfort's builders utilised, creating a stronghold whose ramparts and ditches were cut into or built upon these ancient rocks.

Hillforts of this type, typically constructed during the Iron Age though some occupied earlier, commanded elevated positions across the Welsh uplands. Great House Camp's situation on this particular geological foundation would have provided both practical advantages for defence and stable ground for constructing substantial earthworks. The local stone would have been available for any structural reinforcement of the fortifications.

The monument survives as a testament to prehistoric settlement patterns and territorial control in Wales, its earthen defences still visible within the landscape. As a scheduled monument, Great House Camp is protected to preserve evidence of the communities who built and inhabited it, allowing future study of these important Iron Age centres of power and refuge.

Great House Camp is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference MM105. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Great House Camp?

Great House Camp is a prehistoric hillfort in Wales, protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument under reference MM105.

What period does Great House Camp date from?

Great House Camp dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a hillfort. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Great House Camp?

Great House 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 MM105.

What other scheduled monuments are near Great House Camp?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gaer-Llwyd Burial Chamber (6.7 km), Chepstow Park Wood Moated Site (7.8 km), Chepstow Park Wood Cairn (8.2 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Great House Camp

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Great House 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 Great House Camp

Great House Camp stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.