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Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood is a prehistoric enclosure situated within woodland on sloping terrain in Wales. The monument occupies ground underlain by Pridoli rocks—an undifferentiated sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formed during the Pridoli epoch. These fine-grained sedimentary deposits would have weathered to produce the soils available to Iron Age communities inhabiting this upland zone.
The enclosure follows the natural contours of the hillslope, a typical siting strategy for settlements of this period. Its position within the wood, combined with the underlying geology, has shaped both its survival and its accessibility to archaeological investigation. The monument remains substantial enough to warrant protection by Cadw, reflecting its significance as evidence of Iron Age land use and settlement patterns in this region of Wales.
The site contributes to our understanding of how prehistoric communities adapted their settlement layouts to exploit specific landscape positions and geological substrates. Such hillslope enclosures represent important phases in the occupation and management of upland areas during the Iron Age, before the Roman period transformed settlement hierarchies across Britain and Wales.
Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference PE413. View the official record →
Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood is a prehistoric enclosure situated within woodland on sloping terrain in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference PE413.
Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a enclosure. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood 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 PE413.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Sentence Castle Mound (3.3 km), Burnt Mound North of Dinaston Farm (3.4 km), Underhill Wood Primitive Coal Workings (7.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood'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.
Iron Age Hillslope Enclosure in Canaston Wood stands on Pridoli Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Pridoli. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.