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Llanfilo Moated Site is a medieval moated enclosure located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR152. The site comprises a substantial rectangular ditch that once enclosed a domestic or manorial holding, a characteristic defensive and status-defining feature of medieval Wales and the English borderlands from the twelfth century onwards. The moat would have contained water seasonally or permanently, depending on ground conditions and maintenance, serving both practical and symbolic purposes within the settlement hierarchy.
The monument sits upon Lower Devonian bedrock comprising mudstone, siltstone and sandstone formed during the Early Devonian period. This geology shaped both the site's water retention and the material available for construction and maintenance of the earthworks. The underlying strata would have influenced drainage patterns around the moat and the stability of the enclosing banks, factors critical to the site's long-term viability as a defended residence.
Moated sites of this type typically date between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, representing the residences of minor gentry, prosperous merchants or ecclesiastical officials. Their distribution across Wales reflects patterns of Norman and English influence, settlement and landholding during the medieval period. Llanfilo's preservation as an earthwork monument provides evidence of medieval settlement patterns and social organisation within the Welsh landscape.
Llanfilo Moated Site is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference BR152. View the official record →
Llanfilo Moated Site is a medieval moated enclosure located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference BR152.
Llanfilo Moated Site dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a moated site. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Llanfilo Moated Site 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 BR152.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Enclosure W of Allt yr Esgair (8.3 km), Gileston Standing Stone (8.8 km), Cefn Moel Round Cairn and Ritual Platform (9.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Llanfilo Moated Site'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.
Llanfilo Moated Site stands on Lower Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.