© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Old Foxhall Earth Circle is a medieval enclosure located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE053. The monument consists of an earthwork bank forming a roughly circular or oval enclosure, typical of the defensive or administrative farmsteads established in Wales during the medieval period. Such earthwork circles served as settlement boundaries and stock enclosures for local communities, their simple but effective design reflecting the practical needs of medieval agricultural life across the Welsh countryside.
The site sits upon Dinantian bedrock composed of limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks, geological formations dating to the Mississippian period. This limestone geology would have influenced both the construction of the enclosure—with stone likely incorporated into the earthwork—and the character of the surrounding landscape, affecting water drainage and the types of pasture available to medieval inhabitants.
The monument survives today as an earthwork feature in the Welsh landscape, preserving evidence of the settlement patterns and land use practices that characterised the medieval period. Its continued protection by Cadw recognises the historical significance of such field monuments in understanding how communities organised their settlements and managed their agricultural resources in medieval Wales.
Old Foxhall Earth Circle is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE053. View the official record →
Old Foxhall Earth Circle is a medieval enclosure located in Wales and protected by Cadw under reference DE053.
Old Foxhall Earth Circle dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a enclosure. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Old Foxhall Earth Circle 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 DE053.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Denbigh Town Walls (2.3 km), St Hilary's Chapel (2.3 km), Earl of Leicester's Church (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Old Foxhall Earth Circle'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.
Old Foxhall Earth Circle stands on Dinantian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks.