Caer-Din Ring

 round barrow, earthwork (archaeology), scheduled ancient monument, iron age, enclosure (archaeology)

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The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a small enclosed Iron Age or Romano-British settlement known as Caer-Din Ring, the earthwork and buried remains of an ancient field boundary and round barrow, together with remains of ridge and furrow cultivation.

The enclosed settlement occupies a commanding position on the summit of a hill overlooking the Folly Brook valley to the west. From this location there are extensive views in every direction. Other broadly contemporary small enclosed settlements in the vicinity include examples on Fron, 2.5km to south east, on Castle Idris, 2.6km to the south, and near Cwm Farm, 2km to the north east. All these settlements are the subject of separate schedulings.

Caer-Din Ring is sub-rectangular in plan. Its overall dimensions are approximately 114m east-west by 122m north-south, and its internal area is about 0.85ha. The earthworks which define the interior of the settlement consist of a bank, constructed of earth and stone, and an external ditch. The bank is between 6m and 9.5m wide, and stands up to 1.8m high. The width of the ditch is between 3m and 4.5m, and along part of the outer edge on the north western side its steep rock-cut face is still plainly visible. The original entranceway into the settlement is on the eastern side and is 4m wide. A smaller entranceway at the north west corner of the enclosure appears to be a later feature. Within the interior there are a series of level platforms, some of which are partially cut into the gently sloping ground. These platforms provided level areas for the construction of houses and ancillary buildings.

Down the slope, between 55m and 65m to the east of the settlement, is an ancient field boundary, comprising a bank about 4.5m wide and 1.5m high, and an external ditch between 3m and 4m wide. The bank is of earth and stone construction, and appears to have been built in a series of short straight lengths. There is an original break in this boundary towards its southern end, where there is a 10m wide causeway across the ditch and a corresponding gap in the bank. The southern part of this boundary closely follows the alignment of the eastern side of the enclosed settlement. Its course then changes and heads in a north westerly direction. The northern part of the boundary has been levelled by ploughing. However, aerial photographs indicate that the infilled ditch survives well as a buried feature, and it is therefore included in the scheduling. The known extent of this boundary is approximately 450m.

The original break in the boundary lies directly opposite the original entrance into the enclosed settlement. Running in a slight curve between the entranceway into the enclosure and the break in the field boundary is a shallow depression nearly 60m long, about 8m wide and 0.3m deep. This linear depression, or hollow way, has been caused by the passage of people, animals and vehicles over a long time. The position of the field boundary in relation to the settlement enclosure, and the presence of the hollow way, which connects them both, suggest that the settlement and the field boundary are contemporary.

Virtually opposite the break in the field boundary, about 30m to the east, are the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. The barrow mound was built with earth and stone. It is roughly circular, about 8m in diameter, and stands to a height of 0.5m. There is a depression in the centre of the mound, which looks like an old excavation trench. There are, however, no records of any such investigation having been conducted. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was quarried to construct the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years and survives as a buried feature, approximately 3m wide.

To the east of the northern part of the ancient field boundary, and running parallel with it, are the remains of ridge and furrow cultivation. This cultivation system is clearly later than the field boundary as it partly extends into the boundary ditch. The width of these ridges, between 5m and 7m, indicate that they were probably formed during the medieval period. A shallow ditch, up to 5m wide, runs south east from the point where the ancient boundary changes to a southerly direction. It would appear that this ditch acted as a boundary for the cultivation system and is likely to be contemporary with it. A 250m long sample of this cultivation system, which includes a 100m length of the associated ditch, is included in the scheduling in order to preserve their relationship with the earlier field boundary.
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