Beacon Hill, Radnorshire - Royal Commission on the Ancient and ...

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RCAHM Wales Uplands Initiative – <strong>Beacon</strong> <strong>Hill</strong>Figure 2. Barrows on Rhos Crug (nprn 306164, 306165).<strong>Beacon</strong> <strong>Hill</strong> and Rhos Crug barrows are inter-visible. In both cases they are locatedon hilltops. In <strong>Radnorshire</strong> most barrows are found on crests of hills, or on valleyterraces, placed in or looking down upon specific lowland territory (Dunn 1988, 37).The hilltop barrows – other <strong>Radnorshire</strong> examples of which are at Shepherds Tumpand Gilwern <strong>Hill</strong> – have distant panoramic views but limited views of adjacentvalleys. It has been argued that the long-range visibility of these monuments is thekey to their unusual siting.Iron AgeTo the north of Lawn Farm is a small univallate defended enclosure (nprn 309917,figure 3), assumed to be of Iron Age date. It occupies a natural plateau below thesummit of the <strong>Beacon</strong> <strong>Hill</strong>, with extensive views to the west and south. Although it isin a sheltered position well suited to settlement, there is higher ground to the southwhich would have rendered it less effective as a defensive position. Low banks ofearth and stone survive on part of its perimeter, but it also makes use of thetopography, with a steep fall on the south side.Figure 3. Lawn Farm <strong>Hill</strong>fort (nprn 309917), viewed from the north.5
RCAHM Wales Uplands Initiative – <strong>Beacon</strong> <strong>Hill</strong>Early MedievalThe other monumental feature of the <strong>Beacon</strong> <strong>Hill</strong> landscape is Short Ditch (nprn306151, figure 4). Short Ditch is a cross-ridge dyke 640m long, with a bank on thewestern side. It joins a deep stream valley at the north-east end, which effectivelycontinues the boundary. The conjunction of artificial and natural barriers is a featurenoted at other short dykes. Investigation of this site was included in the Short DykesProject undertaken by CPAT (Hankinson 2004), following which augers were takenthat yielded organic layers beneath the earthwork. An organic layer, possibly turfstripped from the line of the ditch and laid on the old ground surface, has given acalibrated radiocarbon date in the range AD 410-590.Short Dykes were once interpreted as defensive structures but this theory has fallenout of favour. The defensive limitations of such a short earthwork have beenrecognised. A more likely interpretation is that it was built to verify or claim aboundary, at a time when it was customary to use natural or topographical features todefine boundaries. It has been suggested that following the collapse of Romanadministration in the early fifth century Short Ditch was an attempt to define theboundary of an administrative unit (Hankinson and Caseldine 2006, 266-68). Itsposition on <strong>Beacon</strong> <strong>Hill</strong> demonstrates that the Teme valley immediately to the eastwas incorporated into a single administrative unit. Later in the Middle Ages theborder between England the March followed the river Teme, thereby dividing theTeme valley into separate jurisdictions.Figure 4. Short Ditch (nprn 306151), looking south west, showing modern damage inthe foreground.Medieval and post-medieval settlement and agricultureEvidence of medieval and post-medieval settlement and agriculture was found inabundance. In broad terms the evidence conforms to the overview of medieval andpost-medieval settlement in <strong>Radnorshire</strong> described by previous work (Silvester 2004,6
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