Burfa Castle (also known as Burfa Hillfort, Burfa Bank Hillfort, or Burfa Camp)[1][2][3] is an Iron Age hillfort near the tiny town of Old Radnor, Radnorshire in Powys, Wales. The site is a scheduled monument described as a prehistoric defensive hillfort, and was included in an inventory of monuments by 1913.[4][5] The site is near Offa's Dyke which passes near the bottom of Burfa Bank.[3]
The site is an important multivallate site and measures 579 metres by 187 metres.[1] Little of the hillfort is visible today and the site has been badly damaged by forestry.[3] On the side of the hillfort's likely entrance are three or four banks and ditches, "incorporating a torturous entrance approach".[1]
Material dating from the 1st and 2nd century CE has been found at the site.[1] Further, the Radnor Valley was at the edge of known Roman settlements; though the valley is not thought to have been home to any permanent Roman settlements, traces of an auxiliary fort and troop camps have been found in the area, including one at Burfa.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Wiles, J. (9 September 2002). "Burfa Hillfort". National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). NPRN 300469. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via Coflein.
- ^ "Burfa Bank Hillfort". Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT). PRN 312. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Haslam, Richard (1992) [1979]. "Walton". Powys: (Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Breconshire). Pevsner Architectural Guides (The Buildings of Wales). London: Penguin Books (University of Wales Press). p. 277. ISBN 978-0-140-71051-9. OCLC 228662030. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via google books.
- ^ Burfa Camp. National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) (Report). Cadw. Cadw Id: RD013.
- ^ County of Radnor. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire. Vol. III. RCAHMW (HMSO). 1913. pp. 43–44. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via google books.
- ^ Green, Richard (2012). "The Walton Basin, also called the Radnor Valley". Retrieved 12 April 2016.
Further reading
edit- Silvester, Bob; Hankinson, Richard (March 2006). "Defended Enclosures in Radnorshire". CPAT. CPAT Report No 781. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
External links
edit- Aerial view of castle from the west - RCAHMW website (coflein)
- oblique aerial view of castle from the south west - RCAHMW website (coflein)
- Gallery of photos - The Modern Antiquarian website
- Burfa Camp - The Megalithic Portal
