Hatterrall Hill

Nearest town:
Crickhowell (10km SW)
OS reference:
SO30332511
OS sheet:
161
Latitude:
51° 55' 10.76 N
Longitude:
3° 0' 47.33 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Hatterrall Hill in shadow, far right. Looking down on the Monnow Valley.

Image credit: A. Brookes (18.8.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 2, 2018
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Hatterrall Hill seen across the Honddu valley from the west on the way to Garn Wen.

Image credit: A. Brookes (18.8.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2018
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Southern flank.... the great Bronze Age cairn crowning Pen-y-Gadair-Fawr can be seen approx centre skyline. Now, as ever.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 1, 2015
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Southern terminus of the ‘fort. No wonder Turner came to The Vale of Ewyas.... great place for an extensive promontory fort, too. The ridge, right background, forms the Wales/England border and is crowned by several Bronze Age cairns... and, unfortunately, the scar that is the Offa’s Dyke path. This is a landscape to savour the footfall, not wish them over.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 1, 2015
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

The magnificent promontory fort towers above the Vale of Ewyas, viewed to the approx NW of Upper Henllan.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Aug 27, 2013
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Hatterrall Hill (centre) framed by Mynydd Pen-y-Fal/The Sugar Loaf (left) and Ysgyryd Fawr (right). The hillforts of Twyn-y-Gaer and Pentwyn Camp can also be seen below the hill. Viewpoint is Ysgyryd Fach.

Image credit: A. Brookes (3.6.2013)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jul 29, 2013
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

The massive promontory fort upon Hatterrall Hill (background) commands the southern aspect of the Vale of Ewyas. The viewpoint is Loxidge Tump.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 8, 2013
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

The beautiful Vale of Ewyas cradling the Afon Honddu. The western terminus of the promontory fort cross wall offers arguably the finest view of this wondrous border valley. Can’t get more strategic placement than this. [Update: note that there is a much disturbed cairn with remains of a cist upon the facing slope of Graig-ddu across the valley].

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Looking north-west(ish).... this must have been a formidable obstacle in its time.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Looking south-east... incidentally the Offa’s Dyke path follows the ridge beyond.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Looking uphill from the western segment... the Mam C emphasises the substantial nature of these defences.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

And looking approx north-west ... with authentic Black Mountains rain splatters upon the lens.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Looking approx south-east along the eastern section of the substantial promontory defence.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Sunburst. Note the modern cairn, apparently at the ‘entrance’, far top right....

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Except from the ‘track’ to west, this enclosure is pretty hard to pick out amongst the heather.... even in the depths of winter. But with moments like this it is worth the effort. The ‘hillfort-cum-Sacred Hill’ Ysgyryd Fawr crowns the horizon beyond.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jan 30, 2012
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

The SW spur of Hatterall Hill. The cross dyke cuts off the spur on its “neck” and can just be seen as a dark, thin line.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.11.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2011
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Looking SE along the cross dyke. Ysgyryd Fawr on the right.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.11.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2011
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Looking south across the overgrown enclosure towards Ysgyryd Fawr (left) and The Sugarloaf (Pen y Fal, right).

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.11.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2011
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

The view NNW towards Twmpa and Gospel Pass up the Vale of Ewyas. The bank of the enclosure is in the foreground.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.11.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2011
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Standing on the overgrown bank of the enclosure (curving across the picture from bottom left), looking NW towards Waun Fach.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.11.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2011
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Hatterall Hill from the north. The enclosure is in the middle of the hill, slightly off the summit. The cross dyke cuts off the promontory to the right. Pen y Fal (The Sugarloaf) can be seen to the far right.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.11.2011)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Nov 27, 2011
Image of Hatterrall Hill (Promontory Fort) by GLADMAN

Looking toward the enclosure (left) to the north. The valley is that of the Afon Honddu, the exquisite Vale of Ewyas. The shapely Sugar Loaf – as usual – takes the plaudits, centre skyline.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 26, 2010

Articles

Hatterrall Hill

GLADMAN
GLADMAN Feb 15, 2012

Of the four main ridges of The Black Mountains, rising from the fertile Usk valley in the south to terminate at the great northern escarpment in the... er .... north, the eastern-most is probably the most frequented nowadays. Whether this is the inevitable by product of said ridge rising between the wondrous Vale of Ewyas and the contrasting, yet superb Herefordshire plains, or the fact that it represents the Welsh/English border at this point, thus carrying the long distance Offa’s Dyke path, is perhaps a moot point. For what it’s worth, I reckon the latter, the myriad ‘heads down’ walkers striding along the central path surely unable to ascertain anything more than a perfunctory sense of ‘place’. To achieve this the visitor, in my opinion, must ‘leave the beaten track’ in the most literal sense and head to the flanks.

Hatterrall Hill occupies the southern section of this high borderland, the landscape inexorably falling further away from the 2,000ft contour during the approach toward Abergavenny... only to rise up dramatically in the form of Mynydd Pen-y-fal just before the town. But that’s another story. Here Cwm Iau forces the ridge to divide, the Offa’s Dyke path continuing to the south. Venture to the south-west, however, and two obscure archaeological treasures await discovery. Or at least they would have if the Mam C and I had not lost ourselves – figuratively speaking, of course – in the environs of Black Darren last Easter, before being ushered from the mountain by a violent electrical storm. We therefore return today from the opposite direction, starting at the idyllic village of Cwmyoy. Parking is somewhat difficult here unless you know what you’re doing. Needless to say... I don’t... until informed by a passing local – within a worryingly large mechanical digger – that I’d be better off in a good spot just above (north) of the seriously wonky church. I take the, ahem, hint. Happy to oblige. From here a public footpath heads north, veering to the right beneath a towering crag, before resuming its course towards the farmhouse of Ty-Charles. Just beyond this isolated habitation turn left, then right – between parallel drystone walls – to ascend steeply to the crest of Hatterrall Hill rising above.

The retrospective views, these being The Black Mountains after all, are superb. But then you probably guessed that. It will probably also come as no surprise that the promontory fort’s single line of defence isolates the site from the northern hinterland at the narrowest point of the ridge. Not daft, these people. This ensures that the enclosure is by far the largest we’ve yet encountered, the cross dyke quite a while a’coming. It is worth the wait, a great drystone mass of masonry which, although collapsed, remains impressive in its brute strength, despite all Mother Wales has seen fit to throw at it for a couple of millennia. Which is no doubt ‘quite a lot’. To emphasise the point the weather deteriorates to rain, although thankfully the cloud base remains high, allowing us to enjoy the truly magnificent positionning of the fort. Yeah, the north-western terminus of the cross-wall possesses arguably the finest view of the Vale of Ewyas extant, a perfect spot for lunch. That to be had from the south-eastern opposite is not exactly lacking, either, the hillfort-cum-sacred hill Ysgyryd Fawr dominating the skyline with a finality far in excess of its modest elevation. This is the point where words become futile, to experience the moment everything.

The obscure, severely overgrown Garreg Las enclosure lies beyond grouse butts to the north. The latter represent tawrdy monuments to the ridiculous actions of ridiculous people. The former, however..... Coflein cites the enclosure as defensive in nature. The Mam C and I are in agreement... that we are not so sure. There is an aura here which suggests otherwise. Just a feeling in the wind and rain, you know?

Miscellaneous

Hatterrall Hill
Promontory Fort
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Apr 26, 2010

Coflein has the following information relating to the two associated monuments at the southern end of Hatterrall Hill:

1) GARREG LAS, ENCLOSURE:

‘A sub-circular enclosure upon the summit of Hatterrall Hill, c.50m in diameter, defined by a stone wall, c.5.0m wide and having an entrance to the E, obscured by a recent cairn’ [another blasted walker’s cairn! – Gladman]. ‘Has been associated with the cross-ridge wall, c.600m to the SW, both being of a similar build.‘

2) HATTERRALL HILL, CROSS RIDGE WALL -
SO30332511:

‘The remains of a “massive dry-stone wall”, 166m long and 6.0-8.0m wide, with no trace of an accompanying ditch, set astride a high steep sided ridge’.

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