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Rhossili Down settlement

Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork

<b>Rhossili Down settlement</b>Posted by thesweetcheatImage © A. Brookes (20.3.2012)
Nearest Town:Burry Port (11km N)
OS Ref (GB):   SS42328980 / Sheet: 159
Latitude:51° 35' 3.98" N
Longitude:   4° 16' 34.29" W

Added by thesweetcheat


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<b>Rhossili Down settlement</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Rhossili Down settlement</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Rhossili Down settlement</b>Posted by thesweetcheat <b>Rhossili Down settlement</b>Posted by thesweetcheat

Fieldnotes

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The OS map shows the bridleway running right past a hut circle and what appears to be a semi-circular feature either side of it. Worth a look anyway. The bridleway crosses increasingly wet ground and it becomes apparent that these lower slopes are waterlogged and boggy, a complete contrast to the dry heather of the ridge above. But at length I reach the hut circle. It’s quite impressive, although wrecked; the walls appear to be made of double thickness of stones, almost creating a “cavity wall” effect. On either side, a low bank of stones stretches away, very like the robbed-down walls of a Dartmoor pound. The affinities between the sites on this peninsula and the southwest of England feel strong.

From here a footpath heads southeast across increasingly wet terrain, towards Sluxton farm. The map shows a “W” for a well here and sure enough, a small standing stone (maybe a metre tall) protrudes through the reedy grass to mark its position. There’s no mention of this on Coflein, and the stone could be relatively recent, but perhaps the builders of the hut circle on the slopes above knew this water source too?
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
25th March 2012ce

Miscellaneous

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Coflein description:

A circular enclosure, with an internal diameter of 13m, a denuded wall, or bank, 2.5-3.5m wide and 0.6m high internally with interior facing slabs visible, and having a SES entrance, is interpreted as a roundhouse. Springing from the house's circuit to the E and SW are ruined stone walls which curve awat tothe SE to define a sector of a putative enclosure c.100m in diameter.
A rectilinear building in this situation would be interpreted as a hafod or lluest.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
20th March 2012ce