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Wales
CaerauHillfort
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Visited 16.12.10 After two weeks on paternity leave (and all that entails!) I had an hour or two 'window of opportunity' to get out of the house and stretch the legs. I therefore decided to make the short 7 mile trip to re-visit my nearest Hillfort. Just as well I chose that day to visit as the following day I awoke to nearly a foot of snow! There has been a few letters recently in the local paper by campaigners trying to stop development of the area around the Hillfort – more power to them! This Hillfort is easy enough to access but finding it in the first place is a bit tricky. If you are travelling north east off the Culverhouse Cross roundabout into central Cardiff you will see a sign to the right for the Ely Distribution Centre (there is no sign coming the other way). Turn right and keep an eye out on your right for the turning into Church Road. Once on Church Road look out for a Post Office and Greenmont GP surgery on your left. Just a bit further on you will see a rather run down children's play area on your right, on a slope above the road – park here. Follow the tarmac path which runs up past the play area and up to the trees. You will then see a car bonnet nailed to a tree with a sign on it which states 'Private – no bikers, metal detectors or guns' – I kid you not! All you then need to do is follow the short but steep muddy path up through the trees and you soon arrive at the ramparts of the Hillfort. There are surprisingly decent views from the top and a rather sad, derelict church ruins. The graveyard is completely overgrown and much neglected – great shame. Around the northern side of the Hillfort is a double ditch/rampart with a smaller central enclosure with banks approximately 2 metres high in places. The sky by now was grey and brooding and starting to rain so I cut my visit short and headed home. After all, I did promise Karen I wouldn't be out too long as I am sure she could do with some help with Dafydd and now little Sophie. |
Posted by CARL 21st December 2010ce |
| When I visited this site I spent a lot of time trying to find it. I would suggest you first look for the children's park with swings etc. (close to the road) Behind the park you will see a grassed area, with trees behind - that is where the hillfort is. When you get to the trees there is (was) a fence which has been pulled down with a large sign stating no motorbikes or guns!! If you are feeling brave go through the fence and start the short but steep climb through the trees and up the bank into the hillfort. The banks / ditches are pretty well preserved and there is the added bonus of a cracking view over Cardiff to be had!! |
Posted by CARL 10th March 2010ce |
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This bivallate Iron Age hillfort has a ruined church inside, built in the late 1200s (though perhaps there was one there even earlier). There was said to have been a 2000 year old yew tree, but this was burnt down in the 1930s. Isn't that the kind of age people always say about yew trees? but it would be interesting if true. The church has been vandalised in the past but some people set up a group to protect the building and the fort, when they were threatened with housing development in the mid 1990s. Their website is here: http://www.stmaryscaerau.org/ |
Posted by Rhiannon30th August 2006ce Edited 4th September 2006ce |
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