Bryn Rhydd Enclosure (The Gatehouse Record)

Bryn Rhydd Enclosure

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Brynrhydd; Bryn yr Hydd Common

In the community of Glasbury.
In the historic county of Radnorshire.
Modern authority of Powys.
Preserved county of Powys.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO18644138
Latitude 52.06521° Longitude -3.18839°

Bryn Rhydd Enclosure has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Apparently incomplete enclosure about 140m NNW_SSE by 100m wide (estimated from OS, 1964) defined by bank rising 0.5m above interior with external ditch falling 1.7m from it's crest. sited on S facing slope. prob a hillfort though also noted as poss ringwork. overlain in part by PAR 414 which is prob a later field system though the whole formerly described by Savory, H N, 1954 as being three overlapping contiguous enclosures.
Bryn Rhydd measures just over 140m on its north-north-east to south-south-west axis and is about 95m on its other axis. The bank and ditch vary in their size but where measured by the Ordnance
Survey in 1973, the bank had internal and external measurements of 0.5m and 1.7m respectively. A modern track passes through a wide gap in the earthworks on the west side. This is now too wide to have been an original entrance but the original entrance may have been here. However, the hollowed approach shown on the Ordnance Survey plan is not particularly convincing.
What is clearly apparent is that the defences do not form a complete circuit but fade out on the east side, both terminals gradually diminishing rather than stopping abruptly. On this basis the logical explanation is that the enclosure is unfinished. If there are any contemporary internal features, it would be almost impossible to detect them under the vegetation (Defended Enclosures in Radnorshire Project, CPAT, 2006). (CPAT)

An irregular enclosure, c.120m by 74m, defined by a bank and ditch except to the SE, where the ground falls away. The site is apparently complicated by the remains of a later field system. (Coflein)

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 306065.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 405.

Books
- RCAHMW, 1913, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Radnorshire (HMSO) p. 114 no. 464 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Savory, H.N., 1954, Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies Vol. 15 p. 74, 307

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain Designated Historic Asset Descriptive Information from The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown.
Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Lidar coverage in the UK is not complete. The button above will give an idea of the area of coverage. Higher resolution lidar images in both DSM and DTM form may be available from Lle A geo-Portal for Wales (click the preview tag to bring up a map and then select format byclicking on the small blue diamond in the top right corner of the map.)

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

This record last updated before 1 February 2016

¤¤¤¤¤

Data >	Coflein	County HER
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	Historic Wales	V. O. B.	Geology	LIDAR
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio