Sinadon (The Gatehouse Record)

Sinadon

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Snowdon; Smardon; Sinnodune; Castell Caer Lleion; Castell Caer Seion

In the community of Conwy.
In the historic county of Caernarfonshire.
Modern authority of Conwy.
Preserved county of Gwynedd.

OS Map Grid Reference: SH76037783
Latitude 53.28258° Longitude -3.86167°

Sinadon has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Castle cited by Leland as 'Sinnodune a Mile from Conwey' is, in fact, Castell Caer Lleion which is pre Roman Iron Age.

Hillfort on Conway Mountain (Mynydd y Dref), also known as Castell Caer Seion or Lleion. The summit of a ridge of rhyolite is enclosed by a single rampart, with more complex works protecting a smaller fortified area at the W end. Within the fort 58 round hut foundations are visible as levelled platforms, including 7 in the smaller enclosure. The large enclosure also contains a rectangular levelled platform, on the N slopes 430ft NNE from the main entrance; 600ft NE from the entrance is a circular pit of about 4ft diameter with a trench leading into it from the NE - in plan resembling a corn-drying kiln. There are possible traces of others. The detailed structural history of the site remains open to several widely different interpretations. It appears certain that the existing remains represent two or more periods of construction, during at least one of which both the enclosures were occupied together, although there is no indication of direct access from one to the other, and indeed the small enclosure seems to have been designed to resist attack from within the large enclosure as well as from outside. The site is traditionally associated with Maelgwn, but there is no other evidence either way as to a sixth-century occupation. The main structure belongs to the pre-Roman Iron Age. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

The CADW scheduled monument record number is CN012.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 95279.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 816.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 35
  RCAHMW, 1956, A Survey and Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caernarvonshire Vol. 1: East (HMSO) p. 70-2 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1906, Leland's Itinerary in Wales (Bell and Sons; London) p. 84 online copy

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.)

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This record last updated 05/07/2016 21:58:43

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