GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
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Capeston Rath

In the community of Walwyn's Castle.
In the historic county of Pembrokeshire.
Modern authority of Pembrokeshire.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SM86780948
Latitude 51.74340° Longitude -5.08987°

Capeston Rath has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Capeston Rath is a bivallate in land promontory fort occupy ing a gentle southeast-facing slope at c.30m above sea level. It is a blunt promontory, with fairly steep slopes to the south and east. The defences comprise a 145m long curving line on the north and west sides of the promontory, enclosing an area c.40m N-S and 65m E-W. The inner bank stands 2m above the interior of the fort and 2m above the ditch. The outer bank stands 3m above the ditch on its interior side and 5m above the outer ditch. Large stones on the inner bank suggest a revetment wall. The entrance seems to be at the southern end of the defences on the west side. A detached mound to the southwest of this possible entrance may be a medieval motte or a bastion/barbican entrance arrangement. The interior is under pasture and the ramparts under scrub. Badger setts in the banks are damaging the site. There is a recent gap through the defences for vehicular access to the interior on the north side. K Murphy 15 November 2006 - compiled from several sources (Murphy et al 2007)
Comments

A slight suggestion of medieval re-use including the suggestion of the making of a mound is not particularly convincing.
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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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.
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This record last updated 10/07/2016 04:43:23


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