Minwear Ringwork (The Gatehouse Record)

Minwear Ringwork

In the community of Martletwy.
In the historic county of Pembrokeshire.
Modern authority of Pembrokeshire.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SN06181347
Latitude 51.78625° Longitude -4.81151°

Minwear Ringwork has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The sub-circular defended enclosure at Minwear Wood Nursery measures c.40m in diameter. It is set upon a gradual SE facing slope, defined by a ditch and bank. (Coflein as Iron Age defended enclosure)

Sited on the sloping west side of the valley of the Penglyn Brook, tributary of the eastern Cleddau, and now within coniferous Forestry Commission plantation adjacent to a nursery. Although not now overplanted it is overgrown. The ringwork is circular with a single bank and ditch and an internal area slightly raised above the external. The Cadw description of 'ringwork' rather than the OS 'enclosure' suggests that this may be of medieval rather than Iron Age date. HJ after Cadw AM107 April 20000. SAM PE433. (Dyfed Archaeological Trust HER)

The monument comprises the remains of a well preserved castle-ringwork, which dates to the early part of the medieval period (c. AD 1066 - 1485). The ringwork is located on sloping ground, by the side of a steep cwm, which falls to the Penglyn Brook to the east. The earthwork is circular, 28m in diameter in the interior, and the surrounding bank is approximately 2m high, externally and 5m wide. The external ditch is 1m deep and 5m wide. The interior of the earthwork is somewhat higher than the external ground, and the bank has an external height of only 30cm. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

Damaged oval enclosure, possible ringwork or Iron Age fort. Within 400m of the remains of a medieval church and, presumably, a DMV although the manorial centre seems to be Castell Coch at SN071136.

Sources of information, references and further reading

The CADW scheduled monument record number is PE433.
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 304424.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 3613.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Dyfed Archaeological Trust, 1998-, Historic Landscape Characterisation
Books
- Morgan, Gerald, 2008, Castles in Wales: A Handbook (Talybont: Y Lolfa Cyf.) p. 257 (listed as possible)
  Hull, Lise, 2005, Castles and Bishops Palaces of Pembrokeshire (Logaston Press) p. 141
  Davis, Paul, 2000, A Company of Forts. A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales (Gomer Press) p. 37
  Salter, Mike, 1996, The Castles of South West Wales (Malvern) p. 87 (slight)
  Miles, Dillwyn, 1979 (Revised 1988), Castles of Pembrokeshire (Pembrokeshire Coast National Park) p. 5-7
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 395
Periodical Articles
- Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1970, 'Castles in Wales and the Marches (Additions and corrections to lists published in 1963 and 1967)' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 119 p. 119-124
  King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  Talbot, 1966, Archaeology in Wales Vol. 6 p. 23

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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.
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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.

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.

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This record last updated 07/07/2016 09:27:54

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