The Wenallt
Sep
The Wenallt holds a special place in the hearts of north Cardiffians. Terry Chard explores its little-known ancient roots
Following in the footsteps of Nigel Lewis, who has entertained readers with his wonderful local history stories, I thought I would share some information on the Wenallt. I just want to add here that Nigel and I are fellow local history ‘buffs’ and we swap research ‘finds’ between us, depending on our areas of interest, although those swaps tend to be a bit one sided (I hope he reads this).
Whether you are a local, or not, ‘the Wenallt’ is a special place; you don’t have to go too far back in time to remember the top field, nicely manicured, and a popular place for picnics and ball games during the school summer holidays. Now it has been returned to nature, re-wilding being the ‘get out’ for conservationists and a cash-strapped council, but how much is known about its ancient past?
Did you know that there was an Iron Age settlement on Y Wenallt? It is described as a ‘fortified enclosure’ within The Royal Commission of the Historic and Ancient Monuments of Wales – RCHAMW, (‘Glamorgan Vol 1 Pt 2 – The Iron Age and Roman Occupation’): ‘Univallate Enclosures in Positions Unsuited to Defence’.
These are distinguished from the last group merely by the choice of situations such as hill slopes, ….. which offer few or no natural advantages for defence. Most were probably farmsteads, but again the group as a whole may well include structures covering a wide range of functions and date. In most, the interior is featureless, but hut-platforms exist at Hardings Down North and probably at Wenallt.
The enclosure stands just over 150 m above O.D., on ground falling towards the S. with a slope of about 1 in 4, about 3 km N. of Whitchurch. There is a good view in all directions except to the N. A bank and ditch about 12 m wide and 1*5 m high overall encloses a fairly regular oval, 60 m N. to S. by 38 m, area 0-2 ha. On the upper side the bank shows traces of an external revetment of large blocks. There may also have been a counterscarp bank, but this is more probably debris from an adjacent quarry. The entrance appears as a simple gap on the S.E. Near the middle of the enclosure is a slightly levelled terrace about 7-5 m in diameter, perhaps the site of a hut, and on the S.W. is a hollow, probably a quarry-scoop.
Cardiff Council lists the Wenallt as part of Cardiff Parks and it features on the web site of the Woodlands Trust, but there is no mention of the Iron Age settlement on either website, both preferring to focus on the natural habitat. Quite why the settlement remains ‘obscure’ is curious. The Iron Age settlement is just 1.6 miles away from Treoda, the Bronze Age origin of Whitchurch. There is deep history in these parts.
For those that have ventured up the slopes, you may have noticed many indications of rocky outcrops and regular structures, apart from the ‘quarry’ mentioned above, there is evidence of what seems to be other man-made ditches and embankments all around, perhaps suggesting that the level of early human settlement was a lot more than what has been identified. (I took the west face last time I went and I survived; I made base camp at home and was up there and back in an hour and a half; no Sherpa needed).
The site of an ‘Iron Age settlement’ however is difficult to find; the area is covered in trees and shrubs and much of the open areas are overgrown with bracken and bramble. It’s a great place for bluebell in May though. The site is not shown on older maps, the 1875 map does show the name ‘Wen Allt’ attached to a roadside house just further north and named ‘Wenallt House’ in the 1898 map, but both maps show the old quarry, the 1898 map actually naming it as such. However, the later 1974 O.S. map (1/50,000) does show a spot marked as a “fort” and the latest O.S. map identifies the site as an ‘earthwork’.
The above sketch is from a LIDAR image of the area, (LIDAR – a laser scanning process that captures the landscape by removing trees and undergrowth from an image to expose the underlying land surface), and raised banks and footpaths are evident.
Centre top of the sketch is an anomaly which is an ancient quarry, the play and picnic area of our more recent past and for many present-day visitors. Below the quarry, (south of it), is an oval, ‘ear shaped’ landform. It’s a ‘plateau’, a regular oval shape consistent with that described by RCHAMW above and this is the site of the Iron Age settlement, shaped by earthen work banks and ditches, a place only a few will have seen or could locate. But there are more tantalising clues.
I was privileged, recently, to have been provided with a batch of aerial photographs (courtesy of Welsh Government). While viewing them, I examined an area that showed the Wenallt, purely to find what the LIDAR image had exposed. This aerial photograph of 1962, shows the area with the Iron Age settlement clearly visible, well before the area became overgrown. It is identified by ditches and raised banks, with the edge of the reservoir in shot at the bottom of the photo.
But what is exciting is that the defined area of a settlement could well be a lot bigger, covering a far wider area than had previously been identified, just as your instincts tell you when you are actually up there. In later aerial photos, the area is more overgrown and definition of a settlement is lost.
While the Caer Heritage project rightly gets the attention it deserves, should Y Wenallt get more interest? Is there a case perhaps for this site to attract a more in-depth study and wider research? What do you think?
Terry Chard
