Carn Alw

FOEL DRYGARN AND CARN ALW

These are prominent hills near the eastern end of Mynydd Presely, both of which have been used as sites for Iron age hill forts. Foel Drygarn (translated as "bare hill with three burials") was used both in the Bronze Age and in the succeeding Iron Age. It has ditches and two rings of stonework crowning its summit, designed to discourage intruders. Inside the defenses there are no fewer than 220 hut circles in which lived a large Celtic population from about 300 BC.

Carn Alw is a small fortress with one of the most unusual defenses in Britain -- a "chevauz de frise" of tilted sharp stones designed to repel an attack by mounted warriors. The rock on which the fort is based is a very beautiful one but the settlement site within the fort is so tiny that only about 20 people could have lived there.

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