Rhossili Down settlement

Nearest town:
Burry Port (11km N)
OS reference:
SS42328980
OS sheet:
159
Latitude:
51° 35' 3.98 N
Longitude:
4° 16' 34.29 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Rhossili Down settlement by thesweetcheat

Small “standing stone” marking the position of the well to the east of the settlement, near Sluxton Farm.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.3.2012)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 29, 2012
Image of Rhossili Down settlement by thesweetcheat

The semi-circular rubble bank, curving away from the round house.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.3.2012)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 29, 2012
Image of Rhossili Down settlement by thesweetcheat

Remains of a large round-house on the eastern slopes of Rhossili Down. Looking towards Llanmadoc Hill and Hardings Down.

Image credit: A. Brookes (20.3.2012)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 29, 2012

Articles

Rhossili Down settlement

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 25, 2012

The OS map shows the bridleway running right past a hut circle and what appears to be a semi-circular feature either side of it. Worth a look anyway. The bridleway crosses increasingly wet ground and it becomes apparent that these lower slopes are waterlogged and boggy, a complete contrast to the dry heather of the ridge above. But at length I reach the hut circle. It’s quite impressive, although wrecked; the walls appear to be made of double thickness of stones, almost creating a “cavity wall” effect. On either side, a low bank of stones stretches away, very like the robbed-down walls of a Dartmoor pound. The affinities between the sites on this peninsula and the southwest of England feel strong.

From here a footpath heads southeast across increasingly wet terrain, towards Sluxton farm. The map shows a “W” for a well here and sure enough, a small standing stone (maybe a metre tall) protrudes through the reedy grass to mark its position. There’s no mention of this on Coflein, and the stone could be relatively recent, but perhaps the builders of the hut circle on the slopes above knew this water source too?

Miscellaneous

Rhossili Down settlement
Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 20, 2012

Coflein description:

A circular enclosure, with an internal diameter of 13m, a denuded wall, or bank, 2.5-3.5m wide and 0.6m high internally with interior facing slabs visible, and having a SES entrance, is interpreted as a roundhouse. Springing from the house’s circuit to the E and SW are ruined stone walls which curve awat tothe SE to define a sector of a putative enclosure c.100m in diameter.
A rectilinear building in this situation would be interpreted as a hafod or lluest.

Sites within 20km of Rhossili Down settlement

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