Penycloddiau

Penycloddiau is the largest hillfort in Wales, enclosing 19 hectares at 440m elevation in the Clwydian Range, Flintshire. University of Liverpool excavations (2012-2018) identified seven construction phases spanning from the Late Bronze Age through the Iron Age, including two successive palisade structures of oak and hazel from the 12th-9th centuries BC. A massive V-shaped rock-cut ditch 1.9m deep and ramparts reaching 5m wide were uncovered. Unusually for a hillfort, it has its own water spring within the enclosure, and around 70 roundhouse platforms have been identified.