Skip to main content

In 2008 Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust acquired the magnificent Beacon Ring hillfort, which crowns Long Mountain in eastern Montgomeryshire, Powys. The main aim of this venture was to ensure the preservation and long-term management of the site and its environs for the benefit and enjoyment of the general public. We are actively researching and managing this monument to act as an exemplar for conservation. The interior of the hillfort is currently densely wooded. Now that these trees are reaching maturity, vegetation management on the monument is of high importance.

Little appears to be known about the hillfort – not even the origin of its name. But with extensive views far across mid Wales and Shropshire it would certainly have been a good site for a beacon. Its Welsh name – Caer Digoll (‘Digoll camp’) – comes from Cefn Digoll (‘unbroken ridge’) the Welsh name for Long Mountain.  Excavations in 2017-2019 revealed that the hillfort was likely to have been constructed in the middle Iron Age, between 300 and 400 BCE.

The hillfort lies close to the ancient border between England and Wales and appears in a number of early myths and legends. One of the earliest of these is in the 9th- or 10th-century saga known as Canu Llywarch Hen (‘The song of Llywarch the Old’), in a passage about hostilities in the 7th century between the British prince Cadwallon and Edwin, the Anglo-Saxon, king of Northumbria. Beacon Ring is described, somewhat poetically, as the lluest or camp of Cadwallon where he stayed for seven months, carrying out seven skirmishes daily.

From the air you can clearly see the E II R monogram, picked out in conifer and beech trees inside the hillfort defences, planted to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953, many of which have now reached maturity. The compounds to the right of the hillfort house the two tall masts visible on the skyline of Long Mountain. These were built in the 1970s and 80s, the taller of the two housing the main television transmitter for mid Wales.

Since 2008, we have used Beacon Ring to train students in topographical and geophysical surveys and archaeological excavation, and have carried out vegetation clearance with volunteers, corporate partners, and the Wales Probation Trust.

How to get to Beacon Ring

One of the most enjoyable ways of reaching Beacon Ring is to take the road uphill from Leighton and then join the Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail, at SJ 256053, opposite Pant-y-bwch. This walk of just over half a mile approaches the hillfort entrance from the south-west and gives magnificent views westwards over the Severn valley and mid Wales.

Related Projects

St Mary, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire (PRN 3326)

[:en] ST MARY, HAVERFORDWEST, PEMBROKESHIRE (PRESELI)  Dyfed PRN 3326  RB No. 3264  NGR SM 9519 1557  Listed Building No. 12226  Grade A listed (1998) Listed Grade I First… View

St Mary, Brongwyn, Ceredigion (PRN 5230)

[:en] ST MARY, BRONGWYN, CEREDIGION Dyfed PRN 5230  RB No. 3274  NGR SN 2875 4367  Not listed (1998) (2021) Church now redundant. Internal work being carried presumed to… View

St James, Dale, Pembrokeshire (PRN 3011)

[:en]    ST JAMES, DALE, PEMBROKESHIRE (PRESELI)  Dyfed PRN 3011  RB No. 3366  NGR SM 8062 0580  Listed Building No. 19129  Grade II listed (1998)  First Listed in… View