This spur-like pinnacle of a geographic feature, well chosen by it's designers as a site, it sits 385 metres above the valley floor, only 4 miles from, and above a small Roman fort, Caerhun, that later became a church. It also sits not that far from the Roman Road, that goes from near here to Abergwyngregyn across the hills by the coast of North central to North West Wales. A route that is still today used as a great footpath by hikers. 

The site looks north and south, and east across the valley floor,. To the north towards Glan Conwy, you can see the Conway estuary curve. To the south you spy towards Llanrwst, or just north of there anyhow. When looking to the west, you see moorland, and hills, about it's height, and beyond there, the mountains over double it's height, that the Roman Road, passes through at special points, of the Carneddau and Snowdonia. 

The stone walls or ramparts of Pen Y Gaer are still standing, with sheep often standing amongst them like guards of this heathery fort. The walls flow around in a circle, using the steep gradient beyond most sides well. 

Pen Y Gaer has a chevaux-de-frise, which is a large amount of stones pointing up in sharp ways outside of the perimeter of the fort that would make it more difficult for cavalry to sprint across the moors at the defences. Strange when cavalry was not around in Britain at the time, most historians say that in the Pre Roman Iron Age, Britain did not have cavalry, and only had chariots as a equine weapon of war. So a rare method for Britain.  

The best route up to the fort, is to drive up from Rowen on a single lane road, and if you have a good 4 by 4 this can be done, where you park at a very small car park, and road side. I have done this before, but as I do not have a 4 by 4, I parked there, and walked the distance up the road, most recently, to picture the site for the pages. 

This webpage was written in October 2020.

 

The pictures on this page, are all pictures taken by me, you would need permission off me to use them, although it would not be that difficult for you to take pictures of this quality yourself, but I like them.   

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They include pictures of Pen Y Gaer, from the field 39 metres below it to the west, just before the hills start rising to it's height, and before the mountains. Then they include one half way down the valley to the south of it, on the valley floor, and some others of it's walls, and a entrance area.

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If memory serves me right, when Labour banned fox hunting in the early 2000s, in England and Wales, some of the fox hunter advocates put bonfires on sites such as this one, I am sure obeying health and safety and such ways, as part of their protest. I better say, so I am pro animal rights and all, and support us being nice to animals, but still like meat, but I gotta say, hmm another interesting link with history. As a lot if you see what is said about Titterstone in that famous poem, wonder if that was what hillforts were partly for, that kind of thing, beacons and all that. Though I must stress I am for fire safety 100% so would not do that kind of thing myself, and would say people must always get permission off Cadw or landowners, whoever they need to get it off, I dont know, and be super safe if doing such stuff, and I love foxes, wonderful creatures. It always makes my day when I see these sleek animals. Though I 100% percent forgive the fox hunters I am sure they are nice people really, though I would not support fox hunting as a activity myself at all. 

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I also have a drawing by myself, with my amateur level, of such things, but it is my attempt to convey a attack on the fort. 

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The walls are pretty well standing, as it is not next door to a village or town, and so has survived better than some forts. There is some level of damage, but very little for a fort that is over 2000 years old, a typical Iron Age site.  I should also add that  as most locals know Gaer is a word for a castle or fortification in Welsh, and Pen, is one of a number of terms that can refer to a headland or hill, and Y is like the.