Caer Drewyn facts for kids
Caer Drewyn is an ancient hillfort. It was built a very long time ago, during the Iron Age. You can find it north of Corwen, in Denbighshire, Wales.
This hillfort has a big stone wall, called a rampart. It has two ways to get in, one on the west and one on the north. Near the north-east entrance, there's a special room that might have been for guards. There's also a deep ditch around it, which helped protect the fort.
Exploring Caer Drewyn
Caer Drewyn is the most southern hillfort in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It sits on a hill between Llangollen and Corwen. It's right above where the River Dee and the River Alwen meet.
The very first building here was a small fenced area. It was built next to a natural rock. Today, you can only see it as a grassy bank. Later, a bigger fortress was built. It had walls made of dry stones, not earth like other hillforts nearby. The whole site covers about three hectares (that's like three rugby fields!).
There are two main entrances that curve inwards. One is at the highest point of the fort. It might have had a guardhouse next to it. The other entrance is on the west side. Near it, you can see the remains of a rectangular building. Outside the main fort, there's another fenced area. Here, you can find stone foundations. These might have been where huts once stood.
A Look at History
Caer Drewyn is an Iron Age fort. It dates back to around 500 BC. But people kept using it as a defensive spot for a long time after that!
Stories say that Owain Gwynedd, a powerful Welsh prince, used the fort. This was in 1165. He was trying to stop Henry II of England from invading Wales.
Later, in 1400, Owain Glyndŵr is thought to have gathered his soldiers here. This was after he declared himself the King of Wales.
In the late 1600s, a Welsh expert named Edward Lhuyd wrote about Caer Drewyn. He said it was "a place where they kept their cattle in war time." This shows it was still important for safety even then.
