Dinas Dinlle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dinas Dinlle |
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 Dinas Dinlle |
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 Dinas Dinlle
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| OS grid reference | SH435568 |
| Community |
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| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CAERNARFON |
| Postcode district | LL54 |
| Dialling code | 01286 |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament |
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| Welsh Assembly |
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| Dinas Dinlle | |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Iron Age hillfort |
| Country | Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°05′10″N 4°20′11″W / 53.086034°N 4.336252°W |
| Technical details | |
| Size | 150 m x 110m |
Dinas Dinlle is a small village in north-west Wales. It is located in Gwynedd, a county in Wales. Historically, it was part of Caernarfonshire.
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Exploring Dinas Dinlle
Dinas Dinlle has a large beach with both sand and pebbles. When the tide is out, you can see huge areas of sand. The beach offers amazing views. You can look out towards the Llŷn Peninsula and also towards Ynys Llanddwyn (Llanddwyn Island) on Anglesey. This whole area is special. It's called a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This means it's protected because of its important wildlife or geology. In 2011, about 78% of the people living here spoke Welsh.
The Local Airport
A small airport, Caernarfon Airport, is very close to Dinas Dinlle. This airport was once an RAF base during the Second World War. RAF stands for Royal Air Force. Today, the airport is mostly used for flying lessons. People also take pleasure flights from here. There is also a caravan park nearby for visitors.
Protecting the Coast
The sea is slowly eroding, or wearing away, the coast at Dinas Dinlle. To help stop this, a special wall called a groyne was built in 1994. However, by 2013, some people thought the groyne had made the problem worse. So, plans were made to make the groyne shorter. They also planned to remove some large rocks. This work was important to protect the beach. It also helps to keep the Wales Coast Path safe for walkers.
The Ancient Hillfort
Above the beach is a cliff called Boncan Dinas. On top of this cliff is an ancient Iron Age hillfort. It's also called Dinas Dinlle. A hillfort is a type of fort built on a hill. This fort has also been worn away by the sea over time. Now, only a double semi-circular wall remains.
Discoveries at the Fort
Archaeologists have found interesting things at the fort. They found Roman pottery. This suggests that people lived here again around 200 or 300 CE. The fort is about 150 meters long and 110 meters wide. It has an entrance on the south-west side. Some people think a Roman lighthouse might have stood here long ago. You can also see small dips in the ground. These might be where Iron Age huts once stood. A mound nearby could be the remains of an ancient burial site.
In 2019, archaeologists dug deeper at Dinas Dinlle. They found the remains of buildings inside the hillfort. One discovery was a large stone-built roundhouse. It was about 13 meters across. Its walls were over 2 meters thick. This might be one of the biggest roundhouses ever found in Wales! The digs also uncovered Roman coins and pottery. These items dated from around 200 CE to 300 CE. The Gwynedd Archaeological Trust and the RCAHMW did this important work. They received money from the EU 'CHERISH' project to help fund their research.
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