Pen Dinas (Welsh pronunciation: [pɛn ˈdiːnas]) is a large hill in Penparcau, on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales, (just south of Aberystwyth) upon which an extensive Iron Age, Celtic hillfort is situated. The site can easily be reached on foot from Aberystwyth town centre and is accessible via a series of well marked trails. Boasting a commanding position at the confluence of the River Ystwyth and Afon Rheidol, it has been described as "the pre-eminent hillfort on the Cardigan Bay coast".[1]
The name is more correctly 'Dinas Maelor', this could be translated into English as 'Maelor's Fort' or 'Maelor's City'. Tradition refers to it as being the fort of the giant Maelor Gawr.[2] Pen Dinas strictly speaking only refers to the highest point, 'Pen y Dinas' or 'Head of the Citadel', (upon which the Wellington Monument now stands). The southern summit is also where, in the Bronze Age, a burial mound was erected.
There is a large stone monument dedicated to the Duke of Wellington which was built in the 1850's upon Pen Dinas overlooking Cardigan Bay and the town of Aberystwyth. The monument takes the form of an eighteen metre high upended cannon. It is thought that the column was intended to carry at statue at the top, which was never installed due to financial difficulties.[3][4]
For the official Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales record relating to Pen Dinas Hillfort see [5]
- ^ Driver, Tony, The Hillforts of Cardigan Bay, p. 127, 2016, ISBN 978-1-910839-03-4)
- ^ Wmffre, Iwan, 'Pendinas', The Place-Names of Cardiganshire, Vol. III, pp. 993-994 (BRA British Series 379 (III), 2004, ISBN 1-84171-665-0)
- ^ "English – Coflein".
- ^ "Aberystwyth residents help archaeologists excavate Pen Dinas hillfort". BBC News. October 2021.
- ^ Pen Dinas Hillfort http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/92236/details/pendinas-hillfort-aberystwyth