{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox historic site |name = Craig Rhiwarth |native_name = |alternate_name = |image = Craig Rhiwarth 477527.jpg |image_size = 240px |alt = |caption = |map_type = Wales Powys |map_alt = |elevation = {{cvt|532|m}} |location = Near Llangynog, Wales |region = |coordinates = {{coord|52|49|58|N|3|24|7|W|display=inline,title|type:landmark_region:GB}} |gbgridref = SJ 056 270 |type = Hillfort |part_of = |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = |abandoned = |epochs = Bronze Age<br />Iron Age |cultures = |dependency_of = |occupants = |event = |excavations = |archaeologists = |condition = |ownership = |public_access = |website = |notes = }} '''Craig Rhiwarth''' is a mountain in the Berwyn range, in Powys (formerly Montgomeryshire), Wales, overlooking the village of Llangynog to the south. On the summit is an Iron Age hillfort, and there are remains of slate quarrying on the southern slopes.
==Prehistoric remains== The altitude of Craig Rhiwarth is {{convert|532|m|ft}};<ref>[http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/ Hill Bagging] Retrieved 31 October 2017.</ref> the hillfort is one of the highest in Wales. The size of the enclosure is about {{convert|850|m|ft}} east to west by {{convert|400|–|500|m|ft}}. The site has precipitous slopes on all sides except the north: on this side there is a ruinous stone wall above a scarp. There is a simple entrance near the centre of the wall and a slanting entrance at the west end.<ref name=houlder>Christopher Houlder. ''Wales: An Archaeological Guide''. Faber and Faber, 1978. Page 89.</ref><ref name=coflein>{{Coflein|num=306533|desc=Craig Rhiwarth, Hillfort|access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref>
Within this area are the foundations of about 170 circular stone structures, of diameter {{convert|4|–|12|m|ft}}. It is thought that the settlement may have begun in the late Bronze Age and continued into the Iron Age, and that its function probably ceased by the time of the Roman conquest in the 1st century A.D. There are also a few rectangular ''hafodydd'', probably of medieval date, relating to seasonal settlement.<ref name=coflein/><ref name=cpat>[http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/histland/tanat/1005.htm Historic Landscape Characterisation. The Tanat Valley: Craig Rhiwarth, Llangynog, Powys] The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 1 November 2017.</ref>
==Slate quarries== On the southern slopes of Craig Rhiwarth are the remains of slate quarries. A, quarry is known to have been there by 1705. There was much activity in the early 19th century, but this declined later in the century; there was revival in the early 20th century, when the Tanat Valley Light Railway opened. Final closure was in 1940–41.<ref>{{Coflein|num=40609|desc=Craig Rhiwarth Slate Quarries, Cwm Pennant|access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref>
==See also== * Hillforts in Britain * List of Scheduled prehistoric Monuments in Powys (Montgomeryshire)
==References== {{commons category|Craig Rhiwarth, Powys}} {{reflist}}
Category:Hillforts in Powys Category:Mountains and hills of Powys Category:Scheduled monuments in Powys Category:Slate industry in Wales