# Slwch Tump

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{{Short description|Hillfort in Powys, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Slwch Tump
  |native_name = 
  |alternate_name = Pen Cevn-y-Gaer
  |image = Slwch Tump - geograph.org.uk - 344523.jpg
  |alt = 
  |caption = This level bench in the hillside is the southern edge of Slwch Tump hillfort
  |map =
  |map_caption = Slwch Tump in Powys, Wales
  |map_type = Wales Powys
  |map_alt = Slwch Tump in Powys, Wales
  |map_size = 
  |location = 
  |region = 
  |coordinates = {{coord|51.946059|-3.37483|display=inline}}
  |type = defended enclosure<ref name="Coflein"/>
  |part_of = 
  |length = 187&nbsp;m<ref name="Coflein"/>
  |width = 242&nbsp;m<ref name="Coflein"/>
  |area = 
  |height = 
  |builder = 
  |material = 
  |built = 
  |abandoned = 
  |epochs = Iron Age
  |cultures = 
  |dependency_of = 
  |occupants = 
  |event = 
  |excavations = 
  |archaeologists = 
  |condition = 
  |ownership = 
  |management = 
  |public_access = accessible by public right of way<ref name="BreconbeaconsIronAge"/>
  |website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
  |notes = 
}}
'''Slwch Tump''', also known as Slwch Camp and formerly known as Pen Cevn-y-Gaer,<ref name="Lewis1845"/> is an [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) [hillfort](/source/hillfort) close to [Brecon](/source/Brecon) in [Powys](/source/Powys), [Wales](/source/Wales).

==Site==
The enclosure is located on a hill composed of [sandstone](/source/sandstone)s of the [St Maughans Formation](/source/Old_Red_Sandstone)<ref name="BreconbeaconsBrecon"/> with an elevation of 807&nbsp;ft (246&nbsp;m), about 0.8&nbsp;miles (1.3&nbsp;km) east of the confluence of the Rivers [Usk](/source/River_Usk) and [Honddu](/source/Afon_Honddu_(Powys)) in the centre of Brecon.<ref name="Coflein"/> The hillfort can be accessed by a public footpath which joins Slwch Lane north of the site and loops around the rampart.<ref name="BreconbeaconsIronAge"/>

==Description==
The hillfort is smaller than the one on nearby [Pen-y-crug](/source/Pen-y-crug)<ref name="Lewis1845"/> and is irregular but roughly rectangular in shape, measuring about 187&nbsp;m by 242&nbsp;m, with a single encircling rampart.<ref name="Coflein"/> [Samuel Lewis](/source/Samuel_Lewis_(publisher)) described it in 1845 as "defended by a double fosse, which is in some places nearly destroyed".<ref name="Lewis1845"/> Its entrance is on the north-west side, towards Brecon.<ref name="Coflein"/>

Today its form is somewhat obscured by hedges and trees.<ref name="BreconbeaconsIronAge"/> Within the hillfort area there are remains of abandoned quarries for building stone.<ref name="Cpat1173"/>

==St Eluned==
{{main|Saint Eluned}}
A small church stood for some time at Slwch Tump, marking the place where [Saint Eluned](/source/Saint_Eluned) was supposedly beheaded. Eluned was one of the daughters of the 5th-century King [Brychan](/source/Brychan) of [Brycheiniog](/source/Brycheiniog) and, as a [Christian](/source/Celtic_Christianity), she refused a pagan prince's marriage proposal and fled from him. At Slwch Tump, the local lord permitted her to build herself a cell, where she lived until her spurned suitor found her. As she ran from him, he cut off her head with his sword. A [spring of water](/source/Holy_well) appeared and her cell became a small church, which remained on the site, latterly in a ruinous state, until 1698.<ref name="Farmer2004"/> Before the [Reformation](/source/English_Reformation), the spring was associated with healing and other miracles.

==See also==
*[List of hillforts in Wales](/source/List_of_hillforts_in_Wales)

==References==
<references>

<ref name="BreconbeaconsBrecon">{{cite web|url=http://www.breconbeacons.org/fforestfawr/community-pages/brecon|title=Brecon|publisher=Fforest Fawr Geopark|accessdate=17 November 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="BreconbeaconsIronAge">{{cite web|url=http://www.breconbeacons.org/fforestfawr/understanding/archaeology-industrial-heritage/iron-age|title=Iron Age|publisher=Fforest Fawr Geopark|accessdate=17 November 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="Coflein">{{cite web|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/92032/details/SLWCH+CAMP;SLWCH+TUMP;GINGER+WALL/|title=Slwch Camp; Slwch Tump; Ginger Wall|author=J.Wiles|date=24 July 2002|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|accessdate=17 November 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="Cpat1173">{{cite web|url=http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/histland/usk/1173.htm|title=Historic Landscape Characterisation - Middle Usk Valley - Brecon and Llanddew communities, Powys|publisher=Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust|date=19 June 2012|accessdate=17 November 2012}}</ref>
<ref name="Farmer2004">{{cite book|author=David Hugh Farmer|title=The Oxford Dictionary Of Saints|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cRjn9aC8zhIC&pg=PT56|accessdate=17 November 2012|date=23 September 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-860949-0|page=56}}</ref>
<ref name="Lewis1845">{{cite book|author=Samuel Lewis|title=A topographical dictionary of Wales,: comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, chapelaries, and townships, with historical and statistical descriptions: embellished with engravings of the arms of the bishoprics, and of the arms and seals of the various cities and municipal corporations: and illustrated by maps of the different counties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA421|accessdate=17 November 2012|year=1845|publisher=S. Lewis|page=421}}</ref>

</references>

Category:Hillforts in Powys
Category:Hillforts in the Brecon Beacons National Park
Category:Brecon

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Slwch Tump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slwch_Tump) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slwch_Tump?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.