Clegyr Boia
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Clegyr Boia
|alternate_name = Clegyr Fwya
|image = Clegyr Boia, view east - geograph.org.uk - 738802.jpg
|caption = Clegyr Boia. The eastern end of the hillfort/rock mound looking eastwards, towards the city of St Davids
|alt = View of Clegyr Boia. The eastern end of the hillfort/rock mound looking over to the city of St Davids clustered around the cathedral at its core, the lowest point.
|location = near St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales
|coordinates = {{coord|51.8785|-5.2885 |type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|type = Settlement, Hillfort
|cultures = Celtic Brittonic
|excavations = 1902, 1943
|archaeologists = Sabine Baring-Gould (1902),
Audrey Williams (1943)
|public_access = Yes
|condition = excavated site
|website = [http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/305389/details/CLEGYR+BOIA/ Coflein]
}}
Clegyr Boia, or Clegyr Fwya, is a prehistoric site on the St David's peninsula, Pembrokeshire, Wales, {{convert|33|to|65|ft}} above the surrounding area.{{cite web|title=Clegyr Boia |url=http://www.cofiadurcahcymru.org.uk/arch/query/page.php?watprn=DAT2655&dbname=dat&tbname=core |accessdate=21 April 2014 |publisher=Dyfed Archaeological Trust |date=September 2006 |work=Dyfed Archaeological Trust historic environmental record}}{{cite web|title=Personal names in place names |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/themes/pages/personalnames.shtml |accessdate=22 April 2014 |publisher=BBC |date=19 June 2013 |work=BBC Wales 'What's in a name' series |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130619161114/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/whatsinaname/sites/themes/pages/personalnames.shtml |archivedate=19 June 2013 }}{{cite book|title=The Celtic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 |author=Harry Mountain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MN9AQ9ZLZ2oC&dq=%22Clegyr+Boia%22&pg=PA1230 |accessdate=21 April 2014 |year=1998 |page=1230 |publisher=Universal Publishers |isbn=1-5811-2889-4 }} It is about {{convert|1|mi|km}} west of St Davids, and about {{convert|0.75|mi|km}} east of the Pembrokeshire coast. The hilltop's rocky outcrop contains evidence of Neolithic and Iron Age settlements.{{cite web|title=Clegyr Boia |url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/305389/details/CLEGYR+BOIA/ |accessdate=21 April 2014 |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |date=28 June 2007 |work=The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales website}} The site's nearest water source was Ffynnon Lygaid, a {{convert|1|ft|m|2}} deep pool, fed by a spring. Near the base of the outcrop's southern side, the pool is in a small hollow, measuring about {{convert|1|ft|m|2}} by {{convert|8|in|m|2}}.{{cite web|title=Medieval and early post-medieval holy wells: additional sites |url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/holywellsadditionalsites2012.pdf |page=17 |accessdate=23 April 2014 |publisher=Dyfed Archaeological Trust |date=2012 }} The site was excavated in 1902 by Sabine Baring-Gould, and by Audrey Williams, for the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate, in 1943.{{cite journal|title=British Museum, Natural Radiocarbon Measurements XI |url=https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/viewFile/581/586 |journal=Radiocarbon |volume=21 |issue=3 |page=343 |publisher=British Museum |date=1977 |accessdate=22 April 2014}}
The outcrop became the stronghold of a 6th-century CE Irish pirate named Boia, after whom (with clegyr ({{langx|en|crag}})) it is now called.
Neolithic
Evidence of Neolithic settlement in Wales is extremely uncommon. Megalithic burial chambers are normally the only Neolithic structures to survive.{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Davies|editor1-link=John Davies (historian) |editor2-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Jenkins |editor2-link=Nigel Jenkins |editor3-first=Menna |editor3-last=Baines|editor4-first=Peredur I. |editor4-last=Lynch|editor4-link=Peredur Lynch|encyclopedia=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6 |page=605 }} However, an excavation of the site by Sabine Baring-Gould, in 1903, showed the remains of rectangular and circular Neolithic dwellings. An associated midden has been dated to around 5500 years before present (BP), during the early to middle Neolithic.{{cite journal|title=Journal of Iberian archaeology, Volumes 8-10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TYjAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Clegyr+Boia%22 |accessdate=21 April 2014 |year=2006 |pages=78 & 79 |publisher=ADECAP }} Sherds of Neolithic round-bottomed pottery, polished stone axes and animal bones were also discovered.{{cite web|title=Clegyr Boia |url=http://www.pembrokeshirevirtualmuseum.co.uk/content.asp?nav=3657,3688,3701&parent_directory_id=101 |accessdate=21 April 2014 |publisher=Pembrokeshire County Council |date=24 June 2013}}{{cite book|title=Prehistoric Britain |authorlink=Timothy Darvill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KkeEAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Clegyr+Boia%22&pg=PA200 |location=Batsford |accessdate=21 April 2014 |year=1987 |page=57 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-4151-5135-X }} Baring-Gould thought the pottery may have been wheel-turned. No hearths were found within the dwellings. However, "substantial" charcoal deposits were found on the site, indicating fire was used, and carefully managed. Samples from the area of Neolithic occupation (hut and midden), radiocarbon dated in 1973, indicated a date of around 2370 BP, the beginning of La Tène culture, at the early British Iron Age, but were considered unacceptable by the National Museum Wales.
Iron Age
The hill's steep sides were augmented by a single earthen rampart, to form a defensive structure known as a hillfort. The outcrop's southern part was further enclosed by stone walls, roughly rectangular, and measuring about {{convert|280|ft|m|0}} by {{convert|100|ft|m|0}}. Built as a dry-stone wall, from stone rubble and earth, the ramparts stand about {{convert|2|ft|6|in|m|0}} above the enclosure floor.{{cite book|title=The Lives of the British saints; The saints of Wales and Cornwall and such Irish saints as have dedications in Britain |last1=Baring-Gould |first1=Sabine |authorlink1=Sabine Baring-Gould |last2=Fisher |first2=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MN9AQ9ZLZ2oC&dq=%22Clegyr+Boia%22&pg=PA1230 |accessdate=22 April 2014 |year=1908 |pages=298 & 299 |publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |isbn=9781581128949 |place=London }} Revetted with stone blocks, the walls varied between {{convert|9|ft|m|1}} and {{convert|15|ft|m|1}} wide and were "faced externally with large slabs set on end". According to Baring-Gould, the enclosure's original surface was {{convert|2|ft|6|in|m|0}} below its 1903 level. The enclosure's entrance may have been through a tunnel. Radiocarbon dated samples from near the hillfort entrance indicate a date of around 1950 BP (1 BCE), the late Iron Age.
References
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Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC
Category:Prehistoric sites in Pembrokeshire
Category:Populated places established in the 5th millennium BC
Category:Neolithic settlements
Category:Stone Age sites in Wales
Category:Hillforts in Pembrokeshire
Category:Former populated places in Wales