Castell Henllys (Welsh, 'castle of the old court') is an important archaeological site in north Pembrokeshire. The Iron Age hillfort has been the subject of an ongoing excavation for more than twenty years, accompanied by an exercise in reconstruction archaeology whereby experiments in prehistoric farming have been practised. Four roundhouses and a granary have been reconstructed on their original Iron Age foundations, some 2,000 years old, the only site in Britain where this has been done.

To the north of the site, where the entrance was, there are significant earthworks in the shape of several ditches and banks. Inside these fortifications, archaeologists have found evidence for numerous Iron Age roundhouses dating to between 500 and 100BC. Adjacent to the fort they discovered a farmstead settlement, which is believed to have been occupied throughout the Romano- British period.

During the summer the site provides training for young archaeologists and is a popular visitor attraction. It is owned by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

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Founded: 500-100 BCE
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in United Kingdom

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Fiona Collins (11 months ago)
We visited Castell Henllys today with our young rescue dog while on holiday in the area. The staff are super friendly and helpful (and were brilliant with our lively over-friendly boy). The walks to and from the village are beautiful, the iron age village is really interesting and the sit in general is very well maintained. We stopped for a cuppa and cake in the cafe before we left, the prices are very very reasonable and the cakes are amazing! Very much a dog friendly venue and well worth a visit if you're in the area.
jake morag (2 years ago)
Lovely experience well worth a visit. Includes a very nice cafe, friendly and informative staff, and a beautifully reconstructed iron age village and hill fort. As we visited around Christmas, there we're no activities for children, but we still had a great day out.
Chris Owen (2 years ago)
Our two kids (11 and 13) LOVED the Iron Age Village (and so did we). It's mostly outdoors, and we benefited from a sunny day, so if it's cold or wet, dress appropriately for the iron age. It really felt like a step back to a different age, with displays, activities, explanations, and interesting information. The staff were passionate, informed, interesting, talented, and engaged the children and adults at every step. The cost of tickets also felt very inexpensive for everything we were able to do there. Thank you Castell Henllys Iron Age Village, one of the highlights of our year, and our girls have been talking about going back again for the last month!
Vintage Chic Freak (2 years ago)
Was a last minute decision to visit as I found it on a local Google search the night before while on holiday. I took my 15 and 16 year old daughters and we all loved it. The village was wonderful and really quite surprising just from the sheer size of the huts. The villagers were extremely knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about what they do. They were happy to answer any questions visitors may have had. The only drawback was that we didn't have time to see everything. We watched and joined in with the weaponry demonstration given by a wonderfully captivating man, and watched another demonstration by an older very interesting gentleman on the use of fire and the methods used to create it. We did miss the bread making, crafting demo's and joining of the tribe though due to time restraints as our session was 10am-1pm. However the entry fee was very reasonable so if we are ever in the area again we would happily visit again to see what we missed. There was some cool stuff in the gift shop and the cafe food was great although it was a bit of a wait for food to arrive but they were very busy to be fair. Would absolutely recommend if you have a few hours to spare, go check it out.
Amelia Kilvington (2 years ago)
Imaginative, educational and entertaining. Brilliant value for money with a family ticket well under £20 and a fabulous cafe on site. We loved our visit and it is well worth booking a free tour, they happen twice across each day. Be prepared to leave with your head full of Iron Age tales and smelling of well seasoned wood smoke.
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