GWYNEDD Archaeological Trust held a successful open day on Saturday (September 4), showing the public its excavations at a prehistoric hillfort.

About 260 people attended the event, and saw the work the trust has undertaken at Dinas Dinlle coastal hillfort, which overlooks the sea and the Caernarfonshire coastal plain.

Findings at the ancient monument, including fragments of Roman pottery, also suggest occupation in the Roman period, while the hillfort also formed part of a golf course in the early 20th century.

The fort, which is now owned by the National Trust, has one side at particular risk of erosion, which is where Gwynedd Archaeological Trust is concentrating most of its efforts.

Dan Amor, outreach and education officer at the trust said: “We had 500 last time, but we toned down the advertising for it this time because we’re aware that COVID is still around, so we expected that much.

“We knew it was a bit safer outside, but we still took it into account.

“We were giving them a tour of the hillfort and then a tour of our excavations in the hillfort. The big attraction there was the remains of a large iron age roundhouse; people got to see that before it gets covered up next week.

“We were overwhelmed with positive feedback. I’d never seen a response like that on social media. We were inundated with people saying how much they’d enjoyed the day, so that was nice.”

Formed in 1974, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust is one of four Welsh trusts working to help protect, record and interpret all aspects of the historic environment.

It is a registered organisation with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.