This article is about the hill above Church Stretton. For the hillfort near Chapel Lawn, see Caer Caradoc (Chapel Lawn).
Caer Caradoc Hill
Caer Caradoc
Highest point
Elevation
1,506 ft (459 m)
Prominence
889 ft (271 m)
Listing
Marilyn
Naming
Native name
Caer Caradog(Welsh)
Geography
Location
Shropshire, England
Parent range
Shropshire Hills
OS grid
SO477953
Topo map
OS Landranger 137, 138
Looking up towards Caer Caradoc from Church Stretton.
Caer Caradoc (Welsh: Caer Caradog, the fort of Caradog) is a hill in the English county of Shropshire.[1] It overlooks the town of Church Stretton and the village of All Stretton and offers panoramic views to the north towards the Wrekin, east to Wenlock Edge, and west over the nearby Long Mynd. It is not to be confused with another hillfort of the same name 1 km west of Chapel Lawn near Bucknell.[2]
Caer Caradoc rises sharply out of a narrow valley known as the Stretton Gap. It is the highest point on a high, narrow, northeast–southwest "whaleback ridge", sometimes called a hogsback ridge. The Wrekin is a very similarly shaped hill and on the same alignment, some 10 miles (16 km) to the north-east. Caer Caradoc can be fairly easily climbed from Church Stretton but the ascent/descent is steep; a more gentle climb is from the village of Cardington, which lies two miles (3 km) east.
Much of the hill is composed from volcanic rocks, like the Wrekin and other hills, formed of narrow ridges of resistant Precambrian rock thrust upwards by movements deep down along the Church Stretton Fault. This fault line runs from Staffordshire in England to Pembrokeshire in Wales and can be seen on Ordnance Survey maps as a line of springs on this hill.[3]
Caer Caradoc cave, near the summit
The summit has an Ancient British Iron Age[1] or late Bronze Age hill fort. It is this which the hill is named after – Caer Caradog in Welsh meaning Caradog's fort. Local legend has it that this was the site of Caratacus' last battle against the Roman legions during the Roman conquest of Britain, and that after the battle he hid in the cave near its summit. However, there is no river nearby and Tacitus refers to a river in his description of the site.[4][5]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caer Caradoc.
^ abHistoric England. "Caer Caradoc large multivallate hillfort, associated causeway and Caractacus' Cave on the summit of Caer Caradoc Hill (1010723)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
^Historic England. "Caer Caradoc: a small multivallate hillfort (1021067)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
^"Church Stretton fault". Shropshire Geoplogy. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
^"Ancient Worlds - The legend of Caractacus". Archived from the original on 22 August 2021.
CaerCaradoc (Welsh: Caer Caradog, the fort of Caradog) is a hill in the English county of Shropshire. It overlooks the town of Church Stretton and the...
Long Mynd is Pole Bank (1,693 ft, 516 m); this and the adjacent hill of CaerCaradoc (1,506 ft, 459 m) are classed as Marilyns. The name Long Mynd means "long...
garrisoned throughout the 50s. Legends place Caratacus' last stand at either CaerCaradoc near Church Stretton or British Camp in the Malvern Hills, but the description...
Stretton Gap (or Dale) for thousands of years; an Iron Age hillfort on CaerCaradoc overlooks the town. The name "Stretton" is derived from the Old English...
In geology, Caradoc Series is the name introduced by Roderick Murchison in 1839 for the sandstone series of CaerCaradoc in Shropshire, England. It is...
century. It has also been suggested that Caburn may come from the Welsh 'Caer Bryn' or 'Stronghold hill', yet this is unlikely and widely discredited....
in the Welsh Chronicle of the Britons as Caer-Caradog: 135 or Gradawc (Old Welsh: kaer gradaỽc) and as Caer-Wallawg.: 150–151 Bishop Ussher argued for...
Ninth was one of two legions that defeated the forces of Caratacus at CaerCaradoc. Around the same year, the legion constructed a fort, Lindum Colonia...
northeast of Church Stretton. It is situated between two prominent hills: CaerCaradoc to the south and The Lawley to the north. The elevation of the hamlet...
other geologically important exposures such as those in the area of CaerCaradoc. Contrary to a common misconception, the Wrekin has never been a volcano...
was also one of the legions that defeated Caratacus at the Battle of CaerCaradoc, after which, from the AD 50s, it was encamped at Camulodunum, with a...
Ashbrook. To the west of All Stretton is the Long Mynd, and to the east is CaerCaradoc. The village does not lie in the parish of All Stretton, which is to...
sensitive/protected areas of the Mynd. One of the most famous hills is the CaerCaradoc, at 459 metres (1,506 ft) which is just by the village of All Stretton...
important Roman site, or Church Stretton which also has an Iron Age fort on CaerCaradoc Hill. Notes "Herefordshire Beacon/". Peakery. Retrieved 9 August 2015...
British Celtic tribes. Roman invasion of Britain begins 50 – Battle of CaerCaradoc – British chieftain Caractacus is defeated and captured by the Romans...
of Caradoc's fortress who in the first century AD resisted the Roman invasion of the Silures territories around 48-50 AD. There is a CaerCaradoc tumulus...
west. The Stiperstones and Shelve lie to the immediate north-east, with CaerCaradoc and the Long Mynd to the east. There is a large Bronze Age cairn near...
Welsh Kingdom of Powys; known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. As 'Caer Guricon' it is a possible Shrewsbury was the site of the seat of the Kingdom...
including the Battle of the Medway, the Battle of the Thames, the Battle of CaerCaradoc and the Battle of Mona. Following a general uprising in which the Britons...
millennium BC, and was a stronghold of the Celtic chieftain Caractacus (CaerCaradoc is said to be named after him). The area was probably part of the "Military"...
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