"The monument includes a small, circular, later prehistoric hillfort with two earth and rubble ramparts and ditches, and a sub-rectangular outwork covering the W entrance. The hillfort comprises a near-circular interior area, 127m by 117m (1.17ha), defined by a massive rampart, 10m wide and 2m high max., and outer ditch 10m wide and 2m deep max. An outer rampart and ditch of similar proportions runs concentric with the inner defences, with a featureless gap 9-18m wide between the inner defensive ditch and the outer rampart. The NNE sector of the outer rampart has been levelled. Breaks in these defences occur at the W and ENE sides, considered to be the sites of original entrances, where the ditches stop short and an early road, now a farm track, passes through. A break also occurs at the NNW side, though there the outer ditch of the outer defensive line continues across the break. The W entrance is protected by the surviving N half of a sub-rectangular outwork comprising a rampart 10m wide and 0.5m high, extending 40m W from the outermost ditch and returning 25m S to the track. The bank has an outer ditch 15m wide and 0.5m deep. The surface features of the SE quarter of the monument have been much reduced by recent ploughing but the line of the former rampart remains clearly visible as a surface undulation, while former surface traces of another outwork covering the ENE entrance, beyond the protected area, have been completely destroyed. Considerable information regarding the high quality and nature of sub-surface features of this monument comes from recent excavations in the hillfort's SW quarter, beyond the protected area of the monument, prior to its destruction by the erection of an extended farm building complex. These revealed extensive surviving structural features and occupation debris dating to the later Bronze Age and throughout the Iron Age, with evidence for re-occupation in the early post-Roman period. An old land surface preserved beneath the ramparts revealed Neolithic or Bronze Age occupation debris. It is considered that similar evidence survives throughout the area of the monument which is continuous with the excavated areas beyond. This hillfort has been identified by several authors with the 'kelliwic' referred to in early medieval Welsh literature; direct references to the hillfort date back to place-name evidence from the early 12th century and its earliest description dates to 1478; it recurs in most 19th century antiquarian references to Cornish antiquities, and for its archaeological importance and possible early historical connections, in most detailed reviews of Cornwall's history and monuments. Killibury Castle occupies the summit of a low hill in the rolling coastal belt between the River Camel estuary and Bodmin Moor. It has gentle slopes on all sides, dropping to the River Allen at the SE side. It is 3.75km E of the head of the Camel estuary and is close to the crossing point of two major cross-country routes: NW-SE across Cornwall using the Camel and Fowey valleys, and the NE-SW route along north Cornwall avoiding the high ground of Bodmin Moor. All modern hedges, the dumped rubble and building materials, the modern bridge for the track over the ditches, and the service trench carrying the water-pipe through the western outwork are excluded from the scheduling but the land beneath, including hedge-banks, is included. This monument is divided into two separate constraint areas."
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King Arthur's First Home?The concept of King Arthur's Capital is epitomised by the medieval Camelot, yet some of the earliest references to his court refer instead to the City of Celliwig, a name now associated with Killibury in Egloshayle, Cornwall.
The Tradition: According to the Mabinogion tale of Culhwch & Olwen, King Arthur's Royal Palace was at Celliwig in Cornwall. From here, one of his Warband, Drem, could see a gnat as far away as Scotland; while another, Medyr, could shoot an arrow through the legs of a wren in Ireland! The Welsh Triads tell how "Medrod came to Arthur's Court at Celliwig in Cerniw; he left neither food nor drink in the court that he did not consume. And he dragged Gwenhwyfar from her Royal chair, and then he struck a blow upon her". They, furthermore, state that this place was one of the "Three Tribal Thrones of the Island of Britain":
"Arthur as Chief Prince in Mynyw (or Aberffraw), and Dewi as Chief Bishop, and Mælgwn Gwynedd as Chief Elder;
Arthur as Chief Prince in Celliwig in Cerniw, and Bishop Bytwini as Chief Bishop, and Caradog Freichfras as Chief Elder;
Arthur as Chief Prince in Pen Rhionydd in the North, and Gerthmwl Wledig as Chief Elder, and Cyndeyrn Garthwys as Chief Bishop."Modern Archaeology: Castle Killibury or Kelly Rounds is a small banked and ditched fort with a defended Eastern entrance. Lesser associated earthworks stand both to the North and the South. It may be either of Iron or Dark Age Construction. Small-scale excavations have uncovered several sherds of imported Mediterranean pottery from the latter period, indicating that the site was, at least, refortified during the 5th and 6th centuries.
Possible Interpretations: The site of Celliwig has many Cornish claimants: Callington, Callywith, Gweek Wood, Barras Nose and Willapark. A place called Celliwig certainly once existed in Cerniw as a Cornishman named Thomas de Kellewik is recorded in 1302. Opinion, however, varies as to whether this can be identified as the Caellwic which St. Dunstan records as having been given to the Diocese of Sherborne, by King Egbert, in 830. Killibury's parish, Egloshayle, is supposedly named after the Church-of-St.Hail, a son of King Brychan of Brycheiniog (though this is too disputed). It is less impressive than other supposed Royal Dark Age sites from Western Britain. However, pottery imports from the Middle East would still indicate an important chief lived there. An Arthurian association seems unlikely though and, using the Welsh Triad entry, Barber and Pykitt suggest an alternative site for Celliwig: the hillfort of Llanmelin, near Caerwent, previously called Llan-y-Gelli. For, unlike the other two Tribal Thrones, Celliwig is associated with men from outside the area in which it is generally supposed to have lain. Bishop Bydwini may have been an early Bishop of Glywysing who gave his name to the Bedwin Sands, off the Gwent Coast. Caradog Freichfras is, of course, the notorious King of Gwent. Both are men of South Wales, and this Barber and Pykitt site as evidence that Gwent was part of an area known, like Cornwall, as Cernyw! The idea is well argued but lacks substance."
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