Myarth

Myarth is a hill in the Usk Valley in the county of Powys in South Wales, about 2 miles west of Crickhowell. Its summit at 292 metres (958 ft) is covered by trees, whilst the larger part of its slopes are also wooded. It is listed as a Marilyn. Myarth has an elongate form commonly ascribed to erosion by the west-to-east movement of the Usk Valley glacier during successive ice ages. The River Usk runs along the foot of the hill on its southern side. Myarth forms a prominent feature in many views over the Usk Valley and often features in commercial photography of the area.

Myarth
Myarth viewed from the west
Highest point
Elevation	292 m (958 ft)
Prominence	164 m (538 ft)
Parent peak	Allt yr Esgair
Listing	Marilyn in Wales
Naming
Language of name	Welsh
Geography
Location	Powys, Wales
OS grid	SO170208

Though it is ringed by public roads—the A40 to the north and a minor road to the south—there is no public access to the hill itself, which is in private ownership.^[1]

In 2016, the hill was used as the location for a segment of an episode of the motoring series The Grand Tour.

The summit of the hill once contained a prehistoric hill fort, known as Myarth Camp, now largely obliterated by trees. It is thought to date from the Iron Age (c. 800 BC – AD 74). It had a double vallum, or rampart, and measured around 350m WNW/ESE by 210m, with an entrance at the east end.^[2]

In the valley directly below the hill fort, half a mile to the north, a Roman fort was established in the mid-70s AD, when the Romans subdued the local tribe, the Silures.^[3] The fort, known today as Pen-y-Gaer, remained in use until the mid-2nd century AD.^[4] Near the Roman fort, on its south side, a civilian settlement or vicus grew up, the traces of which are mostly buried below ground today; it was occupied between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.^[5]

On the south side of Myarth Hill a ford, now no longer used, once crossed the River Usk to Cyffredin, a hamlet near Llangynidr,^[6] from where a road passes over Llangynidr Mountain to Ebbw Vale.