The monument includes a later prehistoric cliff castle situated on a
promontory projecting west into the Atlantic north of Mawgan Porth. The
site has level and moderately sloping ground on top of the promontory, and
steep high cliffs with a narrow ridge projecting seaward below. In plan
the cliff castle is roughly crescent-shaped, its irregular outline
reflecting the indented course of the cliffs. It measures up to
approximately 200m across north-south by 75m east-west. Around the
landward side it has two concentric ramparts, each with an external ditch,
running north-south across the neck of the promontory with a slight
outward curve.
The ramparts are visible as rounded banks of earth and stone; there is
evidence for the use of large grounders or basal facing stones. The banks
are 4m-5m wide and 1m-1.5m high. The two ditches both have fairly flat
bases, but differ in their proportions. The inner (west) one is around
6m-7m wide and 1m deep. The outer ditch is wider, at 9m-10m across, and
deeper, varying from about 2m to 3.5m deep. For some 20m towards its south
end, the sides of the outer ditch are formed of exposed, steep faces of
cut bedrock. The entrance to the cliff castle runs east-west through the
centre of its enclosing earthworks, passing over the ditches on a causeway
4m-7m wide and around 0.7m-1m high. The interior slopes west with the
natural gradient, undulating slightly.
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