Our aims
- To conserve and maintain the heritage of the hillforts and heather moorland of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains, demonstrating sustainable agriculture that is in harmony with a landscape of outstanding historic and biodiversity value.
- To reconnect people to the uplands and to increase their enjoyment of its heritage, through education, interpretation, events and audience development initiatives.
- To increase understanding of our hillfort and moorland heritage which will provide the foundation for management, restoration and interpretation projects.
An exceptional landscape
The purple heather-clad hills of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains is a landscape of exceptional beauty. Located in north-east Wales, these hills were created from mud and sand deposited on the sea bed which covered this area of Wales approximately 400 million years ago. Earth movements lifted these rocks to create the mountains and hills, with the intervening valleys scraped out by the movement of glaciers.
During the Iron Age, about 2,500 years ago, people built defended villages on the hilltops of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains, taking advantage of the landform created by geological processes millions of years earlier. They built a spectacular chain of Iron Age hillforts, stretching from Moel Hiraddug in the north to Caer Drewyn in the south-west, forming one of the most important historic landscapes in Wales. Although the Iron Age hillforts are prominent in the landscape, very little is known about these sites and their relationship to each other.
The Heather and Hillforts Project provides a great opportunity to discover more about this landscape. The Project will focus on six hillforts: Penycloddiau, Moel Arthur, Moel y Gaer (Llanbedr), Moel Fenlli, Moel y Gaer (Llantysilio) and Caer Drewyn - sites linked by their common habitat.
 The heather moorland that carpets the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains is of international nature conservation importance and provides historic grazing rights for sheep. Three-quarters of the world's remaining heather is located in the UK, which together with grass moorlands form the largest area of undeveloped wildlife habitat remaining in Wales. It is therefore not surprising that heather moorland is associated with a number of animals and plants of high conservation value, which include the black grouse, hen harrier and other upland bird species. Over the past fifty years the area of heather moorland has declined by over half, with a significant amount of the remaining area being in poor condition.
Although heather moorland is considered a wild, undeveloped natural habitat, it has been created through continuous management by people over many centuries. Its survival is dependent on the maintenance of a traditional management system, without which it would be lost. Enhancing the quality of the heather moorlands, through better management and understanding, is a key aim for the Heather and Hillforts Project.
Collectively the special historic and natural features of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains make the Heather and Hillforts Project Area exceptional in terms of its cultural heritage value. The Heather and Hillforts Project was created to link the conservation and restoration of the natural and historic heritage of the Clwydian Range and Llantysilio Mountains and to encourage greater understanding and enjoyment of these uplands amongst residents and visitors alike.
The work is focused under four themes:
Our Hillfort Heritage
Our Moorland Heritage
Understanding Our Uplands
Improving Access
Further details about the Heather and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Scheme is available in the following documents that are available to be downloaded, as submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund during the Project Planning Phase.
Landscape Study 665Kb
Landscape Strategy 11.9Mb
Training Plan 1.26Mb
Business Plan 1.27Mb
Partnership- Countryside Exchange 939Kb (read more about the Countryside Exchange here)
Access & Audience Review 8.5Mb
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Heather & Hillforts 
