[1] This provides a panoramic and strategically important view towards the Severn estuary, and is believed to have been an Iron Age base and lookout point for the Silures.

[2] Because of its similarities with another monument on Holyhead Mountain in Anglesey, it is thought possible that the inner earthwork is a Roman signal station lying within an earlier defensive enclosure.

[3][4] Although the area is now quite remote, Penterry was originally located beside the Roman road (locally called Piccadilly) between the Severn estuary in the south and the small fort at Blestium, now Monmouth.

[5] The present church was largely rebuilt in the mid-19th century, but retains two medieval windows and the base of a stone cross.

[4] The area is believed to have been severely affected by the Black Death, and a grove of trees near the church has been identified as a plague pit.