Featured: Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Random Image


Skuterudsletta

Megalithomania by John Michell, Only £4.99 + P&P

Megalithomania by John Michell, Only £4.99 + P&P

Who's Online

There are currently, 322 guests and 3 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Feature Articles >> Abandoned Landscapes - The Eastern Carneddau

Submitted by M_M_Robinson on Wednesday, 26 July 2006  Page Views: 15570

Multi-periodCountry: Wales
Pen-y-Gaer (Conwy)
Pen-y-Gaer (Conwy) submitted by TimPrevett : The wonderful view from the south side of Pen-y-Gaer, looking west into central Snowdonia. The inner stone rampart can be seen curving around to the right, with a further two earthen ramparts below. (Vote or comment on this photo)
PART 2: EXPLORING THE HIGH GROUND
The Eastern Carneddau: Into the land of Pen y Gaer hillfort


From the Conwy valley to Pen y Gaer hillfort, up the Dulyn valley to Pant y Griafolen prehistoric settlement, over the headwall into Cwm Eigiau and back along the valley in the twilight. December 2000.

From the village of Llanbedr-y-cennin to Pen y Gaer

From the plain of the river Conwy a series of glaciated valleys, Dulyn, Eigiau, Cowlyd and Crafnant, sweep up to the main Carneddau watershed some five miles to the west. There is only one major hillfort here, Pen y Gaer, prominently sited above the estuarine valley and overlooking the ancient hill-route down from Bwlch y Ddeufaen (see chapter x). It also stands at the threshold of the huge upland pasture-grounds of Dulyn and Eigiau. Each of these valleys has a catchment area of about 12sq km but Eigiau is much more rugged and consequently offers poorer grazing. As well as extensive remains of livestock farming they also bear the marks of the industrial era through reservoirs and stone quarries [note 0].

The day I chose to explore these cwms was fine and bright, more like spring than late December. Arriving early in the Conwy valley I drove across the bridge at Tal y Cafn near Canovium, the Roman fort set low on the flood plain, and parked further upriver at the little village of Llanbedr-y-cennin (for Canovium see RCHMW 1956 34-6). As with the other villages along the valley - Roewen, Dolgarrog and Trefriw, its hinterland is formed by a belt of small irregular fields and numerous farmsteads which spread for about a kilometre up the mountain slopes to about 300m OD. In the Medieval period things would have looked very different, with arable fields dominating the whole strip of lowland along the valley and spreading up towards the higher ground (Hooke 1997 82-5).

In fine weather this terrain is a pastoral wonderland of sheep and cattle grazing in the stone-walled fields, small working farms, and secluded tracks. Soon I joined the steepening hill-road, passing farms, houses and barns, some white-rendered, some bare stone. Two cars ground slowly by leaving the taste of petrol fumes at the back of my throat. Ahead on the left the steep sides of Pen y Gaer (or Pen Caer Helen) rear uncompromisingly upwards, and near the hillfarm of Tan y gaer I left the road and clambered across frosted gorse and turf towards the defences, following sheep tracks where I could.

Around the top is a double rampart; on this side (north) they now appear more like drystone-revetted terraces than defences, with stones spilling down the steep slope. They are much more impressive on the west where the ground is less steep, displaying double terraces of masonry made of both large and small rough blocks banking back up to 2m high in places. Inside the enclosure are several stone scatters indicating house-sites. Outside the western entrance are the famous chevaux de frise, small stones set on end, apparently designed to disrupt cavalry or chariots, although how anyone could manoeuvre a chariot on this ground I don't know. Like the ramparts, they were 'restored' as part of the excavations carried out in 1905.

The Iron Age remains are only one cycle of settlement at this favoured location; there are two Bronze Age cairns on the north west slope, and nearby are extensive prehistoric and later field systems with associated house remains. Further earthworks, probably of Medieval date lie on the slopes to the south east [note 1].

At the small modern cairn at the high point of the fort I stopped for a few minutes rest in the company of several amiable sheep. The sun gleamed through the clouds, the faint rumble of a train carried up from Llandudno Junction, and the cry of a crow echoed across the sky. The hill fort seems to stand isolated within the bigger landscape. Although the air was a little hazy the River Conwy was visible to the east, narrowing as it weaves up the valley. Across to the north is the strange tilted landscape of Tafolog which leads the eye up to Bwlch y Ddeufaen where the pylons can just be made-out, silhouetted against the skyline, as they march over the pass. But one‘s attention is drawn mainly towards the hidden upland valleys and the encircling cwms and ridges of the snow-dusted Carneddau mountains.

The sheepwalks of the Dulyn Valley and the prehistoric settlement of Pant y Griafolen

The grassy track down from the hillfort leads in this direction across the mouth of the valley to a modern sheepfold at Bwlch y gaer (Pass of the Camp), where I joined a sunken track, with high stone walls on either side, which provides access along the north side of the valley. This represents the commencement of the old packhorse route across the mountains. There are some ruined rectangular stone structures on the upslope here (738691). Above and to the right the terrain is bounded by an undulating rock-strewn ridge which eventually culminates at Drum, a top on the main Carneddau ridge where there is a large cairn marking the divide of several micro-regions (see Bezant Lowe 1912, 35). Down to the left is the wide boggy expanse on either side of the Afon Dulyn where there are a series of abandoned sites used as homesteads or sheep stations, each with its own fenced enclosures; Tan y Bwlch (Below the Pass) set amongst a few trees is now the site of a small tin-roofed building and is perhaps still used periodically, whilst beyond lie the evocatively-named Ffrith y bont (Bridge at the Sheepwalk) and Hafodygors wen (Hafod of the White Swamp).

A little further on the track braids into two or three little hollow-ways of unknown antiquity. They are too narrow for wheeled traffic and perhaps mark the passage of packhorses, or cattle as they passed to and from the uplands. Ahead, below Cefn Craig Coch (Crag of the Red Ridge) is a glacial erratic standing up like a huge fist. The track passes right next to it and then dissipates as it spills onto the wide open upland pasture, divided not by stone walls but post-and-wire fence-lines enclosing tracts of up to a square kilometre.

The turf gives way to bog grass and marsh as you drop down to the Afon Ddu, a side stream which gathers its waters from Cwm Bychan, below Drum. This side-glen has its own small shepherd's shelter and pen and a larger rectilinear fold, probably of later date, sheltering beneath high crags (714686, 717691). At the ford is another rectilinear sheepfold, still in good condition, nestling in the stream's hollow (718680). The original drystone chambers have been supplemented by adjacent post and rail pens incorporating wooden pallets and stubs of plastic sacking which indicate it is still in use.

Once across the stream I left the old routeway which veers off west towards the main ridge, and instead continued along the valley. On sloping ground beside the next stream is another large fold, one of the jewels of the Carneddau; a twisting maze of curving chest-high walls with low-level lintelled openings to permit passage of sheep from one chamber to another. Although intact, there is no sign of recent use, and rushes grow high in the interior (714677). A hundred yards further on is a small rectangular ruined building with the remains of a low walled-enclosure, presumably a shepherds shelter and fold, and just beyond, another multi-celled fold (714676, 713675). It is tempting to see a chronological sequence in these sites - the small ruined shelter/ fold representing small-scale Post-Medieval sheep-herding, the curvilinear folds representing commercial sheep production when the land was held in common (?18th and earlier 19th century) and then the rectilinear fold at the ford designed for use by a single farmer after enclosure (19th century to present day). Why there are two curvilinear folds within 300m of each other I can't easily explain [note 2].

Beyond the last enclosure fence is a mile or so of open mountain pasture extending towards the head of the valley. I angled down across wet, difficult ground to a clump of tall, forlorn pine trees close to the Afon Dulyn. Here, above the 500m contour is one of the special places of Snowdonia, Pant y Griafolen (Hollow of the Rowan Tree), a prehistoric settlement straggling for two hundred yards alongside the Afon Dulyn At first the remains are difficult to spot, but soon they come into focus; below and around the trees is a low, ruined enclosure wall, perhaps with a hut circle attached. From here several groups of hut circles, platforms, and the remnants of small enclosures can be traced in both directions along the stream. Upstream the features continue, even as the valley curves into bouldery, glacial terrain and the closed cirque at the head of the cwm looms ever closer. Amongst the remains here is at least one rectangular structure, surviving to about a metre high, perhaps a Medieval or Post-Medieval hafod or shepherd's shelter reusing this favoured site. Slightly higher, on the steep rock-strewn slope overlooking the stream I came across a necklace of at least three connected curvilinear enclosures, each about 20 or 30 metres across, visible as rough, collapsed walling incorporating large natural boulders [note 3].

Although it was only two days till Christmas the day was beautifully mild; the stream gushed noisily past and the sheep grazed quietly on the thin pasture, and I sat and wondered what to make of this site. As a whole the complex has many of the same features as the Afon Caseg settlement (see chapter X), but in common with that site there has been no excavation, so even basic information such as dating, periods of occupation or economic activity is guesswork. Making the questionable assumption that the remains are more or less part of the same prehistoric settlement, what can be reasonably inferred from present knowledge? As well as apparently isolated hut circles there are half-a-dozen or so groups of two or three huts connected or enclosed by walls which some may view as 'family' units (although they may have had specialist uses such as dairying or storage as well as occupation). Small-scale cultivation may have taken place in some of the small enclosures around the huts, perhaps helped by manure from the stock. The large stony enclosures at the top end are surely stock-pens, for overnight security perhaps, or maybe for separating/sub-dividing cattle, calves and possibly sheep/goats.

On balance I think this was probably a summer cattle-ranching base - its difficult to see how cattle could have been foddered here during winter unless the climate was significantly better. Looking back down the long open valley with Pen y Gaer hillfort at its throat, the possibility that it might have been a satellite of the hillfort, an echo buried deep in its territory, seems strangely appealing.

Further up the glen below the hidden Dulyn reservoir, in the marshy ground where several mountain streams converge with the Afon Dulyn, is a rectilinear sheepfold very similar in form and siting to the one high in Cwm Caseg (Chapter X). On dry ground nearby is an intact single-storey stone building of 19th century appearance with a ruined outbuilding attached. It seems to have been recently re-roofed and a notice on the door tells us that it is maintained by the Mountain Bothy's Association. Inside are two rooms; the main one has a stone fireplace with ashes in the grate, tables, candles and empty bottles of wine. Despite these signs of use I sensed that no-one has slept here for many days. What was its original purpose? It doesn't have the vernacular drystone character of a homestead or shepherds bothy; instead the stone-work looks 'industrial' so I concluded that it may be connected with the nearby quarrying or the construction of the reservoir. There is no obvious sign of workmen's barracks etc. in the vicinity so perhaps it was a works office or a messroom-cum-shelter.

The reservoir is secreted five minutes walk away, concealed until you crest the rise and stand on the dam where water gushes from an outlet pipe. Nearby, on the concrete edge of the water is a small ugly stone building with sandbags around its base. The llyn is roughly circular, chillingly black and nearly 200ft deep, hemmed it in by Craig Dulyn which rises 500 ft sheer from the surface. Water pours silently in thin silvery ribbons down from the top of the cliff. This locality became known as 'The Graveyard of Aircraft', being the final, unintended destination of about 20 wartime planes, although surprisingly many of the crew members survived (Doylerush 1985 9).

I followed the steep path of a buried pipeline up to Llyn Melynllyn, a feeder of the Dulyn Reservoir, gasping for air and cursing the audacity of the civil engineers who have temporarily captured the water-spirit of this place. Reaching the lake I chose a little hillock to sit on and gorged on hunks of bread dipped in tomato soup, listening to water bubbling from the nearby mire. I gazed across the desolate llyn to the cliffs of Craig Fawr which rise for several hundred feet from its further edge. Far behind me now, in receding perspective down the main valley was the mountain bothy, the twisting stream, the clump of trees marking Pant y Griafolen, Pen Y Gaer, and the gentle blue-hazed hills on the far side of the Conwy.

Over the watershed into Cwm Eigiau

To break into the adjacent glen, Cwm Eigiau, I climbed past the small abandoned Melynllyn hone quarry (705654), and up the steep grassy side-wall. This is not a natural pass and I saw no sign of a trail. Suddenly, as I topped-out on the high bare plateau of Gledrffordd I was in mountain terrain, with a harsh wind cutting through my clothing. Thin drifts of slush streaked the turf, and Carnedd Llewelyn, seemingly within touching distance trailed snow from its gullies and runnels. I made a curving descent into Cwm Eigiau from the flat top, initially down a gentle wet grassy slope and then into the steep headwaters of the Afon Eigiau which gather into foaming streams, eroding the ground into deep-cut ravines, banked with slippery rocks, bog-grass and Rowan. In the 19th century somewhere around here a Late Bronze Age sword was found by a local farmer, presumably deposited as a ritual act [note 4].

Funnelled by this incised terrain I was drawn insect-like, closer and closer to the base of the once great climbing ground of Craig yr Ysfa which forms the side of the main Carneddau ridge. There were still five long miles to my starting point along this lonely and magnificent valley. A leat with large boulders piled each side indicates an attempt to drain or channel the water from here, perhaps related to the redundant quarry which has gnawed at the crags at the side of the cwm. This site is visible from the top of Craig yr Ysfa a thousand feet above from where it looks tiny, but close-up there are huge tiered banks of slate each heaped 15ft high. In front, sinking into the brown oozing bog are the stumpy black quarry barracks of thick slate slabs - several single-storey terraces surviving almost to roof height - and beyond is another set of buildings and a tramway incline which ran to a wharf on the Conwy (Hooke 1997, 93).

The quick escape route from here is along the metalled quarry access track which sticks close to the incline on an evenly graded route along the valley, but I ill-advisedly chose to go off-path again to follow the curving course of the stream.

The quarry complex is almost immediately lost to view behind as once again the gradient steepens and the Afon Eigiau dives into a steep-sided grassy cleft where a jarring slip onto my side reminded me to watch my footing more carefully. This is tough but rewarding country. Some distance away to the right on steep rocky ground below Bwlch y Trimarchog, an abandoned farmstead complex can just be made out [711632, described more fully in chapter X Llyn Cowlyd walk]. Soon I saw a little ford across the stream, the near side steeply eroded but on the far side is a clear sunken stock-way which contours along the valley parallel to but lower down than the quarry access track (ford at c.704634). This looked to be an easier route so I struggled down to the stream and paddled through the shallow bone-chilling water in bare feet to join it. Two hikers appeared from nowhere, marching down the quarry track above me but they soon disappeared and again I had these hills to myself.

Once it has climbed from the banks of the stream, the droveway becomes a marshy watercourse (and is marked as such on the map) with laid stones occasionally peeking through the bog-grass and standing water. It passes through poor, boulder-strewn terrain, so it was a bit surprising to spot a group of structures on the upslope next to a little stream, sandwiched between the droveway and the quarry track. I could trace the outline of at least one clear circular house platform and several rectangular foundations nearby. There is no space in this boulder field for cultivation but it is centrally-sited for the extensive and varied pastures-grounds of this upland micro-region so presumably these remains represent prehistoric and Medieval or Post-Medieval summer dwellings (c.713638 possibly RCHMW 1956 34, site 164). A little further on the droveway is crossed by an 18th/19th century enclosure wall confirming that it is of some antiquity (c.713638).

No longer able to follow this route I joined the nearby quarry track which soon passes another large disused quarry with associated buildings and engineering works, and then the small forlorn boarded-up farmhouse of Cedryn. Here the valley turns north to disclose the crags and bluffs of Craig Eigiau which overshadow the west side of Llyn Eigau reservoir for nearly a mile. Beside the reservoir is a long ugly grey-rendered dam angling across the valley with a wide breach in its line. Built in 1907-11 to provide hydro-electric power to the aluminium works in Dolgarrog, it burst in 1925, sending a wave of water down to the village three miles away killing 16 people. Close to the track is the entrance to a circular shaft, perhaps for inspecting the tunnel connecting the reservoir with Llyn Cowlyd in the adjacent valley to the south (721655, Hooke 1997, 93; Perrin 1997, 45-6)

Near the reservoir stands Hafod y Rhiw (now looking like a holiday cottage) which marks the edge of the mountain terrain and the beginning of a broad bleak moor, oppressive in its lowering silence and emptiness, yet redolent with abandoned sites - Hafod y garreg, Trasbwll, and Tal-y-llyn at the foot of Llyn Eigiau where a dairy house was referred to in the mid-16th century (and where the finder of the Bronze Age sword lived, see above), and close-by is Ty'n-rhos (house of the mountain pasture (Davies 1979 31; Hooke 1997 86-7, 90)). I returned along the south east side of the valley as dusk crept over the mountains. A pair of crows glided across the valley, an owl hooted in the trees, and I swear I caught the sweet smell of a peat fire in the cold evening air. After getting lost in the dark woods on the lower slopes of Moel Eilio I reached Bont Newedd near Llyn Coedty (now a reservoir), where the massive matt-black pipes for the aluminium works loomed out of the night. Here I joined the twisting tarmac road and half an hour of knee-jarring descent brought me back to the lights of Llanbedr-y-cennin where my car waited for me in the dark and cold.

Note 0: We are fortunate that the area covered by this chapter is the subject of a fascinating study by one of Britain's leading landscape historians (Hooke 1997).

Note 1: The hillfort excavations are described in Bezant Lowe 1912, 71-5 and ?Willougby Gardener 1906. The site was visited by Fenton, and also by Colt Hoare (Thompson 1983 250-1). See also RCHMW 1956 31-3 and 100-103.

Note 2: I recognise that such a sequence is probably too simplistic. Whilst the small shelter looks to be of some antiquity it does sit neatly in the corner of the field enclosure fence-lines. Also, it is notable that the curvilinear folds lie either side of a major fenceline, suggesting the possibility that each served a defined and enclosed area rather than unenclosed common.

Note 3: The prehistoric site is centred on c.708667 shown on map, RCHMW 1956 27-8; Bezant Lowe 1912, 105-6; Perrin 1997, 47. The rectangular structure is possibly the site noted as a probable hafod in RCHMW 1956 34 site 165 at 708668.

Note 4: Bezant Lowe 1912, 44-5 with illust. He writes 'The bronze sword was found some years ago by Mr Rowland Jones of Tan Llyn Eigiau Farm, on the slopes of Carnedd Llewellyn, above Llyn Eigiau'.


See here for contents page, or here for the bibliography.

Note: This is part of an original series of articles written by archaeologist M M Robinson.

<< Abandoned Landscapes - The Northern Carneddau from Aber

Abandoned Landscapes - The South East Carneddau >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

An Archaeology of Natural Places

An Archaeology of Natural Places

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Abandoned Landscapes - The Eastern Carneddau" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Llyn Cowlyd by Anonymous on Tuesday, 29 November 2011
I love this area. My late hubby and myself in the 1970's used to drive regularly from Trefiew up the twisting lane, past abandoned hill farms and cottages. The road actually passed the front door of one of these cottages which still had roses blooming around the front door which was open to the elements. We went inside and it was in a dreadful state. The lath and plaster ceilings were all hanging down, a lot of the floorboards were missing and you could look down into the cellar where we discovered a dead sheep which had possibly fallen through the floor and had no way of getting out again - such a shame.

We stood at the kitchen sink and looked out over the beautiful silent vista and marvelled at the people who had once lived there, they must have suffered in the winter, this was summer and a harsh wind was blowing through the glassless frames.

Then we moved on through a number of gates, going ever downhill until we went under the massive black pipes carrying water down into Dolgarrog, and through which you could listen to the water cascading inside them. Just a little further on was the embankment underneath Llyn Cowlyd and so we climbed up to the top and there in front of us was this most wonderful sight of the reservoir in all its glory looking like a huge sea and the wind making waves.

It is so peaceful there with only the sound of the birds for company - a really magical place. I seem to remember the remains of a little stone built church/school which would have probably only held 10 people at the same time. It is surely worth a visit. I must return one day before i get too old.
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.