<< Our Photo Pages >> Grassholm Island - Ancient Village or Settlement in Wales in Pembrokeshire

Submitted by bat400 on Tuesday, 23 July 2013  Page Views: 17067

Multi-periodSite Name: Grassholm Island
Country: Wales County: Pembrokeshire Type: Ancient Village or Settlement

Map Ref: SM5985909317
Latitude: 51.730994N  Longitude: 5.479012W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 2

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Grassholm Island
Grassholm Island submitted by pab : Grasholme, showing both the guano-covered gannet colony and the grass-covered areas referred to in recent reports. (Photo taken August 2009 on a Sea Trust dolphin-watch survey) (Vote or comment on this photo)
Ancient Settlement in Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro)
Blissful forgetfulness was the condition of a prehistoric community on this tiny island of only 22 acres. Surveys from the 1970's and 2011, primarily to watch over a huge site of gannets on this National Nature Reserve, also revealed occupation along the ridge of the island. Recent visits noted roundhouses and field boundaries.

Grassholm's name comes from the Vikings who frequently raided the area in the 9-10th century. In folklore, the island has been identified with Gwales, an island featured in the Mabinogion - the site of a fabulous castle where the severed head of Bran the Blessed is kept miraculously alive for eighty years while his companions feast in blissful forgetfulness.

Located 15 miles off the southwest Pembrokeshire coast. The island is owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB.) The location given is general for the island, and not for specific structures.

Note: Ground Survey Revealed Traces of Roundhouses and Field Boundaries indicating that this tiny island was also once home to a thriving prehistoric community.
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SM5909 : On MV Inishmore - View to Grassholm Island by Colin Park
by Colin Park
©2017(licence)
SM5909 : Grassholm Island by Anthony Parkes
by Anthony Parkes
©2018(licence)
SM5909 : Grassholm from Skomer by John Rostron
by John Rostron
©2009(licence)
SM5909 : Gannets and grass on Grassholm by Hugh Venables
by Hugh Venables
©2018(licence)
SM5909 : Grassholm Island by Jonathan Thacker
by Jonathan Thacker
©2018(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 11.7km E 88° Skomer Island Stone Row / Alignment (SM71620911)
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 20.3km NE 36° St Justinians East* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SM7252725278)
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Grassholm Island Roundhouses by bat400 on Tuesday, 23 July 2013
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Grassholm is a tiny island, just 200 metres across. The island is home to one of the largest gannet colonies in the entire world supporting 39,000 breeding pairs, some 9.5 % of the world’s population. Yet despite its remote location, recent ground survey by Commission staff Olly and Louise has revealed the traces of roundhouses and field boundaries indicating that this tiny island was also once home to a thriving prehistoric community!

The Royal Commission first surveyed the island back in 1972 – Commission Investigator Douglas Hague visited the island and planned and excavated the remains of a small settlement of conjoined rectangular buildings. This was situated on the western side of the island where the caustic effect of gannet guano had killed the dense mattress of grass exposing the archaeological remains beneath. The settlement appeared similar to structures identified on nearby Gateholm and were presumed to be Medieval.

Hague’s settlement has now been covered over by gannet nests which crowd onto the western side of the island. But, as the gannet colony has expanded in size, increasingly more of the island’s archaeology is being revealed. Aerial reconnaissance by the Commission in 2011 identified what looked like the remains of prehistoric occupation running down the central spine of the island. This needed verification on the ground and the Commission was fortunate enough to be offered an opportunity to do just that, by accompanying the RSPB on their annual Grassholm rescue mission to cut free gannet fledglings tangled up in marine debris.

The western side of the island is covered in gannet nests while the eastern side is covered by tussocky grass. But, a narrow strip of ground within the centre of the island, running from the north to south coast is free of both nests and grass and it’s here that the archaeological remains were most visible.

What we found was extraordinary. The remains of two small roundhouses, barely 4m in diameter, were visible. The tumbled walls of field boundaries radiated out from them forming small fields, terraces and garden plots. Clearly this was a serious attempt to set up a small farmstead and the remains reminded us of similar structures identified on nearby Skomer. There was also what appeared to be cairn – a mound of stones, perhaps simply the result of field clearance, but it could also mark the burial place of one of the island’s prehistoric inhabitants.

We didn’t get long on the island – perhaps only a couple of hours before the tide and swell meant we had to leave – but what we discovered has changed our understanding of this remote place. The structures we surveyed are almost certainly prehistoric and clearly very different in character to those planned and excavated by Hague more than 40 years ago. It seems then that we have at least two phases of occupation on the island, perhaps in both the Iron Age and early Medieval periods, but it’s hard to imagine people living on this isolated and remote island permanently or for any lengthy period of time – perhaps the occupation was only seasonal to catch seabirds or de-pasture sheep. Hopefully more research and further visits in future years will provide us with more clues about the occupation and exploitation of this enigmatic little island.



Thanks to Andy B. For more, see heritageofwalesnews.

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