Bronze Age settlement may have been destroyed by opencast mining.

Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 05 June 2001  Page Views: 669

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Two specialist investigators have been sent to investigate claims that the remains of a Bronze Age settlement have been destroyed by opencast mining.

The existence of a village at Brynhenllys at the top end of the Upper Swansea Valley has always been the subject of controversy.

Many local people have no doubt that it was a piece of Welsh history just waiting to be excavated but the powers that be say there was never any evidence of Bronze Age activity.

Now it has been left to Cadw, Welsh Historic Monuments, to uncover the truth.

According to Cadw there are no scheduled monuments on the site which would require Scheduled Monument Consent for any work undertaken.

'However, in view of the fact that local residents have raised concerns recently two Cadw inspectors have visited the site,' a spokeswoman said yesterday.

Their report is expected to be available shortly, but even if it does uphold residents' claims it will already be too late to do anything about it.

Local historian Hywel Gwyn Evans, chairman of the Upper Tawe Valley Preservation and Protection Group, said, 'We have been trying to save this village for the past five years and now it has gone forever. We wanted it preserved for the people and children of the area. It is part of the history of Wales but corporate vandalism in the form of opencast mining has destroyed it.'

Celtic Energy says a programme of archaeological investigation carried out by the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust showed that the remains at Pen-y-Wern were a lime kiln and a series of insubstantial structures of unknown purpose.

'The survey results did not confirm Bronze Age activity,' said a spokeswoman.

She said Celtic Energy had a policy of working closely with local communities and other relevant organisations. It had also complied fully with all existing environmental and planning legislation and guidance.

'I can confirm that operations at the site have continued according to the planning consent,' she said.

Cadw agrees that the Brynhenllys site was thoroughly surveyed by Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust and other experts before work began.

'We are satisfied that Celtic Energy has fulfilled the conditions of the planning permission granted by the local authority several years ago,' said an official.