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Carreg Arthur is the name given to a hefty volcanic boulder estimated to be about 450 million years old that stands in a scenic area of North Wales to the south of Llanrug. Read More »
The ruined castle has a wishing well, which had the ability to heal eye and ear disorders. The well is reached via an underground tunnel that leads to a cave. Traditionally one had to leave a pin in its waters and then make the wish. Prehistoric skeletons have also been uncovered from within this cave, and it is likely that it was used in ancient times as a place of reverence. Read More »
Carreg is the second tallest stone of the Fonlief Hir ancient track way. It stands 1.8 metres high and found standing in a field beside the road.
There is much speculation over the age and use of Castell Bryn Gwyn (White Hill Castle). It was not a hillfort, being built on flat land, but excavations in 1959-1960 discovered that the rampart and ditch were similar to hillfort defences. It may have been a Neolithic henge monument, but nevertheless, there has been a long history of occupation at the site. Read More »
Castle Caer Lleion, located at the peak of Conwy Mountian (Mynydd-Y-Dref), (at an elevation of 244 metres) to the east of Conwy, is a noteworthy and easily accessible Iron Age hill fort which has spectacular views of the North Wales coast line and the Carneddau Mountains. Read More »
The late Bronze Age hillfort of Castell Odo on the Lleyn peninsula is one of the most important archaeological sites in Wales. It is situated on the summit of Mynydd Ystum and was probably built and colonised by Celtic settlers coming from the Irish Sea in around 400 BC. Read More »
Tomen-y-Mur (translated as ‘Mound in the Walls’) was originally an ancient Roman fort on the slope of Mynydd Maentwrog to the north east of Llyn Trawsfynyedd, with access from A470 although it is not signposted. Read More »
Close to Llanfihangel-y-pennant is the native Welsh castle known as Castell-y-Bere. Constructed from stone, on top of a rocky hillock that overlooks the Dysynni Valley it was once the largest and most richly ornamented castles in Wales. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, a.k.a. Llywelyn the Great (c. Read More »
There is a tradition that a local man found a crocodile in Cefn Caves, which was a popular visitor attraction. This supposedly occurred near the end of the nineteenth century (approx 1870) and upon discovering the creature he managed to kill it. Read More »
Changelings are part of Western Folklore, a child of a fairy type (Elf, Troll etc) which has been secretly swapped for a human baby and left in its place. George Waldron gave the following description of one he saw in the Isle of Man and it was subsequently reprinted in ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891) by Edwin Sidney Hartland. Read More »
The Grade II listed Church of St David in Llanfaes dates from 1923-25. This church replaced an earlier one built in 1859. It has been suggested that this Victorian St David’s that was constructed by J Clayton, was built beside the remains of an earlier medieval church. The church at Llanfaes has been recorded as early as 1291 in the 'Ecclesia de Lanmays'. Read More »
The Grade II listed listed of Church of St Mor and St Deiniol in Llanfor is no longer a place of worship and has been recently been advertised for sale. Built in 1875 on the site of a much older building, possibly the oldest church in Merioneth. It is possible that this older church was reputed to have been haunted. Read More »
The medieval church of St Meilig was rebuilt in 1853, though the bottom of the tower may be a remnant of the earlier building. Inside the church is a standing stone with a cross carved into it, which possibly dates from the 6th or 7th century. The stone which is thought to have stood at or near the site of a 6th century monastery founded by St Meilig at Croesfeilig. Read More »
This rocky hilltop was occupied during the Neolithic period around 3800BC, when there were a number of rectangular houses on the summit. During the Iron Age the hill was fortified and served as a hillfort. A rampart, which can still be seen today, was completed around the hill with an entrance towards the Southwest. Read More »
On the summit of an isolated ridge in the parish of Llanbedr stand the remains of the prehistoric hillfort known as Clogwyn Arllef. The dimensions are roughly 70 metres in diameter from north to south, and 55 metres form west to east. The remains are defined by fallen stone wall which is an average of 2 metres wide.
The Coed-y-Bleiddiau was once ancient woodland where it is said that the last wolf in Wales was allegedly killed. There is now another living wolf in woodland, but it’s safe because it’s made form of a living willow sculpture.
In legend a curse was put upon the town and its entire people by a mermaid hundreds of years ago. She was found stranded on the rocks at low tide by local fishermen, who would not return her to the water no matter how much she begged. She cursed the town saying that the people would always be poor. The curse is now said to have run its course. Read More »
Conwy castle and the city walls were built from the years 1283-1289 by approximately 1,500 workers at the height of the construction, to form one of King Edward I (17th June 1239 – 7th July 1307) fortresses in his ‘Ring of Castles’, used to quell the Welsh uprisings. English citizens were moved in to the town and the Welsh people were banned from living there. Read More »
The Cors-y-Gedol burial chamber which still has it's capstone intact is also referred to as Arthur’s Quoit and can be found close to some ancient hut circles known as the Irishmen’s huts on the slope of Moelfre. Read More »
Craig-y-Nos Castle is nestled away in the scenic Brecon Beacons National Park. Once the home of famous opera singer Adelina Patti (10 February 1843 – 27 September 1919), the castle has a reputation as one of the most notorious haunted venues in the United Kingdom. Read More »
Before Picton Street in Merthyr Tydfil was replaced by Caedraw Road, you could find the Black Lion Inn (58 Picton Street), and according to the following story which appeared in British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes, two of its drunken customers attempted to summon the Devil which appeared to them in the shape of a gosling. 'These men were one night drinking together at the Black Lion Inn, when Read More »
According to British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes; 'To William Jones, a sabbath-breaker, of Risca village, the devil appeared as an enormous mastiff dog, which transformed itself into a great fire and made a roaring noise like burning gorse'.
The 18th century Glanbran House was dismantled around 1930 and was the ancestral home of the Gwynne family, the descendants of David Goch Gwyn who settled at Glanbran in the 16th century. Wirt Sykes in his British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881) gives the following story in which an unnamed member of the Gwynne family plays a prominent part. Read More »
The ruins of Din Lligwy on the outskirts of Moelfre are the remains of an ancient fortified homestead which was abandoned about 1,600 years ago. Covering an area of about half an acre, enclosed by ash and sycamore trees, the site consists of the foundations of several buildings of varying shapes and sizes, all enclosed by a double wall, which was filled with rubble. Read More »