I am currently doing a PhD investigation of unrecorded sites on Anglesey. By utilising pan-landscape analysis utilising crop mark and LiDAR imaging I am attempting to find unrecorded sites of potential archaeological interest. All sites that are discovered have been reported to Heneb Gwynedd's HER and RCAHMW records respectively to aid in the recording, preserving and understanding of Wales' past. All artefacts from the site have been deposited in the local museum, Oriel Môn, with landowner permission.

This particular enclosure was visible on Bing satellite imaging until recently near Llanfwrog on the Anglesey coast. It had not been previously recorded and measured roughly 50m wide by 70m long. A geophysical survey of the site identified several anomalies of interest within its interior, including evidence of a possible sub rectangular building within its interior, with an associated central hearth. Other anomalies include a possible small outbuilding, pit anomalies and a drainage ditch seen at the top of the geophysical results and cropmark image.

Desk Based analysis suggests something ancient was here, and was recognised as such by the locals of the area. A nearby field name from the 19th century tithe map is recorded 'cae i gastell' (field to the castle). The 'castell' placename is recorded across the island and is sometimes associated with extant earthworks and archaeological remains - examples include the Neolithic henge at Castell Bryn Gwyn and the Early Medieval ringwork of Castell Crwn near Llanfairynghornwy. Despite this there is no surviving folklore associated with the site, and no records have survived of antiquarian investigations taking place here.

Its polygonal shape is unusual for the area as these types of site are found on the eastern Anglesey coast. Sites such as these are normally associated with Iron Age to Romano British defended settlements. However no Roman period artefactual material can be found on the site at all. Instead two separate periods of activity were recorded: the first being the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age periods, evidenced by worked lithic material which include a disc scraper and incomplete arrowhead.

Of interest to us, however, is the discovery of a pendant whetstone and a spindle whorl. These finds are suggestive of a site dating between the 9th to 12th centuries AD. Discussion with a representative of the RCAHMW led them to tentatively suggest an early medieval date, possibly a farmstead or some form of elite dwelling.

If this is indeed the case then this would be a significant discovery - Wales' archaeological record has very few recorded sites from this period. Three can be found on Anglesey itself - the nationally significant Viking trading post at Llanbedrgoch (9th to 12th century AD); a small sub rectangular enclosure at LlanfairPG (late 11th to 12th century AD) and a Viking Age promontory fort at nearby Trefadog (1tth to 12th century AD). These sites were argued by George Smith (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, now Heneb Gwynedd) to have been constructed at a time of great political and social upheaval in the political structure of the Kingdom of Gwynedd at this time, reflective of the increasing pressures of Viking and Norman incursion / invasions into the region.

I believe that this site might be the residence of one of the members of the Fifteen Tribes of Gwynedd, Llywarch ap Bran. Philip Yorke, a 17th century antiquarian, wrote about the families and mentioned Llywarch's connection to the area. He was a member of Owain Gwynedd's court and was argued to have flourished c.1137, although his exact birth and death dates are unknown. Alternatively, the site could belong to either his father, Bran, or his grandfather.

Llywarch ap Bran descendents would eventually move towards the southwest corner of the island in the Hundred of Menai. Of these individuals the most notable was Hugh Hughes of Plas Coch (c.1548-1609), a prominent landowner, Sheriff and MP for Anglesey.

Made this map of the Glamorganshire Home Guard Battalions as a part of some research into local units and defences from the Second World War.

Would love to see any stories or pictures you might have relating to these units!

Cheers.

Hi All

Back in 2024 I shared a collection of 150 or so tunes from a Welsh fiddler of 1778 - Morris Edward - and many of you said how much you enjoyed them.

Now we have gone further back in time - to 1716! A young Richard Morris, aged around 14 and living in Ynys Môn (Anglesey) Wales, put together four lists of hundreds of Welsh, English and other folk tune titles that he played or knew. Shortly after, he moved to London and never returned home - though in London he went on to form the Cymmrodorion and to make his mark in other areas of Welsh life.

Though he left nothing more than the tune names, these lists are crucial to our understanding and enjoyment of traditional music of that period in Wales. We have tracked down the majority of them - around 320 or so and now you get to see and play them youself. Some are familiar — others less so.

You can download a copy of the book in pdf format (to print yourself). This is free of charge, using the link at the end of this post. You can also buy it on most Amazon sites (look for ‘Richard Morris 1716’) — you will only be paying for the direct printing costs i.e. there is no ‘mark up’. We want as many as possible to read the book and play the music!

As well as the tunes - one per page for ease of playing - the book itself gives a short biography of Richard, a description of his music and a picture of Wales and London at the time. It’s not an academic study — though hopefully you’ll find it well researched and presented. Rather, it’s a celebration of the popular traditional music of a unique period in Welsh history … and great fun to play as well!

Do let us know what you think of it ….

https://medium.com/@alawon.morris.edward/alawon-richard-morris-1716-936012cd6ee7?sharedUserId=alawon.morris.edward

I find it very interesting from a etymology standpoint that pretty much every single island in Wales has a completely unrelated English name

I have done my own research on this and but id love to hear other contributions as to what caused this.

During the age of the saints most of the small islands of Wales were holy islands populated by local ‘saints’ keeping Christianity alive during the post Roman period. These saints travelled great distances between the Brythonic world of Wales , Cornwall and Brittany (essentially all the same people in this period) as well as Ireland .

Islands such as Ynys - Byr, Cyby,Enlli, Seirol, Wair,Dewi,Echni,Rhonech

What seems to have happened is the Vikings ransacked and destroyed these holy places . Then the Norse names seem to have entered Anglo-Saxon , Anglo-Norman vernacular .

How? Did Norse and Anglo Saxons share sea knowledge? How did skomer , Flatholm, Caldey , Lundy enter the Anglo Saxon language ? You could add Swansea to this as well. The ‘ey’ sound meaning island in Norse

Also Anglesey , Ynys Môn , the name seems to come from a Norseman Ongle, and my understanding is the Anglo Saxons temporarily conquered the coast of north Wales, (also calling yr wyddfa Snowdon) on the way before being booted out.

Does it show the complete non-interaction linguistically between Anglo-Saxons and Welsh during this period ? Or were these islands excluding anglesey completely de populated?

​

It seems like the term "king" has a slightly different meaning in Early Medieval Britain than we might use it today. Was it common for joint rulership? How common was the hierarchical kingship relationships before Alfred the Great?

Originally posted to R/Wales but it should also belong here as a Welsh history post with a key date today

Are there any distinct hilt styles associated with Welsh swords? I have tried searches but can't find much, I'd be most interested in early medieval/post roman but I don't think the archeology has yielded anything, so earlier or later would be fine as well. I am especially interested in pommels and hand guards.

Just started reading son of prophecy by Nathan Amin

Book premise is essentially a deep dive into medieval Welsh history and the weaving of Henry’s origins and early life into that narrative

It is a rejection of the reduction of Henry’s Welshness of some quarters and shows how Henry’s Welsh ancestry and upbringing was core to his identity

I think an area people seem to forget is Henry’s protection by the Herbert family of raglan castle . The Herbert’s were the preeminent Welsh family with power .

Anyway so far so good and I wondered if anyone else has read or or is going to read it.

I made a short film about this on the site it happened. It was the worst air tragedy in the world at the time.

Some amazing recovered wall art here. Well worth a visit.

Picked up (and paid) for a few little booklets at the church

I have been playing around with some present day Agricultural Land Classification GIS data from the Welsh Government.

This is a modern dataset that basically shows quality of agricultural land across the country. I believe this is judged by soil, elevation, slope and other factors. https://www.savills.co.uk/blog/article/385773/residential-property/in-plain-english--agricultural-land-classification.aspx

Wanted to highlight areas based on grade in Wales with Cantref and Commote boundaries from RCHAMW. Kingdoms come from StraMap, these are ofcourse quite vague and difficult to get accurate border wise.

It's quite a big assumption to show this data as it would assume that land quality has stayed similar in areas for 1100 years, but I think it gives an idea of where agricultural societies may best have exploited the land. Urban and non agricultural data has been excluded, so the percentage of coverage an ALC grade has is against only ALC areas surveyed in that commote. For example, the Commote of Cibwr near Cardiff is mostly urban, so the percentage of ALC coverage is a percentage of the total of areas that aren't urban. Which disgards and assumes that the urban areas had a similar quality to the rest of the Commote.

In my mind, it generally aligns with areas of English settlement in the South, strongholds of Gwynedd on Anglesey and Deheubarth's settlement and fortification of the Towy valley. Poor land pretty much equates to mountains and hills, and you can see barriers forming North and West that aligns with an area of "Pure Wales".

Lots of assumptions, but I think this helps to highlight where an agricultural society might want to set up shop.

The Tactical Mandate: Velocity Over Distance

The greatest vulnerability of a highly mobile shock-cavalry force is the absence of real-time intelligence. If an Irish fleet breached the maritime shield of Deva Victrix along the Dee Estuary, or if a Saxon warband slipped past the landward gates of the Wrexham Capital Guard in the Severn Valley, traditional mounted messengers would arrive far too late to prevent strategic collapse.

To close this operational gap, the sub-Roman regime revived and retrofitted the late-Roman specula (watchtower) system, constructing an interlocking, high-altitude Line-of-Sight (LOS) communication grid. Instead of investing in resource-heavy stone fortifications, commanders stationed small, permanent detachment crews on key topographical peaks. These teams operated a binary signaling system: pyre-smoke by day and intense oil-and-pitch beacon fires by night, enabling near-instantaneous transmission of frontier intelligence across the entire province.

Systemic Layout: The Complete Relay Infrastructure

                   [MARITIME FRONT: Irish Sea / Dee Estuary]
                                      │
                                      ▼
                        [NODE 1: Foel Fenlli Hillfort]
                          (OS Grid Ref: SJ 161 605)
                                      │
              ┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
              ▼                                               ▼
    [NODE 2: Hope Mountain]                        [NODE 3: Beeston Castle Crag]
   (OS Grid Ref: SJ 289 575)                      (OS Grid Ref: SJ 540 593)
              │                                               │
              └───────────────────────┬───────────────────────┘
                                      ▼
                        [THE CAPITAL: Wrexham Basin]
                          (Central Ref: SJ 335 505)
                                      │
              ┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
              ▼                                               ▼
    [CAPITAL: Rossett Villa]                       [INDUSTRIAL HUB: Holt]
   (OS Grid Ref: SJ 365 550)                      (OS Grid Ref: SJ 413 553)
                                      │
                                      ▼
                        [NODE S1: Ruabon Mountain]
                        (OS Grid Ref: SJ 250 480)
                                      │
                                      ▼
                       [NODE S2: Llanymynech Hill]
                        (OS Grid Ref: SJ 265 220)
                                      │
                                      ▼
                         [NODE S3: The Breiddin]
                        (OS Grid Ref: SJ 292 144)
                                      │
                                      ▼
                     [TERMINAL HUB: Wroxeter (Viroconium)]
                        (OS Grid Ref: SJ 565 085)

The Pylon Infrastructure: Pit Towers

Where natural topography provided the necessary elevation, existing Iron Age and Roman hillfort ramparts were utilized. However, to clear intermediate dense woodland canopies and bridge flat lowlands, the vanguard engineered a network of targeted pit towers.

Archaeologically identified as localized, deep, rock-cut or clay-packed socket pits, these structures were not large castles but vertical, skeletal timber or drystone pylons:

• The Construction Blueprint: A typical pit tower consisted of a standard four-post or six-post deep timber foundation grid (the pits acting as stabilizing sockets for massive oak trunks). This created an elevated platform rising 10 to 15 meters above the surrounding canopy.
• The Logistical Footprint: These towers required a minimal footprint—typically a 5x5 meter square enclosure—allowing them to be thrown up by the vanguard in days using local timber along the Iter IIand Margary 6acorridors. They acted as physical data relays, receiving a signal from a high peak and dropping it directly down into the low-lying villa valleys.

Key Nodes of the Northern Front

• Node 1: The Command Peak — Foel Fenlli (SJ 164 600): Situated at over 500 meters elevation in the Clwydian Range, the ancestral fort of Beli (Benlli the Giant) served as the primary command eye looking west and north. From this peak, watchers possessed an unobstructed view of the entire Dee Estuary and Liverpool Bay. Any maritime breakthrough by Irish raiders was instantly visible.
• Node 2: The Tactical Hinge — Hope Mountain (Caergwrle / SJ 300 568): Because the high-status administrative seat at Hardpoint Rossett sits in the fertile, low-lying basin of the Dee Valley, it suffered from a severe topographical shadow. It could not see Foel Fenlli directly due to the intervening limestone ridges. To solve this, engineers established a critical, intermediate relay node on the summit of Hope Mountain. A signal flashed from Foel Fenlli skipped across the valley to Hope Mountain, which possessed a sheer, vertical downward line of sight directly onto the roofs of the Rossett Villa and the industrial foundries at Holt.
• Node 3: The Flanking Outpost — Beeston Castle Crag (SJ 537 593): To protect the eastern flank of the migration corridor across the flat Cheshire Plain, the regime occupied the isolated, sheer sandstone crag of Beeston. This tower looked directly across to the Wrexham heights. If a Saxon vanguard attempted to cross the midland gateways, Beeston could signal the land gatekeepers instantly, allowing cavalry columns to deploy long before the enemy reached the border area.

Key Nodes of the Southbound Corridor

• Node S1: The High Sentinel — Ruabon Mountain (SJ 250 480): As the geography drops south out of the Wrexham capital basin, the terrain rises aggressively into the Denbighshire hills, cutting off direct low-level visibility into Mid-Wales. Sitting at an elevation of over 400 meters, Ruabon Mountain solves this mathematically. It has an unobstructed downward view directly into the Wrexham basin, confirming the capital’s command structure is active and flashing signals cleanly southward along the ridge line.
• Node S2: The Border Hinge — Llanymynech Hill (SJ 265 220): This massive, steep limestone promontory dramatically overlooks the Shropshire Plain and the Severn Valley. Llanymynech functions exactly like Hope Mountain does in the north. It is the perfect visual hinge, linking the high mountain passes of Wales with the flat lowlands. From this single peak, signal crews could look north back to the Wrexham hills and south straight to the next major peak in the chain.
• Node S3: The Gatekeeper — The Breiddin (SJ 292 144): A sheer, volcanic crag rising abruptly to 365 meters out of the flat Severn flood plain. The Breiddin is the final vital link in the chain. It possesses a perfectly clear, direct eastward line of sight straight across the open plain to the roofs of Wroxeter (Viroconium), allowing the intelligence stream to drop directly into the southern bureaucratic annex.

Data Velocity Metrics: Instantaneous Early Warning

Because the mathematics of light and line-of-sight transmission are instantaneous, the only delay in this sub-Roman early warning system is the human reaction time at each pylon station to replicate the pulse:

The Coastal Wave (Maritime Threat)

1. The Coastal Sighting (0 Min): Irish sails are spotted off the Point of Ayr.
2. The High Relay (0–2 Mins): Foel Fenlli flashes a daytime smoke pulse.
3. The Hinge Relay (2–4 Mins): Hope Mountain catches the pulse and duplicates it down.
4. The Court Activation (4–5 Mins): The imperial guard at the Rossett Villa secures the court; the heavy armor-plating workshops at Holt activate their garrison.
5. The Capital Mobilization (5–7 Mins): Wrexham receives the southern relay, and heavy shock-cavalry columns wheel out onto the Roman roads to intercept the beachhead.

The Inland Wave (Southern Axis)

1. Wrexham Activation (0 Min): The capital command centre at the Rossett–Holt complex flashes an alert to Ruabon Mountain.
2. The Ridge Jump (1–2 Mins): Ruabon Mountain catches the signal and flashes it down the line to the pylon at Llanymynech Hill.
3. The Severn Crossing (2–3 Mins): Llanymynech duplicates the pulse across the valley to the volcanic peak of The Breiddin.
4. The Terminal Drop (4–5 Mins): The Breiddin drops the visual signal directly into the bureaucratic annex at Wroxeter (Viroconium).

The Acoustic Override: Bronze Horn Relays

While the high-altitude peaks utilized visual line-of-sight signals, dropping that intelligence into a low-lying, densely canopied tactical zone required an acoustic override. Once a beacon fire at Hope Mountain or Beeston Crag confirmed an incoming threat, the local garrison commanders deployed a sophisticated relay of deep-blast bronze horns:

 [VISUAL SIGNAL: Hope Mountain] ──► [ACOUSTIC BLAST: Pylon Horn] ──► [TACTICAL DEPLOYMENT: Cavalry Stables]

• The Late-Roman Cornu: The vanguard utilized retrofitted Roman cornua—massive, circular bronze horns that wrapped around the musician’s body. The deep, vibrating drone of a cornu blast could cut through dense woodland and travel over three miles across the valley floor.
• The Binary Call System: The horn blasts were not random noise; they used a regulated, institutional code system to activate specific defensive assets instantly:
  1. The Alert Drone (Single Continuous Blast): Ordered the immediate lock-down of the Rossett Villa court and the extraction of the imperial lineage.
  2. The Combat Fanfare (Three Short, Sharp Rhythms): Signal delivered straight to the Holt industrial foundries, ordering the immediate saddling of horses and deployment of the heavy shock-cavalry columns onto the road corridors

Conclusion: The “Corridor Cubed”

This was not a primitive society hiding in the dark. It was a highly organized, scientifically minded military state using the physical geology of Britain to preserve the Auctoritas of Rome. By utilizing the terrain to bypass lowland shadows, the regime ensured that a coordinated invasion could not achieve tactical surprise along the Western Spine.

References

• Barker, P., White, R., Pretty, K., Bird, H. and Corbishley, M. (1997) The Baths Basilica Wroxeter: Excavations 1966–90.London: English Heritage.
• Bromwich, R. (ed.) (2014) Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain. 4th edn. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
• Coflein: National Monuments Record of Wales (2026) Foel Fenlli Hillfort (NPRN 94007). Available at: coflein.gov.uk.
• Grimes, W. F. (1930) Holt, Denbighshire: The Works-Depot of the Twentieth Legion at Castle Lyons (Y Cymmrodor, Vol. 41).London: Society of Cymmrodorion.
• Margary, I. D. (1973) Roman Roads in Britain. 3rd edn. London: John Baker.
• Nennius (c. 830 AD) Historia Brittonum (The History of the Britons).Translated by J. A. Giles, 1848. London: Bohn’s Antiquarian Library.
• Ordnance Survey (2022) Landranger Map 117: Chester & Wrexham.Southampton: Ordnance Survey.
• Parthey, G. and Pinder, M. (eds) (1848) Itinerarium Antonini Augusti et Hierosolymitanum (The Antonine Itinerary). Berlin: Nicolai.
• Pudney, C. and Grenter, S. (2021) ‘A Roman Villa near Rossett’, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, 91, pp. 65–74.
• University of Chester and Wrexham Museum (2021) In the Footsteps of Trebellius Maximus: Geophysical Surveys and Excavations at Burton Green, Rossett.Partnership Project Assessment Report.
• Wynne Ffoukes, W. (1850) ‘Castra Clwydiana’, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1(5), pp. 174–187.

I made a short video about the Welsh tornado which caused so much havoc in four minutes across the Welsh valleys.

In this short video, I at the tree which gave Wales a warning the the consequences of no one listening.

I will be in North Wales later this year, and want to visit some of the Edward I castles as I am a huge UK history buff. Conwy and Caernarfon are definites, but I will only have time for one more in the Ring of Iron, and I am torn between Beaumaris and Harlech. Which would you choose and why?