Dinas Mawddwy - Brithdir, an archaeological survey (original) (raw)

The Dinas Mawddwy – Brithdir archaeological survey was undertaken in 2012 and was grant-aided by the RCAHM Wales Uplands Archaeology Initiative. It covers 31 square kilometres of enclosed moorland in Snowdonia National Park, in which 555 archaeological sites were recorded, 20 of which had been recorded previously in the National Monuments Record. The earliest sites to be discovered were Bronze Age cairns overlooking the Wnion valley, close to which are three circular enclosures of uncertain date, but probably prehistoric. Well-preserved tracks across moorland were once interpreted as Roman roads leading from the nearby fort at Brithdir, but only one section of track can be shown to be medieval or earlier. Other suggested Roman routes are now modern roads and no Roman features are visible. Evidence of medieval and post-medieval settlement, in the form of building platforms and stone long huts, was found in several of the lower-lying areas, including close to the pass of Bwlch Oerddrws. In some cases these former upland dwellings are demonstrably the hafotai of lowland farms; in others the proximity of old field boundaries suggests that they were permanent farmsteads. Peat was the main domestic fuel in Merioneth as late as the twentieth century and evidence of peat cutting was found concentrated in several areas. A distinguishing feature of the peat cuttings here is the proliferation of peat-drying stands, which are found in the form of sub-rectangular outlines of stones or rubble-stone platforms, often on sloping ground. They constitute one of the densest concentrations of such unusual features so far identified in Wales. A scatter of ironstone workings on Tyllau Mwn, on the southern flank of Aran Fawddwy, comprises a rare example of surviving eighteenth-century ironstone mines in Wales. They were begun in 1770. A small unsuccessful mid-nineteenth century gold mine known as Red Dragon is well preserved in the upper reaches of Nant Maesglase. Extensive remains of four slate quarries are within the survey area, which constitute an important group of quarries for slabs rather than roof slates. They were worked mainly from the 1840s to the 1920s. All are characterised by deep quarry pits, underground workings, and the survival of mills and other ancillary buildings. Inclined planes and tramways were used extensively, much evidence for which has survived. There has been little impact on the upland landscape in the twentieth century. At Bwlch Oerddrws anti-invasion defences were constructed in the 1940s in the form of large stone anti-tank blocks which form a striking addition to one of the highest passes in Wales. The report concludes with recommendations for future recording and research.