HLW (Gw) 4

Lower Conwy Valley  

2001  

Outstanding  

Designated  

The area straddles the middle reaches of the lower Conwy valley which geographically defines the eastern limits of Snowdonia. To the east of the River Conwy, slopes rise fairly steeply from the flood plain at just above sea level to 200m above OD along the lower margins of the dissected plateau of the Denbigh Moors which lies outside the area.To the west, where the terrain is generally more craggy and less hospitable than to the east of the river, small tributary valleys to the Conwy dissect the north eastern flanks of the Carneddau ridge which rise to 770m above OD at the summit of Drum on the west of the area. The area contains a rich diversity of archaeological features. As in many other areas of Wales where there is an abundance of stone for building, it also contains extensive tracts of relict settlements and field systems from the prehistoric period to the recent past. The strong constraints imposed by topography on access and settlement in the area are reflected in a continuity and coherence of territory which is traceable back to prehistoric times. Historically, the Conwy valley formed the border of the old county of Caernarfon and provided a natural corridor for access and communication, north-south along the line of the valley and east-west across this area. The Roman fort of Canovium (Caerhun) is sited at the confluence of routes, where east-west routes cross those going north-south, and significantly at the highest point to which tides flow up the river. The line of the Roman road west of the fort is still traceable as a substantial earthwork as it approaches Bwlch y Ddeufaen and follows the only natural route out of the area across the north eastern flanks of the Carneddau ridge to the west. An earlier, prehistoric route is still marked by a number of standing stones, including the pair in Bwlch y Ddeufaen itself which has given the pass its name. The slopes on either side of the tributary valley of Afon Tafolog leading up to Bwlch y Ddeufaen contain an exceedingly rich, relict archaeological landscape of considerable antiquity and complexity, reflecting recurrent periods of intense land use and activity, with a great variety and density of archaeological monuments from the Neolithic to the medieval and post-medieval periods.Two such concentrations are of particular interest. The first is on the north side of the valley and extends from Bwlch y Ddeufaen, north eastwards between roughly the 300m and 450m contours, as far as Craig Celynin. It contains several Neolithic and Bronze Age funerary and ritual monuments, including the cairns and standing stones in Bwlch y Ddeufaen, Barclodiad y Gawres cairn, Cerrig Pryfaid stone circle and the Maen-y-Bardd burial chamber, and well over 100ha of relict, late prehistoric hut circles, hut groups, enclosures, field walls, cultivation banks and terraces, straddling the south east facing slopes around Maen-y-Bardd as far as Caer Bach, an Iron Age fort in the north. The second concentration is on the south side of the valley, centred on the Iron Age hillfort of Pen-y-Gaer, where there are concentrations of hut circles and house platforms, often with associated field systems to the north west, the west, and especially to the south east of the fort. The latter settlements and field systems are particularly extensive. Both concentrations, however, are overlain in parts by enclosures and settlements of the 16th and 17th centuries, and by Parliamentary Enclosures of the 19th century, which by now all add considerably to the historic character of this landscape. It has been argued that the area demonstrates clear shifts over time in the centre of power, from Pen-y-Gaer hillfort in the late prehistoric period to Canovium (Caerhun) in the ensuing Roman period; and from Caerhun to either Castell or the motte at Tal-y-cafn (or possibly both) in the medieval period. The English conquest saw a further, more radical, shift in the centre of power from the area to the outside, with the creation at Conwy of the Edwardian castle and borough. Documentary sources shed more light on some of the details of these changes. In the medieval period, the area fell within the commote of Arllechwedd Isaf, and the bond townships of Glyn, Gronant, Castell and Llanbedr fell within it. Uncertainty surrounds the location of the administrative centre or maerdref of this commote, but a site at Castell (possibly near Maes-y-Castell) or near the motte at Tal-y-cafn is most likely.At the latter location, land was granted to tenants of Maenan in compensation for land surrendered to accommodate the displacement of Aberconwy Abbey from Conwy by Edward. This suggests that land in Glyn and Gronant, at Tal-y-cafn, was originally royal land. Wherever the administrative centre was located, it seems likely that a traditional llys and maerdref complex had ceased to operate in this commote before the English conquest, as the labour services due to the royal court had already been transferred to the llys of the adjacent commote at Abergwyngregyn outside the area (pp. 113–116). Documentary sources from the 15th century onwards have been used to chart the gradual enclosure of these lands by the emerging gentry estates of the post-medieval period. The process culminated with wholesale Parliamentary Enclosures during the 19th century. The beginning of the 20th century saw the establishment of an aluminium works supplied by its own hydro-electric power station at Dolgarrog. In 1925, the dam burst and partly destroyed the Porth Llwyd Neolithic chambered tomb which had survived for five