Preseli Mountains
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The Preseli Mountains (Template:IPAc-en, Template:Respell; Template:Langx or Template:Langx), also known as the Preseli Hills, or just the Preselis, are a range of hills in western Wales, mostly within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and entirely within the county of Pembrokeshire.
The range stretches from the proximity of Newport in the west to Crymych in the east, some Template:Convert in extent. The highest point at Template:Convert above sea level is Foel Cwmcerwyn. The ancient Template:Convert of track along the top of the range is known as the Golden Road.<ref name="BBC: Wales nature and outdoors">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Preselis have a diverse ecosystem, many prehistoric sites, and are a popular tourist destination. There are scattered settlements and small villages; the uplands provide extensive unenclosed grazing, and the lower slopes are mainly enclosed pasture.
Slate quarrying was once an important industry. More recently, igneous rock is being extracted. The Preselis have Special Area of Conservation status, and there are three sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs).
Name variations
A peak is spelt Percelye on a 1578 parish map, and more recent maps show the range as Presely or Mynydd Prescelly. The etymology is unknown, but is likely to involve Welsh prys, meaning "wood, bush, copse".<ref name="dbpn">Template:Cite book</ref> A number of other peaks are shown on the 1578 map, but the only other named peak is Wrennyvaur (now Frenni Fawr). An 1819 Ordnance Survey Map refers to the range as Precelly Mountain (singular).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="OS">OS One inch 7th series map sheet 138/151 Fishguard and Pembroke 1965</ref> An 1833 publication stated: the ancient Welsh name...is Preswylva, signifying "a place of residence",<ref name="Lewis">Template:Cite web</ref> but does not cite any evidence. 21st century maps show the range as Mynydd Preseli.<ref name=OS145 />
Geology
The hills are formed largely from the Ordovician age marine mudstones and siltstones of the Penmaen Dewi Shales and Aber Mawr Shale formations which have been intruded by microgabbro (otherwise known as dolerite or diabase) of Ordovician age. The former slate quarries at Rosebush on the southern edge of the hills worked the Aber Mawr Formation rocks whilst it is the dolerite tors of Carn Menyn which have been postulated, amongst other localities, as the source of the Stonehenge ‘bluestones’.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In contrast Foel Drygarn towards the eastern end of the range is formed from tuffs and lavas of the Fishguard Volcanic Group. Further east is Frenni Fawr which is formed from mudstones and sandstones of the Nantmel Mudstone Formation of late Ordovician Ashgill age. The sedimentary rocks dip generally northwards and are cut by numerous geological faults. Cwm Gwaun is a major glacial meltwater channel which divides the northern tops such as Mynydd Carningli from the main mass of the hills.<ref>British Geological Survey 2010 Fishguard England and Wales Sheet 210 Bedrock and Superficial deposits 1:50,000 (Keyworth, Nottingham, BGS)</ref>
Geography
The Preselis, much of which are unenclosed moorland or low-grade grazing with areas of bog, are surrounded by farmland and active or deserted farms. Field boundaries tend to be earth banks topped with fencing and stock-resistant plants such as gorse.<ref name=Dyfed /> Rosebush Reservoir, one of only two reservoirs in Pembrokeshire, supplies water to southern Pembrokeshire and is a brown trout fishery<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> on the southern slopes of the range near the village of Rosebush. Further to the south is Llys y Fran reservoir and leisure park. Both reservoirs are sourced by the River Syfynwy. There are no natural lakes in the Preselis, but a number of other rivers, including the Gwaun, Nevern and Tâf have their sources in the range.<ref name=OS145>OS Landranger Series, Map 145 Cardigan & Mynydd Preseli 2007</ref>
Peaks
The principal peak at Template:Convert above sea level is Foel Cwmcerwyn. There are 14 other peaks over Template:Convert of which three exceed Template:Convert.<ref name="OS" />
Settlements
Villages and other settlements within the range include Blaenffos, Brynberian, Crosswell, Crymych, Cwm Gwaun, Dinas Cross, Glandy Cross, Mynachlog-ddu, New Inn, Pentre Galar, Puncheston, Maenclochog, Rosebush and Tafarn-y-Bwlch. The only town in the Preseli area is Newport, at the foot of the Carningli-Dinas upland in the northwest of the range.<ref name="OS" />
Natural history and land use
The Preselis provide hill grazing for much of the year and there is some forestry. As well as features of interest to geologists and archaeologists, the hills have a wide variety of bird, insect and plant life. There are three sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Carn Ingli and Waun Fawr (biological), and Cwm Dewi (geological). The Preseli transmitting station mast, erected in 1962, stands on Crugiau Dwy near the hamlet of Pentre Galar. To the south of Crugiau Dwy is the extensively quarried hill Carn Wen (Garnwen Quarry) which was still actively extracting igneous rock in 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Preselis have Special Area of Conservation status; the citation states that the area is "... exceptional in Wales for the combination of upland and lowland features..." Numerous scarce plant and insect species exist in the hills.<ref name=CCFW>Template:Cite web</ref> For example, they are an important UK site for the rare Southern damselfly, Coenagrion mercuriale,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> where efforts to restore habitat were underway in 2015<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and reported in 2020 to have been a success.<ref name="BBCNews24Sep2020">Template:Cite news</ref>
Communications and access
One major road, the A478, crosses the eastern end of the range, reaching a height of Template:Convert. Two B-class roads, intersecting at New Inn, cross the hills: the B4313 NW-SE, reaching Template:Convert and the B4329 NE-SW, reaching Template:Convert at Bwlch-gwynt (translation: windy gap). The latter was turnpiked in 1790 and designated B4329 in the early 20th century; until then it had been the principal route between Cardigan and Haverfordwest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These, and a number of other minor roads and lanes, provide scenic routes popular with motoring, cycling and walking tourists. The A487 trunk road skirts the western end of the range, through Newport.<ref name=OS145 /> Cattle grids prevent egress of grazing stock from unenclosed areas of the mountains.<ref name="OS" />
The Preselis are popular with walkers wishing to follow prehistoric trails,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with walks varying from easy to long-distance. The larger part of the hills is designated under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 as 'open country' thereby enabling walkers the 'freedom to roam' across unenclosed land, subject to certain restrictions. An east-west bridleway which runs the length of the main massif (known as Flemings' Way<ref name="DAT281" /> or the Golden Road<ref name="BBC: Wales nature and outdoors"/>), together with spurs to north and south, gives access to mountain bikers and horseriders.<ref>Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale Explorer mapping</ref> There are cycle trails.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Paragliding is not permitted without the consent of the land owners, who in 2014 collectively agreed not to allow it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Other features
Castell Henllys, on the A487 between Eglwyswrw and Felindre Farchog is a reconstructed Iron Age settlement, illustrating what life may have been like in those times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Prehistory
The Preselis are dotted with prehistoric remains, including evidence of Neolithic settlement. More were revealed in an aerial survey during the 2018 heatwave.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales published in 1833 said of Maenclochog parish:Template:Blockquote
Pollen analysis suggests that the hills were once forested but the forests had been cleared by the late Bronze Age.<ref name=CCFW />
Bluestones
In 1923 the petrologist Herbert Henry Thomas proposed that bluestone from the hills corresponded to that used to build the inner circle of Stonehenge,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and later geologists suggested that Carn Menyn (formerly called Carn Meini) was one of the bluestone sources.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Recent geological work has shown this theory to be incorrect.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is now thought that the bluestones at Stonehenge and fragments of bluestone found in the Stonehenge "debitage" have come from multiple sources on the northern flanks of the hills,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> such as at Craig Rhos-y-felin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Advanced details of a recent contribution to the puzzle of the precise origin of the Stonehenge bluestones were published by the BBC in November 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Others theorise that bluestone from the area was deposited close to Stonehenge by glaciation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> More detailed discussions on the bluestone topic can be found in the Stonehenge, Theories about Stonehenge and Carn Menyn articles.
Investigations published in 2021 suggested a link between Waun Mawn (see below) and the Stonehenge bluestones,<ref name="Waun">Template:Cite journal</ref> but this was disputed in a 2024 study.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Individual sites
The Preselis are rich in sacred and prehistoric sites,<ref name=Dyfed>Template:Cite web</ref> many of which are marked on Ordnance Survey maps.<ref name=OS145 /> They include burial chambers, tumuli, hill forts, hut circles, stone circles, henges, standing stones and other prehistoric remains. These sites are spread across a number of communities that share parts of the Preseli range. Dyfed Archaeological Trust has produced extensive notes on the mountain range and surrounding features and villages.<ref name=Dyfed /><ref name="DAT281">Template:Cite web</ref>
Some of the more notable are:
- Bedd Arthur (Neolithic hengiform standing stones)<ref>Template:Watprn. Template:Watprn. Cadw SAM: PE464: Bedd Arthur</ref>
- Mynydd Carningli (hillfort, SSSI)<ref>Template:Watprn. Template:Watprn. Cadw SAM: PE011: Carn Ingli Camp</ref>
- Carn Menyn (chambered cairn)
- Carreg Coetan Arthur (Neolithic dolmen)<ref>Template:Watprn. Template:Watprn. Cadw SAM: PE056: Carreg Coetan Burial Chamber</ref>
- Temple Druid (standing stone, cromlech)
- Pentre Ifan (burial chamber)
Others include:
- Banc Du (evidence of prehistoric settlement)
- Carn Alw (Neolithic settlement)<ref name=SEP2010>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Carn Goedog (bluestones and standing stone)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Cerrig Lladron (Bronze Age stone row)<ref>Template:Watprn. Template:Watprn. Cadw SAM: PE496: Cerrig Lladron stone row</ref>
- Foel Drygarn (hillfort)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Foel Cwmcerwyn (tumuli)
- Frenni Fach & Frenni Fawr (tumuli - see also Blaenffos)
- Glandy Cross (prehistoric remains)
- Glyn Gath (tumulus)
- Gors Fawr (stone circle)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Mynyedd Melyn (hut circle)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Parc-y-Meirw (standing stones)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Rhos fach (standing stones)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Tafarn y Bwlch (mountain pass and standing stones)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Tre-Fach (standing stone, prehistoric camp)
- Ty-Meini (standing stone, known as "The Lady Stone"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>)
- Waun Mawn (standing stones; dismantled<ref name="Waun" /> stone circle c.3400-3000 BC),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> grid reference Template:Gbmappingsmall<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Slate quarrying was once an important industry in the Preselis; the former quarries, worked for much of the 19th century, can still be seen in a number of locations such as Rosebush.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Preseli slate was not of roofing quality, but its density made it ideal for machining for building and crafts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Most quarries had closed by the 1930s<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but there is a workshop at Llangolman where slate is still used to make a variety of craft items.
During the Second World War, the War Office used the Preselis extensively for training exercises by British and American air and ground forces.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its proposed continued use after the war was the subject of a two-year ultimately successful protest by local leaders.<ref>Template:Cite book(editions in Welsh and English)</ref> The success of the protest was commemorated 60 years on, in 2009, with a plaque at each end of the Golden Road: one at the foot of Foel Drygarn near Mynachlog-ddu, and another near the B4329 at Bwlch-gwynt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2000, Terry Breverton, a lecturer at Cardiff University, in promoting a book he had published, suggested that the rock star Elvis Presley's ancestors came from the Preselis and may have had links to a chapel at St Elvis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
Further reading
- Downes, John. Field observations in the geology and geomorphology of the Preseli hills of north Pembrokeshire. Open University Geological Society Journal, Volume 32 (1–2) 2011, pp 17–21 [1]