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![Cambrian Mountains](webphotos/cambrianmountains.jpg)
CAMBRIAN MOUNTAINS
GRID REFERENCE: SN 879665
AREA IN HECTARES: 298840
Historic Background
This very large area of high upland straddles the Ceredigion-Powys
county boundary. The largest proportion lies within Powys, and, as this
is outside the study area, has not been examined in detail. Historically
a large part of this area lies within Strata Florida Abbey’s granges
of Pennardd, Mefenydd, Cwmteuddwr and Cwmystwyth (Williams 1990, 56-57).
By the end of the Medieval Period, and perhaps earlier, the granges had
been separated into farms, leased out and farmed on a commercial basis.
It is uncertain how the upland sections of the granges would have functioned.
Parts of the upland fringes undoubtedly comprised farms - a document of
1545-50 (Morgan 1991, 5-7) names farms now abandoned in an upland situation
- but presumably most upland served as rough pasture used on a seasonal
basis. Williams (1990, 59) cites a document that indicates transhumance
in Mefenydd Grange. Other monastic uses included peat cutting and a fishery
in the Teifi Pools. It is likely that on the Dissolution the Crown would
have claimed unenclosed land, with farmed land first leased and later
purchased by incipient estates, notably in this area the Crosswood and
Powis Castle estates. Land acquired by the latter in and around Cwmystwyth
eventually formed the Hafod estate. These estates were eager to increase
the extent of their holdings, and engaged in the illegal enclosure of
unenclosed Crown land, a process that was at its most active in the late
18th and early 19th centuries. Legal means were also employed. Enclosure
Acts were sponsored. The two within this area, Gwnnws of 1815 and Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn
of 1866 (Chapman 1992, 50, 53), enclosed vast tracts of upland, as did
an 1815 proposed act for the area of Teifi Pools (NLW Crosswood 347),
but their physical effect on the landscape was minimal. In the 20th century,
land improvement hand in hand with enclosure has nibbled away at waste
and moorland. It was by these legal and illegal means that unenclosed
land was reduced to its present extent. Crossing the area are several
important trans-mountain natural route-ways linking farming communities
and the markets of Ceredigion with lands and towns to the east. These
trans-mountain route-ways are most celebrated by drovers in the historical
period, but they are likely to be of greater antiquity. They not only
provided communication across the Cambrian mountain chain, but allowed
access onto the high moorland for the establishment of permanent or seasonal
settlement, for the grazing of animals and for peat cutting. The route-way
from Cwmystwyth to the east to Rhayader and beyond was converted to a
turnpike in 1770 (Colyer 1984, 176-82), but was superseded by the opening
of a new turnpike (the current A44) to the north in 1812.
![Cambrian Mountains](webphotos/cambrianmountains2.jpg)
Description and essential historic landscape
components
This is a very large upland area. It achieves peaks
of over 500m, is on average approximately 400m high and rarely falls below
300m. Craggy outcrops on some of the higher summits and around Llyn Teifi
provide much needed drama in an otherwise drab and monotonous landscape.
Unimproved very rough grazing dominates with blanket bog at higher levels
and peaty deposits in most hollows and valleys. There is some improved
grazing, mostly on lower slopes where occasional wire fences divide the
area. There are a few widely dispersed farms, in particular on the Powys
side of the border. These are traditionally stone built, surrounded by
a collection of modern farm buildings, and situated within a system of
a few fields whose boundaries consist of earth banks, but where wire fences
now provide the stock-proof barriers. The fields attached to these farms
now comprise improved pasture, and there are further blocks of unenclosed
improved pasture close by. This is a treeless landscape. Overall this
is a landscape of unenclosed moorland.
Recorded archaeology is only described for the Ceredigion
portion of this area. Archaeology adds greater time-depth to the landscape,
as numerous Bronze Age round barrows and a standing stone suggest occupation
within this area even at high altitude, although no settlement sites are
known. However, post-Medieval settlement sites and other sites of the
period such as folds, enclosures, shelters and field systems indicate
that the lower-lying fringes of this area were occupied, through to the
19th century. Metal mining remains are also present.
This is a very well defined area and is either bordered
by large blocks of upland forestry, or by lower lying enclosed and settled
land. On the eastern side, in Powys, the boundaries of this area have
not been accurately defined.
![Cambrian Mountains North](webphotos/cambrianmountainsnorthmap.jpg)
Cambrian Mountains North
Cambrian Mountains Central
![Cambrian Mountains South](webphotos/cambrianmountainssouthmap.jpg)
Cambrian Mountains South
Base map reproduced from the OS map with the permission
of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery
Office, © Crown Copyright 2001.
All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright
and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence Number: GD272221 |