![PUMLIMON](webphotos/pumlimon.jpg)
PUMLIMON
GRID REFERENCE: SN 805884
AREA IN HECTARES: 8986
Historic Background
This very extensive area, which includes the summit
of Pumlimon, lies across the county boundary separating Ceredigion from
Powys. The Powys side of the boundary has not been examined in detail,
and revision of the area may be required if further research is carried
out. Included in this area was part of Cwm-hir Abbey’s Cwmbuga Grange.
The unenclosed character of most of this land probably ensured that the
Crown claimed it. It included the Crown Manor of Perfedd. Records of Cwmbuga
Grange indicate considerable sheep-walks and summer pasture - a function
that has generally survived across the whole area to the present day.
Though there are now no occupied settlements in the area, historical sources
indicate that in the 18th century a pattern of dispersed settlement existed.
Many of these settlements were referred to as lluest (Vaughan 1966), which
may indicate that their origins lay within a system of transhumance. In
1744, Lewis Morris, the Deputy Steward of the Crown Manor of Perfedd,
described them as ‘small cottages which were originally summer houses
for shepherds and have an inclosure of a few acres of ground annexed to
them.’ (Vaughan 1966, 257). Morris seems to have described a system
in decline as some of the settlements he lists were deserted. By the end
of the 18th century they had declined dramatically in numbers, and by
the mid 19th century had all but gone leaving a deserted landscape. Plynlimmon
lead mine commenced production in this remote area in 1866 and continued
until 1891 (Bick 1983, 6-8).
Description and essential historic landscape
components
This is an extensive and remote area that includes steep-sided
valleys down to 250m and the craggy summit of Pumlimon at 752m. Almost
the whole of this area comprises moorland and rough grazing with blanket
bog at higher levels and peaty deposits in high valleys and hollows. Old
earth bank boundaries formerly divided small portions of the lower slopes
into large fields, but these enclosures are now largely redundant, and
widely spaced wire fences provide stock-proof boundaries. Large-scale
land improvement over the past few decades has resulted in the transformation
of much of the lower slopes, and some high level plateaux, into grassland
grazing. This is a treeless landscape with no habitations. The spoil tips,
shafts, tramways and wheel pits of Plynlimmon lead mine and other metal
mines are among the most obvious components of the historic landscape
in this area.
Apart from the metal mines mentioned above, the recorded
archaeology consists of Bronze Age round barrows/cairns and find spots,
and post-Medieval settlement sites and associated remains. The round barrows/cairns
located on summits, such as the group on Pumlimon are dramatic elements
of the landscape. Post-Medieval settlements, which are concentrated on
the lower slopes, indicate a populated landscape until the 19th century.
To the north and east the exact boundaries of this area
have yet to be defined. To the west lies upland forestry and the Rheidol
valley, including Nant y Moch reservoir. The definition between this area
and the reservoir area is not particularly good, and should be considered
a zone of change rather than a hard line. To the south the low-lying,
enclosed and settled Dyffryn Castell lies in sharp contrast with this
upland block.
![MORTH PUMLIMON MAP](webphotos/pumlimonnorthmap.jpg)
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 |