Bedd
Porius - Inscribed StoneThe Bronze Age was succeeded by what is known as the Iron Age, that is the age in which people began to learn how to make implements of iron. How the art spread into Wales, we have no definite evidence, but everything points to the conclusion that some centuries before the coming of the Romans - how many we do not know - new comers came into Britain from across the sea, and many of them drifted into Wales, bringing with them a knowledge of the new craft.
Probably, though this again is only conjecture, the new-comers pushed the older peoples into the less accessible parts of the Welsh mountains in some cases, and settled down, in other cases, peaceably enough along side the older inhabitants, intermingling as time went on.
The movements of people in and into Merioneth is wrapped in the utmost obscurity; but there was undoubtedly a Celtic invasion into the land. Two facts emerge out of this obscurity, firstly that there were two great branches of the Celtic people, known as the Goidelic and the Brythonic, and secondly that the Goidelic peoples, at first, held the major portion of Wales.
But when the Romans came, a great wedge had been driven into the heart of Wales by a race whom the Romans called the Ordovices. Whether they were Brythonic or not is sometimes disputed; but it is generally assumed that they were, and that they differed in many ways from the Goidelic peoples who lived to the north and the south of them.
A popular derivation of the name "Ordovices" is from the old Welsh equivalent of "ar y Dyfi" (on the Dovey), for their possessions spread from Aberdovey up to Chirk, the limits of the area occupied having a wide base in the east and tapering to a thin point in the west; but popular derivations must not always be accepted as true.
The countryside round Dolgelley and Llanelltyd was included in the area held by the Ordovices. This great tribe put up a gallant fight against the invading Romans. They were led, for a time by the great Caradawg, or Caracticus, as he is commonly called; but eventually the superior discipline and military organisation of the Romans gave the latter the victory, and this part of the land became absorbed in the great Roman Empire.
The Romans, however, do not appear to have left any definite traces of themselves either in Dolgelley or Llanelltyd.
They built a great fort at Tomen-y-Mur near Trawsfynydd, a less important one at Caergai, near Bala, and they had a kind of fortified port at Pennal on the Dovey.
Pennal appears to have been the victualling station for Tomen-y-Mur, and probably also for the great camp at Caersws in Montgomery.
Between Tomen-y-Mur and Pennal a great road stretched. It came down the Ganllwyd valley; but before reaching Llanelltyd, it appears to have turned abruptly to the east, passing Llanfachreth.
There it was diverted due south, east of Moel Offrwm, and it crossed the Wnion close to Bont Newydd, climbing thence, via Pont Helygog, over the mountains to Aberllefeni, then striking due west to Pennal. That, at least, appears to be the probable rout from such indications as exist; but herin, as is so much else of early history, we can only build on scattered material.
A road also, no doubt linked up Caergai with Tomen-y-Mur, but the course it followed is still conjectural.
Traces of the Roman roads can still be seen, and they are known, as Roman roads generally are in Wales, as Sarnau Elen; and if you would know why that name is applied, you should read the Dream of Macsen Wledig, one of the most beautiful stories in the Mabinogion. The reason why the traces are not more abundant is that, probably, in many places, there was not sufficient traffic to justify the Romans in paving the roads, and they were content with roughly cleared tracks over the mountains which have long since become hidden under heather and mountain-grass.
Now the Romans were very business-like people, and, in making roads, they were inclined to go in a straight line, if they could.
The fact that they had to make this sudden diversion, instead of coming down the Wnion near Dolgelley, shows that the whole country from below Dolserau to Gelli Gemlyn was marshy and liable to heavy frequent floods, which was necessary to avoid by skirting round.
The only evidence of the Romans ever having been in Dolgelley is the discovery, some two years ago, of a few coins of the Emperors Hadrian and Trajan, near Ffynnon Fair, a spring just above the town, which became very famous or itshealing powers in the Middle Ages. Probably they were dropped there by Roman soldiers, stopping for a drink of water, when marching past Llyn Gwernan in the direction of Towyn. That, or perhaps by some native of the countryside who had been bartering with the troops at Caergai.
There is a famous stone also up the Ganllwyd valley, known as Bedd Porius, with a Latin inscription on it; but it is most probable that this stone dates from the Vth or VIth century, after the Romans had left.
Bedd
Porius - Inscribed StoneIt is quite clear that there was no settlement either in Dolgelley or Llanelltyd of the peoples of the land in Roman times. Those peoples were rovers of the hillsides, moving about with their flocks and herds, as the seasons indicated the best pasturage grounds, and they were also much engaged in hunting. They were not ordinarily dwellers in towns, or even in villages.
But - and here we enter on a very difficult historical question - scattered over the face of Wales there are innumerable fortifications, commonly known as hill forts. Sometimes they are called British forts, a very vague term; sometimes, quite mistakenly, Roman forts. They are very common indeed on the low hills above the sea-coast, stretching from Llandecwyn to Barmouth, and one of the most famous of all is on Craig Aderyn in the Dysynni valley.
Archaeologists who have studied these forts are by no means at one regarding them; and they classify them and build up theories about hem, according to whether they were built with stone or earth, and also according to the scheme of the defences made.
Noting these differences, some allot the forts to pre-historic times, others to the obscure period when the Romans were in the land, some to the still more obscure days which saw the power of Rome crumbling away.
One thing, however, is quite clear. These forts were not Roman; and it is probable that some, at any rate, were occupied by a series of peoples, some pre-Roman, some contemporary with or later than the Romans, the one taking possession of what the other had been the first to make, each changing the character of the forts to suit changing ideas of defence.
Some consider they represent the beginnings of town life on the hill-tops, for just at the end of Roman occupation, town life did spring up in Gaul; others regard them as refuges to which the ordinary country-people, essentially a pastoral people, resorted in times of stress only; others again think that they may be citadels established by invaders from across the sea, trying to find a footing in the land. It is true enough that, as the power of Roam decayed. marauders from Ireland and elsewhere did come into the land; but this fact does not determine whether the older inhabitants or the invaders built the forts.
The pros and cons of all this learning must be left alone here; and we must be content to note the fact of the existence of the forts, weaving out of the fact whatsoever opinion we may, individually, be inclined to weave.
The immediate neighbourhood of Dolgelley has three of these forts, one a very important one, two of lesser importance.
If you climb to the top of Moel Offrwm, 1,300 feet above sea-level, you will come across the remains of a very strong fort.
The hill is a stiff one to climb, and accordingly easy to defend. Its top is fortified with a strong rampart defending the entrances to the interior. Inside there is a spring of beautiful water, and the fort is so situated as to command a magnificent prospect of the whole country round about. It lies on a hill-top, in the center of an amphitheatre, ringed round in the distance by great mountains.
It should be added, too, that only within the last year or so a smaller fortification, a little below the great fortress, has been found, and is at the present moment, undergoing excavation and investigation.
Between this great fort and the village of Llanelltyd there is another and a smaller fort on a spur of Moel Cynwch, some 900 feet up, almost at the southerly end of the Precipice walk, facing towards Dolgelley on the one hand and looking down the estuary to Barmouth on the other. This fort has only a small stone rampart round it; and there is a very similar fort on another hill-top to the east of Moel Offrwm,1,053 feet up, between which and Moel Offrwm runs a small valley down to the Wnion. This fort was constructed by joining together natural outcrops of rock by means of rough stone walls.
The other side, the Cader side, of the valley possesses a smallish fort to the West of Llyn Gwernan, crowning a rocky hill, which is fortified by a strong stone wall on the summit. The enclosure within is cut into two by an outcrop of rock, so that the fort has two sections to it; and it was hence possible, even if one part fell to a storming party, for the other to be held by the garrison. This little fort is intensely interesting, for the approach to the summit ran along a winding path, leading to a water supply at the foot of the hill, and the path was originally defended by stone walls on each side.
Whoever built them, for whatever purpose they were built, there they still stand, memorials of a time and a people who have left no concrete record behind them save these remains.
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