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Caer Bach

Hillforts in Conwy County Borough
Caer Bach
Caer Bach

Caer Bach is a Welsh hillfort of indeterminate age, on a rounded hillock situated near the village of Rowen; in Conwy County, North Wales. Its name in English translates as 'Small Fort'; or alternatively 'Little Fortress'. It is situated on the Eastern slopes of Tal-y-Fan, an outlying peak of the Carneddau mountain range in northeast Snowdonia; at an altitude of approximately 413 metres (1,355 feet). Little information is known about the history of the fort, as to date, the site has undergone minimal investigation. The fort is classed as a scheduled ancient monument and is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric settlement. It is said to retain significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Caer Bach (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.23881469 ° E -3.88313994 °
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Address

Roman Road
LL32 8YW
Wales, United Kingdom
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Caer Bach
Caer Bach
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Nearby Places

Rowen, Conwy
Rowen, Conwy

Rowen is a village on the western slopes of the Conwy valley in the parish of Caerhun and the former County of Caernarfonshire in Wales. It lies off the B5106 road, between Tal y Bont and the Groes Inn. Buildings of Gwynedd 2009 refers to the River Roe probably following the Roman route from Caerhun to Abergwyngregyn. Rowen has won tidiest village awards several times.In recent times the name of the village has been variously spelled as "Y Wy-Wen" (white river), "Rowen", "Ro-wen" "Roe Wen" and "Roewen". Although the Religious Census of 1851 records the name "Ro-wen", most early 20th-century maps simply use the name "Y Ro", Welsh for "gravel" or "pebbles". Wen means "white", or could mean "holy". The Afon Roe, a tributary of the River Conwy, flows through the village. A tributary of Afon Roe is Afon Tafolog, which drains the eastern slopes of Drum, a mountain in the Carneddau mountains. In the book Crwydro Arfon (1959, by Alun Llewelyn-Williams), Rowen is described as "...one of the loveliest villages in Wales" (p. 77). The following poem, called "Llais Afon, Ro" ("Voice of Afon Ro"), was written by G. Gerallt Davies in 1945: And, in 1941 he published "Y Ffynnon": The village has a hotel, Tir y Coed; a pub, Y Tŷ Gwyn; and a memorial hall, but the small primary school closed in 2011. There is a youth hostel on the slope a mile to the west of the village. Social housing came to the village in the 1960s - Llanerch Estate. In the past, the village had a greater significance; it had three mills, and several ale houses and inns. It also had a pandy or fulling mill, so woollen cloth must have been made nearby. The village is identified in the Caerhun common enclosure award maps. The award map refers to the creation of the White Hart Road on the mountain above Fotty Gwyn and the Roman bridge, possibly related to the old royal mail coaching days. There are past associations with cattle droving and fairs. Bulkley Mill (completed 1684) is one of the notable old mills of the village. One historic source refers to a mountain cloudburst happening above the village, with properties being lost (probably in the mid-1800s). Nearby is the Roman road route through Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen, with its cromlech Maen-y-Bardd. Part of the A Family at War series (Granada TV) was filmed here.

Sychnant Pass
Sychnant Pass

Sychnant Pass (Welsh: Bwlch Sychnant, "Dry-stream Pass") in Conwy County Borough, Wales, links Conwy to Penmaenmawr via Dwygyfylchi. Much of the pass is in Snowdonia National Park, and a large area of land within it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. At the bottom is the village of Capelulo, which lends its name to the community of Penmaenmawr. Before the coming of the railway to the North Wales coast, the road through Sychnant Pass was the route of choice for mail coaches at high tide, when the faster and safer route along the sands was unusable. After leaving Conwy, the route runs westward through the valley on the south side of Mynydd y Dref (Conwy Mountain), which is topped by the hillfort of Castell Caer Seion. There are parallel tracks and footpaths (including the North Wales Path) on Mynydd y Dref for most of the way. Also Allt-Wen (837 ft, 255 m) and Penmaenbach (804 ft, 245 m) can be climbed from here. At the western end of the valley, the Sychnant Pass Road runs between the stone walls of the Pensychnant estate and through a narrow gap in the surrounding hills before descending steeply to the valley floor at Capelulo, reputedly the site of an early medieval chapel of Saint Ulo. Here there are two inns, a restaurant and a bistro, and in the ravine behind the inns is Nant Ddaear-y-llwynog (the Fairy Glen), a Victorian nature trail. From Capelulo it is an easy walk or short drive to the coast at Penmaenmawr.