Mynydd Llangynidr, Brecknockshire - Royal Commission on the ...

<strong>Mynydd</strong> <strong>Llangynidr</strong> Upland Survey
UIP081 Report Version: Final
Produced for RCAHMW
Upland deserted settlements, particularly those of potential medieval date with cognisance of
surrounding agricultural or storage features associated with the domestic buildings
6.8 A few upland deserted settlements or farmsteads were recorded during the project, for
instance the ruins located in the valley below <strong>Mynydd</strong> <strong>Llangynidr</strong>. Often air photo evidence is the
first indicator of potential remains and usually identifies elements of the associated field system.
Otherwise, these sites are discovered during systematic field visits to sheepfolds, where attention
needs to be paid to incorporated remains of earlier structures.
The structure, components and phasing of field systems in upland areas with an eye to
possible early dating of some enclosures, and the presence of encroachment
6.9 There were many former boundary walls discovered which had collapsed into banks. They
were located on the north facing slopes of <strong>Mynydd</strong> <strong>Llangynidr</strong> and along the top of Carn Caws
and Clo Cadno but were often very heavily obscured by vegetation or weather conditions. They
are probably medieval or post-medieval. Early mapping can assist with dating post-medieval field
systems but has been found to be of little use for earlier features. Associating field systems with
date-specific structures and transport routes may be the only practical method of dating them.
Post medieval
6.10 There are 316 (plus a possible further twelve) records for the post medieval period,
comprising almost half the records for the project. The period witnessed a dramatic increase in
activity in the mountains as people of new skills and tools found gainful employment on the
slopes. There were still the shepherds with their huts, folds and dips, but the industrial revolution
signalled an improvement in quarrying techniques. Recreational shooting of course became
widespread in upland areas during the 1800s.
6.11 Most of the recorded sites were quarries and lime kilns, associated with spoil heaps and
some buildings. The majority of the limekilns were surface kilns, heavily overgrown with waste
heaps of burnt lime and charcoal material. There were some examples of well built stone pot
kilns, some freestanding mounds, others dug into steep slopes. The loose waste material also
inadvertently provided a material for walkers to construct recreational cairns out of.
6.12 The shooting butts varied in form between single rubble walls, to crescent shaped circles,
sometimes built out of older cairns.
6.13 Very frequently observed sites in the survey area were hollows constructed in the scree
slopes. It was clear that while most were roughly built holes probably associated with modern
military training, some were of far better construction and had far superior views of the open
mountainside. The latter were recorded as post medieval shooting butts, though of course, even
some of the freestanding butts could be modern in date.
The presence and extent of remains of rural industries in the uplands, particularly peat
cutting, quarrying, rabbit farming and mining
6.14 Quarrying for limestone to produce lime is the main industry present in the survey area and
was found throughout, though the extent of each quarry varied widely. Other quarries were found
to extract walling stone or other building materials in the later periods. There were a number of
modern disused quarries in the area surveyed, with partially tarmaced roads and access routes
that had been recently blocked off. Evidence of extensive quarrying was found along outcrops,
such as above the area of forestry between SO 14300, 16400 and 14800, 16900, with frequent
scalloping of the hillside. The topography sometimes made it difficult to distinguish between
natural scree and specific areas of industrial quarrying. There were numerous small scoops in the
slopes of most of the peaks and close to stone wall boundaries such as at SO 16468 13732 where
stone for the wall was quarried on-site.
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(Draft Final).doc
Copyright ArchaeoPhysica Ltd. 10/02/2009