Banc y Celyn, Brecknockshire - Royal Commission on the Ancient ...

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Uplands Initiative – <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> 2008the circle appeared largely stone-free, with no surface evidence of internal structures.Interpretation of the evidence is difficult. It is felt likely that this is a ruined example ofan undated stock enclosure, but no certainty is possible on the basis of the surfaceevidence alone. The site does not compare with any other site in the <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> area,or on the adjacent SENTA Dry Training Area, which was surveyed during the spring of2008 (Trysor, 2008b).Plate 31: Thenorthwestern sectionof the stone swathedefining theCornelau UchafCircular EnclosureNPRN 305776At the southeastern corner of the study area, an apparently cultivated enclosure (NPRN247231) stands detached from the common boundary near Fforest. In this general areathere are denuded traces of ploughing across the hills of Waun Gynllwch and CefnLlwydallt, although again this may well be the result of post medieval landimprovement, rather than attempts at arable farming.The project has recorded 44 earthwork banks, although these are found in a variety oflocations, not always at the common edge and in some cases do not appear to createdistinctive enclosures. For example, bank NPRN 247415 at Hendy is a length ofearthwork bank approximately 75m long, up to 1m wide at its base and 0.30m high. Itruns parallel to a modern trackway but it is not known what its purpose was or whetherit was associated with the nearby Hendy Long Hut II (NPRN 275641). Possibly it hasbeen largely lost due to erosion caused by the trackway that seems to have followed itscourse northwards, and it may originally have formed the western edge of an enclosuredefined to the north and south by mountain streams and the common boundary to theeast. There is no visible cultivation associated with this bank.Further to the south, at Waun Hirwaun, an area of apparent ridge and furrow cultivation(NPRN 247141) seems to be overlain, or partly enclosed by a relatively well-preserved,L-shaped earthwork bank (NPRN 247142). This bank seems to be an attempt to take inpart of the common, but it does not create a complete enclosure, similar to the example58
Uplands Initiative – <strong>Banc</strong> y <strong>Celyn</strong> 2008of NPRN 247220 near Nantyroffeiriad Fawr. It runs west-southwest for some 85m offthe present common boundary, turns for c.90m to the south and then seems to peter out,at least 250m from the nearest point on the common boundary. The purpose of such abank does not appear to completely enclose an area, but perhaps to loosely define anarea intended for improvement or cultivation. Dating such a bank is difficult, but thefact that there is ridge and furrow cultivation across the wider area, as well as two crosscontourplatforms nearby (NPRNs 247139 & 247258) may imply a medieval or postmedieval date. It is not clear what the relationship with the cultivation is, as the bankmay overlie it, which would suggest a probable post medieval date.Such enclosures and banks rarely appear on historic mapping, and they would seem tobelong to the centuries before reliable mapping was produced for the area in the early19 th century. As a general point, the significance of enclosures abutting the commonboundary is that they may have been created at a time after the common boundary hadbeen properly defined, and thus are likely to be post medieval in date. However, thepossibility that some parcels were created on the open common and then joined to thearea of cultivated land by later encroachment or enclosure cannot be dismissed.Possible cultivation marks are visible on aerial photographs at a number of locations,such as the Waun Hirwaun location mentioned above. However, it is rarely possible tobe certain whether one is looking at cultivation marks, more recent land improvement orthe patterns left on the ground surface after bracken cutting. This issue poses somedifficulty when interpreting features observed on aerial photography and the comparingthat evidence with features on the ground.Some of the best ridge and furrow cultivation evidence is best seen around the field systemat Pant y Llyn Farmstead, though it survives outside the field system which is currentlymaintained and fenced in. It is possible that modern agricultural activity within themaintained fields has removed traces of earlier ploughing, whilst those areas of cultivationwhich were left outside the fence line of the field system have been left undisturbed.Plate 32: Thesubstantial earthworkbank above CwmGwenddwr (NPRN247368), which runs forover 700m along thespine of the ridge. Itsdate is unknown.59
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