Rhiwbina Living Issue 55

history
romantic writers of the time.
However, work by local historians
in recent years have stumbled
across a site that could give
credence to the idea that Camelot
did exist - and that it was right here
in north Cardiff.
In 1995, a documentary called
Wales: History in Bondage was
released, focusing on what
they described at 'the English
destruction and cover-up of Welsh
history.'
The documentary was headed
by Professor Lee Pennington,
President of the Ancient Kentucke
Association in the United States.
It also included footage from the
Welsh historian, Alan Wilson, who
had spent decades researching
Arthurian legends.
The film delved into very real
possibility that Camelot did exist -
and what's more - it was situated
in what is now a field just north of
Rhiwbina.
The site's location would have
given the King of Glamorgan an
ideal position within the kingdom,
having extensive views over the
Bristol Channel and England, as
well as Ynys Rhonech (Steep Holm)
and Ynys Echni (Flat Holm). The
panorama stretches all the way to
Penarth (is Penarth Head 'Arthur's
Head'?). They would have been
able to see any threat coming from
the English side from miles away.
Inland, the site would have been
protected too, having not been far
from Caerleon, and to the west, the
there was
english
destruction
and a cover-up
of welsh history
dense woods of Cefn Mably.
Surrounding what would have
been a castle was a series of forts,
encircling the main construction.
It's very possible that castle stood
at the centre of the site.
As Alan Wilson points out in the
documentary:
"There was definitely a marriage
here in 1453 so the castle was still
standing then. Below the castle
was Yellow Wells Farm, so-called
because of the sulphur springs
there.
"It is well-known in Welsh history
that this site was the number one
place for the Glamorgan kings," he
adds.
The name Camelot could derive
from the Welsh word Caermelin,
meaning Yellow Fort. This backs
up what Alan Wilson is referring
to when he talks about the nearby
Yellow Wells Farm.
And Arthur's links to Wales
don't end there. Further regional
archaeological evidence exists
to support the notion that Arthur
did exist. Caerleon's Roman
amphitheatre has been known as
the site of King Arthur's court since
the 12th century.
In 1405, it was the French Army
that landed at Milford Haven
to support Owain Glyndŵr in
his uprising against the English
Crown. The army marched to
Caerleon, where according to the
anonymous historiographical text
Chronique Religieux de St Denys,
they visited 'The Round Table'. The
Round Table in fact would have
been the Roman amphitheatre
of the legionary fortress of Isca in
Caerleon.
Geoffrey of Monmouth had
identified Caerleon as the court
of King Arthur in his fictional epic,
the History of the Kings of Britain
in 1136. This identification, not far
from the area where he grew up,
has been described as 'the fruits
of a lively historical imagination
playing upon the visible remains
of an imposing Roman city'. Some
parts of Roman Isca was still
standing in the 13th century.
Some half dozen Welsh Stone
Age megaliths are called 'Arthur's
Stone', and his name has also
been given to an Iron Age hillfort
on the Clwydian Range, Moel
Arthur, near Denbigh. According to
one tradition, King Arthur and his
knights lie sleeping in a cave below
Craig y Ddinas, Pontneddfechan, in
south Wales.
Whatever the truth is, it's out
there somewhere. And it's probably
right beneath our feet.
Gustave Doré's illustration of
Camelot from Idylls of the King
(1867)
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