Coetan Arthur

  

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C o e t a n  A r t h u r

Coetan Arthur (also known as Arthurs Quoit).

 A dolmen on the southwest coast of Wales 

on the St. Davids's head peninsular, 

in county of Pembrokeshire, Wales.

This impressive megalithic tomb dates from 

between 4000 to 3000 BC.

The dolmen, which is formed by two vertical 

megaliths erected to support a flat capstone,

is partially collapsed, but still impressive nonetheless.

Visit Date August 2022

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There are many ancient burial sites around the southwest of Wales

These burial sites are often marked with three or more uprights and a large capstone. Often this is all that is left of the site which would originally be covered with earth. This upright/capstone structure has been called a Dolmens or often also referred to here in Wales as a Cromlech, but my understanding is that Cromlech can also refer to a circular stone structure.

This structure should not be confused with Carreg Coeten Arthur which is also in Pembroke, and which will be covered in another blog soon.

The St Davids headland is full of ancient remains including signs of ancient field patterns, Neolithic enclosures, and defensive banks and ditches.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the burial chamber is the massive capstone, which is roughly 6m long and 2.5m wide. The upright stone supporting it (known as an orthostat) is about 1.5m high.

The site here overlooks Whitesands Bay at St. Davids and has a good view but is far enough from the main cliff not to be to battered by any storms that hit the coast.

It has been reported many visitors to the site that they found the site hard to find. I suspect that if you were only casually walking the coast path that this could be true but I found that the site could be seen from quite a distance when walking east to west which seems to be the most natural direction to be walking.

These ancient sites often have a legend attached to them and this one is no exception. The legend for Coetan Arthur states King Arthur himself chucked the stones from nearby Carn Llidi.

Note: The terms Dolmen, Cromlech and Quoit are often used to describe this sort of neolithic site.

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51.90450867492426, -5.308083153876568

What Three Words reference: -
///snowstorm.finely.deck

OS Details: -
SM 72527 28056 Altitude: 162 ft

Additional information.
Visiting is easy, head to Whitesands bay car park (51.897174093111616, -5.2940221280185105) this is a caravan and camping park and is easy to get to.

There is good facilities for the park, there is a charge for parking.

The walk is around 1mile from the car park but is not flat it is undulating.
Before you descend to the path to Pothmelgan beach (there is a small crossing) you can see the site to the northwest. You can then either take the steep path directly to the site of take the coastal path around the head and then on to the site.

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Port Eynon Salthouse

  

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P o r t  E y n o n  S a l t h o u s e

On Port Eynon Point, on the Gower peninsular, overlooking the bay are the surviving remains of the sixteenth-century Port Eynon Salt House.

Much of what survives today owes to the excavation and subsequent protection of the site.

As well as other valuable industries such as coal, iron, lime and fisheries salt is perhaps overlooked but the Salthouse at Porth Eynon is a reminder of this important and valuable commodities production.

Visit Date August 2022

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The complex is of three stone-lined chambers, with walls approximately one metre thick with stone-flagged floors set into the beach at the foot of a low cliff.

The main building still visible today was used for occupation and storage while the three large chambers closest to the beach were used for salt production.

At high tide, the seawater would enter the beach chambers where it would be stored in a holding tank.

 

The water would be pumped into the Panhouse where large iron pans would be heated by coal furnaces and the water would slowly evaporate. The forming salt would then be skimmed off for storage in the northern building to dry completely.

In the 1500s salt was a valuable commodity not least for the preservation of foodstuff. At this time the British Isles imported much of its salt from France, however, during the mid-1500 the English and French were often at war, so the supply was inconsistent, and the cost grew exponentially and so it became clear that salt produced at home was needed.

The first of the new salt works were set up in 1566 at Dover, Southampton, and on the Essex coast. In the same year, works were established at Blythe near Newcastle, and in the following year, similar concerns were set up in Suffolk and in another part of Essex.

Much of the records of the salt production largely ignored Welsh salt production, but there are records of the salt production that started in mid-west Wales near the Dyfi estuary.

The first knowledge of a salt house at Port Eynon is also mentioned in a document of 1598. It would seem Welsh salt houses of the later 16th century were amongst the most advanced of their day. The value of the salt is perhaps shown by the fact that the site was fortified during the 17th century, with the inclusion of musket loops within the thick walls. It appears, however, salt production ceased around the mid-17th century.

Of course, this is Wales and therefore myths and legends always surround such buildings and this site is no exception.

This site has attracted some interesting stories about its history. The historical annotation of the Lucas family claimed the building was erected in the mid-16th century and fortified by John Lucas who apparently also fortified Culver Hole (previous blog here) connecting the two via an underground passage. From this stronghold, aided by a group of lawless men, he engaged in piracy, resisting all attempts by the authorities to dislodge him. It is also said that 7 generations later another John Lucas found a rich vein of paint mineral and exported it from his base at the Salt House but shortly after his death the building was ruined in a storm. Although interesting this history was later shown to be a fabricated family history written by the Rev. Dr. J. H. Spry during the 1830s in connection with a family lawsuit over the ownership of the property.

Later in the building's life, some of the buildings were demolished but occupation continued in the main house. The most recent was the use of the northern end as oystermen's cottages, which were finally abandoned circa 1880.

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51.53986210851509, -4.208391765954198

What Three Words reference: -
///expiring.bookmark.bright

OS Details: -
SS 46942 84634 Altitude: 13 ft

Additional information.
Visiting is really easy as in Port Eynon there is a large public car park (51.54431040120058, -4.2118757381346805) which is adjacent to a caravan and camping holiday site. There is also public toilets and a café, shop and take away.
The walk is around 600 metres from the car park and is easy and flat.
Just walk through the camping site and past the Youth Hostal.

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Culver Hole

   

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C u l v e r   H o l e

Legends and tales of smugglers and pirates.

The rugged coast of South Wales has seen many shipwrecks and is well was well known for its rough and dangerous coastlines. What better place than these unwelcoming bays to try and bring booty and contraband ashore away from the H. M Customs men? This well-hidden man-made structure is surrounded by the mystery and legends of ancient pirates and smugglers that came ashore on the South Wales coast.

Visit Date August 2022

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"Culver Hole" is well hidden and difficult to access so it is understandable that it is easy to pass by and not notice it from the cliffs above.

It is accessible by the low tide and it is quite a distance down the cliff to get to it. Or perhaps possible along the beach from the small port of "Port Eynon", easier, of course, if you are on a small boat.

Given its location, it is perhaps unsurprising that so many tales and legends of smugglers are related to it.

The structure of the site settled in its small cove which is only around 4 meters wide consists of a 16m high wall which is 3.6meters thick at the base.

One such legend states that it was used by a powerful local brigand, John Lucas who used it as a storehouse for his ill-gotten gains. There is also a tale that there was a tunnel, big enough to ride a horse through, for over a quarter of a mile to a local "Salthouse" (more on that in another blog).

While it might be true that "Culver Hole" was used in the 17th Century by these dangerous and ruthless men the original use of the structure is more mundane.

The structure, built in the 13th or 14th century is listed as a Dovecot on Coflein (a catalogue of archaeology sites, buildings and monuments in Wales) and that is most likely what this structure is.

Internally it has around 30 tiers of nesting boxes cut into the walls and a narrow stairwell.

It might seem very strange for a dovecot to be placed here and so it is but in the times when this was built doves, pigeons, and their eggs were an important source of food.

The name also would support this as the name Culver derives from the old English word Culfre which means pigeon.

Even given all this, there are still some oddities about this structure. Firstly it seems strange that the holes are so big. Normally you would have a door on a dovecote but the windows are very large for a dovecote, also the location of a beach seems strange. 

There are some historical mentions of the site.

There is some thought that it may have been attached to a castle at some time and there are records of "The Castle of Port Eynon" being mentioned in a lawsuit in 1396.  but there is no evidence of a castle on this site. 

There is a minister's account dated 1429 of a dovecote in the clyve at Penard,

Also, the aforementioned John Lucas is found in a document that states he is said to have repaired a stronghold called Kulvered Hall.

Whatever the uses of the "Culver Hole" it must have seemed a very bleak place in a winter storm, however, there can be no denying that its location on a good day is breathtaking.

Thank you for visiting this blog.

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51.5392344199753, -4.214123775586852

What Three Words reference : ///comments.youths.months

Culver Hole can be visited but must be done so with great care and at low tide.

About a quarter of a mile from here there is a large public car park (51.54431040120058, -4.2118757381346805) which is adjacent to a caravan and camping holiday site. There is also public toilets and a café, shop and take away.

You can walk from the car park alongside the camp site until you reach the Youth Hostal. The path then takes you right and up the side of the hill but a better course is to walk on to the "Salt House". From here you can look up to the hill and see the marker stone in the last image. If you take the footpath up to this and then go along the cliff for a few hundred yards until you see a stone coast path marker. The path is just opposite this but is narrow and steep. The last few yards are difficult as you will be climbing down the rocks at the bottom. It is passable with care.

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Penmaen Burrows Burial Chamber - Dolmen.

 

Visit date 08-2022.  

View showing entrance passage

There are many ancient burial sites around the southwest of Wales and I took a recent visit to Penmaen Burrows on the Gower peninsular to try and find one of the lesser known minor Neolithic burial sites.

These burial sites are often marked with three or more uprights and a large capstone. Often this is all that is left of the site which would originally be covered with earth. This upright/capstone structure has been called a Dolmens or often also referred to here in Wales as a Cromlech., but my understanding is that Cromlech can also refer to a circular stone structure.

Close up of front of dolmen

It stands around 50 feet above the shoreline in a bowl near a sand dune. It consists of two rectangular chambers and a 2-metre leading passage.

The main chamber is about 4 metres long and around 2 metres wide.

There are a number of uprights possibly 6 or seven and a large capstone made of some sort of sandstone conglomerate.

Side view of entrance

The capstone has been displaced somewhat with the passing of time and sits at an obtuse angle.

The chamber would have been more than 1 metre high.

The second chamber is almost buried again.

investigations were carried out in 1860 and 1881 and the remains were cleared in 1893 down to the original ground surface.

Most of what was uncovered has been reclaimed by the blowing sand from the coastline.

View from rear showing capstone

At the site were found some bones and artefacts which consisted mainly of late debris in the filling of blown sand, including human jaw fragments, animal bones and a piece of a bone tool handle. Bones were found beneath two internal paving slabs that were left in place while `three small pieces of brown pottery lay on an early surface.

View of conglomerate showing quartz content

Some of the conglomerate stones have a lot of quartz in them but are in tact. There have been many burial sites where the stones can be seen pitted where the quartz has been removed.

The burial site is around 1.5 km to the southwest of Penard Castle which is on the other side of the bay which I visited on an earlier trip and can be seen here.

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51.57278938446611, -4.120320919546553

What Three Words reference : ///reputable.dare.superbly

Although it is possible to walk here from The Cliffs Bay, the easiest route is from the west side of the burrows.

Here the site is easy to find just 20 minutes from the small car park which has parking for around a dozen cars (51.575623411575215, -4.1279809835289045) it does get busy with hikers and dog walkers. The pathway is well signposted from here and the path taken will pass a old stone building and then through a set of gates. A few hundred metres further there is an offset crossroads in the path. The first on the left goes to a secondary mound of stone but the second path on the right takes you through the hedge and into the clearing where the dolmen is found.

My visit was at the Hight of summer and the vegetation was perhaps at it's most vigorous. It might be easier to find in the winter.

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Parc Slip Mining Memorial.

 Visit Date 03-2019. 

Parc Slip in the village of Tondu was one of many small coal mines that scattered the south Wales valleys at the end of the last century.

This area was very poor in monetary terms was very rich in community and in these small villages people were very close.

At 8.20 am on Friday 26th August 1892 when 146 men and boys were working in the mine the unthinkable happened, there was an explosion in the mine.

Fathers, sons and brothers, 112 in all, lost their lives that day leaving sixty women widowed and 153 children without a father.

Many heroes came to light that day helping the community, one such man was a local doctor Frederick Twist who managed to reach the men below ground and, despite a high risk of further collapse and at great risk to himself he tended the injured and stayed with them until they were all brought out.

Mr Granville a local historian tells "Everybody was eventually brought to the surface," "Fifteen of the horses that died underground were also brought out - there was only one which was too difficult to reach. That's how carefully they went about it."

The mine was closed in 1904 and this memorial stands in a local nature reserve which is now on the original site of the mine.

The stone memorial fountain is made up of 112 stones – one for every person who lost their life.

An annual memorial service is now held on the anniversary of the disaster to remember all who were affected by the event.

I have two additional references for this place the first is a newer memorial that has been placed on the site since this visit.

this can be found on my blog here

And the second is a reference to another sculpture of s miner and son close to the site and that blog is  here

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Google Reference
51.539548735113236, -3.618187109403901

Google Search reference: Parc Slip Memorial

What Three Words reference : ///ranks.fixed.rally

The site is easy to find just 15 minutes from M4 motorway at junction 46

The car park //////joystick.plod.painting
Google Maps (51.54538490015156, -3.6143532913911733) is free and there are toilets and a café nearby.

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The Black Mountain Lime Kilns (Herbert's Quarry)

Visit Date: April 2021.

Today's post is based on an area that, despite being only an hour away, I did not know even existed until a few weeks before my visit.

My visit was inside the Brecon Beacons National park, an area preserved and rightly praised for its outstanding natural beauty.

However, I was happy to learn that the relics of the heavy industries in the area are also prized and one of these is the Black Mountain quarries and lime kilns, also known as Herbert's Quarry.

Wales is known more for its coal mining, however, along with the great forests that created the coal, we can see along the western edge of the Brecon Beacons the exposed crags of carboniferous limestone that were of course at the bottom of the sea at one point in history but due to the powerful earth crust movements now lie at an angle along these mountain ranges. 2.6 Million years ago the great glaciers of the area carved out the geology that exposed the rich seams of both coal and limestone.

Lime has many uses but 200 years ago it was in great demand in Wales for use as a soil improver. Farmers would have to travel what would have been long distances to obtain this great resource.

In order for the limestone to be made into a useful lime product, it would have to be worked.

Making "quicklime" was hot and hard work. Once the limestone was removed from the quarry it would have been smashed into quite small pieces by hand with sledgehammers to be loaded into the kiln with coal. The temperature would have to be raised to 900 degrees. it was a skilful process to adjust the airflow and fuel to keep the kiln burning correctly at these high temperatures.

The lime would then be removed from the lower chamber and in the image below, you can see the rails, now just leading to mid-air, that would have been part of this drawing process.

Typically at this time in the 19th century, it would have taken two tons of limestone and one ton of coal to produce one ton of quicklime.

The process would take a day to load the kiln, three days to burn, two days to cool and a final day to unload. A kiln would produce 10 to 15 tons of lime at a time.

This whole process was a dangerous one and it cost many lives newspapers would to often carry stories like this:-

On Thursday week a young man named Thomas Griffith, son of John Rees Griffith, mason, Gwinfe, was engaged in blasting rock in the Black Mountain lime quarries. He bored the rock, and put into it about 20lbs of powder which he filled and returned to a convenient distance to allow the charge to explode. Not finding it to go off in the usual time he approached the place to ascertain the cause, when the powder fired with a tremendous explosion, driving of the pieces of rock quite through the unfortunate young man’s head. Death was consequently instantaneous.

Lime was treasured in the area and farmers needed it to spread on the land to fertilise and improve the land. They would often travel many miles with horse and cart to collect the lime. This quicklime of course was dangerous and would burn if on exposed skin so it was to be transported with much care and best efforts to keep it dry and safe.

Many farmers, of course, would have to travel many miles by horse and cart to collect the lime, sometimes return journeys of 100 miles would be needed and it was common to see processions of laden carts filled with the product on the road.

The roads at first would have been nothing more than tracks but as the industry expanded better roads were needed. In 1779 "Turnpike Trusts" were founded to build these new roads and the work was financed by tolls.

Tollgates sprung up everywhere.

As the roads needed to be maintained in good order more tollgates were added, eventually, 41 miles of road had 13 tollgates.

The tollgates were run as private enterprises and sold each year to the highest bidders who after paying the rent (presumably for the road upkeep) were allowed to keep the extra toll money they collected.

The Rebecca Riots.

At first lime carts were exempt from the tolls, but this soon changed and after a series of poor harvests farmers were struggling to pay the tolls. By 1840 the cost of the tolls cost as much as the lime. Farmers were facing dire poverty and they stood against the greed of the "Turnpike trusts".

This led to riots at the tollgates.

For a reason that has got lost in time there were masses of farmers who dressed themselves up in their wives clothes and blackened their face before setting out on these raids. They would burn down the tollhouses and tear down the gates.

The rioters became known as "Rebbeca and her daughters"

The following was from the time.

THE SLAVE DRIVERS

You say the toll man wiped his eye,

But this is all a bubble

For he shall never cease to cry

While Becca is in trouble.

In vain you strive to save a gate,

By threatening blood and slaughter;

Your swords shall ne’er intimidate

Rebecca and her daughters.

The cheating toll trusts may complain,

The Mayor may roar his ‘riot’,

‘Till Becca do her rights obtain

She never will be quiet.

Then if you wish to hear no more

Of what Rebecca’s doing,

BE HONEST, and her rights restore,

Or she will prove your ruin.

She’ll Burn your Houses to the ground,

She’ll set your fields on fire,

She’ll make you pay for every pound

Your toll-men may require.

Then bid these wars and tumults cease,

You robbing vile aggressor!

She’ll gladly wave the flag of peace,

If you no more oppress her.

Reduce your farms to half the price -

More than this they can’t afford;

Down with the toll, take my advice,

Then sweet peace shall be restored.

The Welshman, 28/07/1843

The riots got so bad that a reporter from the London Times was sent to investigate and wrote:-

“Pentarlleche gate between Llangadock and the Black Mountains, was destroyed on Tuesday night by a party of Rebbeccaites, who came from the direction of Llandilo. It appears that they had sent threatening letters before, and two constables were employed to guard the house and gate, but they were compelled to go home for tools and made to assist in the work of destruction. In about a quarter of an hour, both gate and house were level with the ground.”
04/08/1843

and later.

FOUR MORE GATES DESTROYED – Last Wednesday night a party of mounted Rebeccaites, about 300 in number, visited 3 turnpike gates in the neighbourhood of Llangadock and completely destroyed them. Two of them had been before down and re-erected. The names of the gates are Wainstredverys, Pontarlucoe and Carig(?)-Southey.”
15/09/1843

The David Davies Memorial

To illustrate further how dangerous it was on the road with these lime filled carts, I would like also to relay two more reported stories. The first of which is remembered by this memorial at the side of the road. The memorial is in welsh on one side and English on the other. It tells the tale of a young man of 22 and was reported:-

Fatal accident – As Mr D Davies, Junior, of Glynclawdd Gwynfe, was driving an empty gambo on the Black Mountain on Wednesday afternoon, the horses became startled and dashed off. The unfortunate young man was thrown out, and though assistance was at once forthcoming he expired without a word. Much sympathy is felt for the family of the deceased, who is generally respected in the neighbourhood.

The Welshman 23/05/1884

The Memorial in Welsh

The Memorial in English

and finally

RHANDIR MWYN – Dreadful death – On Thursday, 5th inst., as Mr William Rees, a boy aged between 14 and 15, was returning with his master’s wagon with a load of lime from the Black Mountain, between the above place and Llangadog, the unfortunate boy fell under the wheels of the wagon and he was killed on the spot.
D. Thomas Baner ac Amserau Cymru 11/09/1861:

"TUFA"

As a result of the lime industry, an unusual geological formation called "TUFA" has formed in places in the highly alkaline waters that flow here.

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Visit Information:-

Google Reference:-
51.854527678567166, -3.8366992465994323

What Three Words reference:-
///rainfall.cackling.fees

OS Details:-
SN 73599 18921 Altitude:1623 ft

Additional information.
Visiting is easy as it is alongside the A4069 out of Brynamman which is one of the main roads through the Brecon Beacons.
There is a good size car park alongside the site ( 51.853047576738284, -3.8412540293511537 )
and an additional car park at the mountain view site ( 51.857233737767956, -3.844516511221795 ).
The David Davies Memorial is also alongside the road ( 51.85544051525515, -3.8432358117353203 ) -
WTW ( ///storming.saying.soap )

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