Prestatyn Roman Bath
The Prestatyn Roman Bath lies five miles north of the main Roman road that ran east to west across north Wales, starting at Chester. The baths were built as an adjunct to the Roman administrative complex that oversaw the region’s lead mining industry. It was also home to the 20th legion. A settlement had been located at Prestatyn before the arrival of the Romans, as evidenced by bronze working, round houses, and an infant burial dating to 30 BC. Roman attributes have been found from 70 AD, and the village continued to be occupied through the 4th century. Today, the baths are the only remains of the ancient settlement, the rest of the site having been covered over or destroyed by a housing development. The bathhouse was built around 120 AD and expanded in 150 AD with the addition of Read more…
The Druid’s Circle
The Druid’s circle is an ancient stone monument located on Penmaenmawr, the larger headland to the west of the town of Conwy in north Wales. Despite the name, this stone circle predates the druids and the Celtic religion by millenia and may be up to 5000 years old. Known as Meini Hirion in Welsh, meaning long stones, several prehistoric trackways run past the site. This area was important because the type of rock at Penmaenmawr, augite granophyre, was ideal for making stone axes. Axe heads from Penmaenmawr have been discovered around Britain including in Scotland, Yorkshire and the Thames Valley. Modern quarrying destroyed the remains of a large prehistoric settlement on the mountaintop west of Penmaenmawr, although some archeological studies were undertaken before the evidence was lost. Excavations conducted in 1957 at the druid’s circle itself discovered the cremated remains Read more…
The Thirteen Treasures of Britain
Dyrnwyn, the flaming sword, lost for centuries beneath the earth. A hamper that feeds a hundred, a knife to serve twenty-four, A chariot to carry a man on the wind, A halter to tame any horse he might wish. The cauldron of the Giant to test the brave, A whetstone for deadly sharpened swords, An entertaining chess set, A crock and a dish, each to fill one’s every wish, A cup that bestows immortality on those worthy of it, And the mantle of Arthur. His healing sword descends; Our enemies flee our unseen and mighty champion. –Taliesin, The Thirteen Treasures, The Black Book of Gwynedd I wrote that poem (on behalf of Taliesin) for my Last Pendragon Saga, but it has deep roots in Celtic mythology. When JK Rowling talks about the deathly hallows in the Harry Potter books, she is giving a Read more…
The History of Chester
The City of Chester is the first stop of our Wales Odyssey! We began with a tour of the walls, which were begun when the city was called ‘Deva’, and fortified by the Romans. “The Roman military presence at Chester probably began with a fort or marching camp at the mouth of the Deva Fluvius (River Dee) very likely established during the early campaigns of governor Publius Ostorius Scapula against the Deceangi in north-east Wales sometime around AD47/48. There is some evidence of pre-Flavian occupation, possibly even a timber-built fort, but proof positive of a Scapulan foundation has yet to emerge. After the first tentative forays of Scapula, the next military activity in the area was conducted during the early administration of governor Sextus Julius Frontinus sometime around AD74 when an auxiliary fort was constructed at Chester. The placement of this fort was a strategic move by Frontinus Read more…
Medieval Siege Weapons
Within the world of medieval warfare, there were multiple kinds of siege weapons: ballistas, battering rams, trebuchets, and catapults. ‘Catapult’ can be used as a more general term for all throwing siege weapons: “Catapults are siege engines using an arm to hurl a projectile a great distance. Any machine that hurls an object can be considered a catapult, but the term is generally understood to mean medieval siege weapons. The name is derived from the Greek ‘to hurl a missle’. Originally, “catapult” referred to a stone-thrower, while “ballista” referred to a dart-thrower, but the two terms swapped meaning sometime in the fourth century AD. Catapults were usually assembled at the site of a siege, and an army carried few or no pieces of it with them because wood was easily available on site. Catapults can be classified according to the Read more…
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