Tomen y Mur
Tomen y Mur is located in southern Snowdonia near Bala. Tomen y Mur, which means Mount in the Walls. The site is a mashup of Roman, Norman, and Welsh settlement and is one of those special places whose history covers thousands of years, beginning prior to the Roman Conquest. Welsh mythology references the place with a story of Lleu and Blodeuwedd in the Mabinogion. Starting in 78 AD, the Romans built walls, a fort, barracks, baths, parade ground, and small amphitheater—one of the few for just military personnel but an indication of the hardship of the posting, all to counter the Ordovices, who’d wiped out a Roman legion in the 50s. The Roman response was to move into the area in force and almost eliminate the entire people. Tomen y Mur was built to oversee the remaining few and protect Read more…
Twthill
Prior to the arrival of the Normans, Twthill was a court of the kings of Gwynedd. What we see today, however, are the remains of a ‘motte and bailey’ castle erected by Robert of Rhuddlan in 1073. A kinsman of Hugh d’Avranches, the Earl of Chester, Robert attempted to consolidate Norman advances in north Wales after the conquest of William the Conquerer. Twthill was Robert’s base, and from it he subdued much of Gwynedd until his death in 1193. The area around Rhuddlan Castle was reunited with Gwynedd as part of the campaign of Owain’s father, Gruffydd, that cost the life of Owain’s elder brother, Cadwallon in 1132. Cadwallon killed some of his own uncles in order to achieve this. Owain’s marriage to Cristina reconciled these two sides of the family. The campaigns of 1136/37, which brought Ceredigion into the fold, expanded Gruffydd’s (and Read more…
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