A Research Framework for the Archaeology of Wales
Northwest Wales – Medieval
22/12/2003
The chronological limits of the period reviewed in this paper start with
the 11th century, which saw the first Norman incursions into Wales, their
initial defeat by Gruffydd ap Cynan (d. 1137) and the start of a successful
period of Welsh rule which was to end in 1282/3 with the death of Llywelyn ap
Gruffydd and conquest by Edward I. The period ends in the late 15th century, by
which time many of the hallmarks of the archaeology of the Middle Ages, in
particular the castles and monasteries, had fallen, or had started to fall,
into decline.
Archaeological studies of the period have tended to concentrate upon the
more dramatic elements, and thus the literature is dominated, as was the
landscape of the day, by castles and monasteries. These have left a legacy of
dramatic ruins, which have excited the imagination and fed the scholarly mind
for several generations. Only slightly less dramatic are the domestic
structures built to house the leading families of the day with their highly
ornate timber roofs and painted walls. Still less visually dramatic are the far
more numerous remains of the homes of the lower status families, and the
associated remains of agriculture and industry. Nonetheless these elements
influenced the formation of the rural and urban landscapes in which we live,
and a determined effort to understand and record the medieval landscape and the
elements out of which it was formed is at the forefront of current
archaeological research.
This study will examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of the archaeology of north-west Wales as requested by the steering
committee of the Archaeological Research Framework. I am very grateful for the
assistance I have received from Richard Avent, David Longley and Richard
Suggett, whose ideas and contributions have influenced much of this paper.
Research requires a suitable environment in which to flourish. It also relies
heavily upon previous research, and the availability of readily accessible and
reliable information. Gwynedd is relatively well served in this respect.
Secondary archaeological sources, which provide a solid base for further research,
include the Inventories of Anglesey and Caernarfonshire published by the RCAHMW
and the more recent county history of Merioneth. Publication of prime
historical documents is also of great help, and of particular note here is the
publication of the 1352 extent of Anglesey by A D Carr. The area has also been
well-served by historians and historical geographers – the likes of
Jones-Pierce, Glanville Jones, Colin Gresham, E A Lewis, Harold Hughes, Arnold
Taylor, Dafydd Jenkins, Anthony Carr, have done so much spadework that workers
today are able to enter the fray with the experience of many cumulative years
of study having been undertaken.
SETTLEMENT
High status sites
Strengths
Pre-conquest
The high status sites of the pre-conquest medieval period are those
constructed for the principal rulers in both lay and ecclesiastical capacity.
The former are the courts and settlements built for use by a peripatetic court
that ruled by administering local justice and accepting dues in kind. The
investigation of Llys and Maerdref sites conducted by GAT and funded by Cadw
has considerably enhanced our knowledge and increased our understanding of
location both within the landscape and within the jurisdictional boundaries of
the day. The excavations at Rhosyr have confirmed the belief that these were
complex sites, composed of all those buildings necessary for the running of an
administration, including a hall, solar, chapel and ancillary buildings.
Building techniques included both timber on stone foundations and stone
buildings.
The motte was a Norman introduction, and yet appears to have quickly
become utilised by Welsh rulers, and in three
instances at least was built by them. There is widespread survival of mottes in
the area, and though of mixed potential, some are well preserved. Several have attributable historical references to
their construction and/or use. There is also evidence for early fortification by
Welsh rulers at sites such as Carn Fadryn and Deganwy. Palaces of the Bishop of
Bangor have been excavated at Gogarth and Bangor. Neither have revealed the
full complexity of the settlements, though the large defensive hall at Gogarth,
built entirely of stone, is of interest, as is the later development close by,
which more closely resembles the llys at Rhosyr in layout and building
composition.
Post-conquest
The area is rich in masonry castles of the later medieval period, often
with accompanying boroughs. These have long been studied, most notably by
Arnold Taylor, though also by others. Major architectural studies have been
published for the majority, and the Cadw guidebooks contain excellent summaries
of the information available. The development of castle architecture has long
fascinated scholars, and there is a wealth of literature that places the Edwardian
castle in its historical and evolutionary context. Nearly all the stone castles
and mottes are scheduled ancient monuments, and all the Edwardian castles are
in Guardianship and managed by the state, thus ensuring preservation for future
generations of scholars. There have been excellent studies of surviving
medieval houses, but we are in particular indebted to Peter Smith for his
descriptions and analysis of the development of higher status houses. Examples
of note include Hafodty, Llanddona; Ty Gwyn, Barmouth; Plas Ucha, Llangar; and
Penarth Fawr. From later in the period Cochwillan and Gloddaeth, with their
hammer beam roofs, survive. The recent improvements in dendro-chronological
dating have helped our understanding of the chronological development of
domestic architecture.
Weaknesses
Rhosyr is the only llys site to have been excavated, and thus our
present knowledge is dangerously founded on evidence from this one site. We
have only a hazy understanding of the chronological development of the llysoedd,
and to what extent they may lie on centres of pre-12th century importance. The
Welsh use of pre-Norman style fortification, as, perhaps, evidenced at Carn
Fadryn, is poorly understood.
No excavation and little survey work has been undertaken on mottes.
Therefore the date of construction of many of them is unknown, and thus
arguments as to who built them and subsequently used them have little
chronological basis. There are only two ringworks (Pen-ucha’r Llan and Tomen
Fawr) and one certain moated site (Tregarnedd) in the area, which contrasts
with other areas of Wales where these sites can be found in greater numbers,
yet the reasons for this contrast are not fully understood. The 12th century
earthwork at Trefadog may be classed as a ringwork also, and in which case so
might Castell Crwn, but we have at present little idea of the status and
background, or even nationality, of the people who built them, nor what
influenced them to build in this way. Similar questions remain of some of the
lesser Welsh stone castles such as Castell Carn Dochan and the enigmatic
Castell Prysor.
Very few archaeological remains of high status houses of the 12th and
13th centuries are known. Where were the leading families living at this time?
The monastic palaces at Bangor and Gogarth provide some information on high
status halls, but few archaeological sites have been excavated from this
period.
There is a danger that research tends to become more limited on subjects
that have been apparently fully researched, and yet recent research into
documentary sources for some south Wales’ castles, particularly Chepstow,
Kidwelly and Raglan, has revealed new original material which has led to a
major re-appraisal of the architectural development of the monuments.
Opportunities
Additional excavation on potential llys sites will provide a
clearer understanding of their chronological development and the nature of the
buildings. Pottery and finds from these sites will provide information to aid
our understanding of trading relationships and the economic status of the
sites. Excavation at selected mottes will result in a better understanding of
their chronological development. A study of land tenure, landscape and
political history combined with more informed knowledge from excavation will
give a clearer understanding of the role of mottes as defensive and
administrative sites.
Similarly, more research is required into the role of castles built by
the princes of Gwynedd. Some lying on the border appear to be defensive (Ewloe,
Dolforwyn, Deganwy and Castell y Bere), but the role of Dolbadarn, Dolwyddelan
and Dinas Emrys is more puzzling, and they may be associated with protecting
vaccaries. Landscape, documentary and archaeological analysis will help solve
these problems.
Whilst considerable work has been undertaken on the origins and
development of the Edwardian castles, there is opportunity for further
understanding their internal layout, and the changes which occurred as the role
of the castle changed from primarily defensive to administrative and domestic.
Dendrochronological studies combined with careful structural recording and
analysis will be able to offer firmer ideas on the chronological development of
structures and timber constructional techniques.
Threats.
Earthwork castles are inherently unstable monuments, and frequently
suffer erosion and damage from burrowing animals and roots of trees.
LOW STATUS SITES AND THE RURAL LANDSCAPE
Strengths
There has been considerable work undertaken by historical-geographers
and historians on economic, social and tenurial aspects of this period. The
recently completed Deserted Rural Settlement project has identified
large numbers of rural structures, many of them of potential medieval date.
These have been added to the Sites and Monuments Record. Large numbers of
surviving upstanding structures have been surveyed and mapped, largely by
Investigators of the RCAHMW, and listed in the County Inventories and the new
Merioneth County History. Work by Peter Smith and Richard Sugget has resulted
in a clearer understanding of the development of the small hall house and the
sub-medieval houses of the yeoman farmer. This work has been aided by
dendro-chronological studies.
Though relatively late, the area is well-served by a number of excellent
18th century estate maps which clearly indicate remnants of medieval open field
systems lying amongst more recently enclosed land. The use of these with
earlier documentary references has resulted in a number of studies which have
been able to chart the development of the landscape from medieval times to the
present. The advent of environmentally sensitive agricultural schemes will help
protect many of the minor archaeological elements of the countryside which have
been so rapidly destroyed in recent times.
Weaknesses
There has been a tendency to examine landscape developments from map and
documentary evidence alone. Fieldwork has tended to lag behind, and thus the
archaeology of medieval settlement and the wider landscape is less well
understood and recognised on the ground. Whereas the DRS project identified
many settlements in marginal and upland areas, we know of very few sites in the
richer lowland areas of Anglesey, Lleyn, and the Arfon coastal belt. We need to
know where these were sited. We need to know why they do not appear in
archaeological assessments and watching briefs of pipelines and road schemes,
in contrast to the late Prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, of which
several have been found and excavated. If, as is often stated, they underlie
existing farmsteads, then we need to adjust our methodologies to confirm this.
Very few excavations of medieval settlements have been undertaken. Cefn
Graeanog has been the most successful to date, but we have no idea if this is a
typical settlement, as there is so little with which to compare it. This lack
of excavation has also led to a dearth of archaeo-botanical studies. Our
knowledge of the operation of medieval open fields, and their origin and
demise, is poorly understood. Similarly little work has been undertaken on
agricultural techniques, and the development of the plough, use of ox and horse
as traction animals and the development of plant and animal husbandry.
Opportunities
Archaeologists should build upon works by historians and
historical-geographers (the two articles by F A Barnes on Cemais and Cleifiog
are examples) and by using aerial photography, field walking and field
evaluation techniques, attempt to locate the archaeological remains of the
medieval landscape. It is very necessary to undertake multi-disciplinary
projects linking environmental, historical and archaeological methods to
provide a better understanding of the medieval landscape and its development.
Archaeo-botanical analysis and experimental archaeology can be used to provide
a clearer understanding of agricultural techniques, food sources and cooking.
Computer aided graphics can be used to enhance maps and aerial photographs.
This allows improved landscape modelling and interpretation. Project designs
for contract archaeology need to incorporate research themes, so that return on
expenditure is maximised, and money is not spent on projects which result in a
mass of grey literature which is of benefit to no one.
Threats
Drainage has severely reduced the number of lowland locations suitable
for providing environmental information.
TOWNS AND PORTS AND COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Strengths
In the pre-conquest period it was largely the maerdref settlements of
the Welsh princes which formed any sort of urban and trading environment.
Examples include Llanfaes, Aberffraw, Pwllheli and Nefyn, though major church
sites at Bangor and Tywyn may also have provided early urban nuclei. The rapid
decline of Llanfaes forced by Edward I and the subsequent conversion of the
area to parkland by the Bulkeley family has resulted in much of the former town
being preserved, though we still lack a clear understanding of its layout.
Gwynedd contains a significant number of Edwardian boroughs with good
historical records and the potential for providing archaeological evidence of
high quality. Dendrochronolgy will be able to date with certainty some of the
surviving timber buildings, as has been undertaken at Aberconwy house, Conwy,
which has been dated to 1420. Historical references to ports are common, and
early maps indicate the location of many of the major landing places. Some of
these are now be-sanded or land-locked, and offer opportunities for research
and the recovery of medieval wrecks. Examples include Penrhyn, where the
earlier port lies upstream of the later slate harbour, Abermenai on Anglesey,
the site of a medieval ferry, but also where Gruffydd ap Cynan is known to have
landed, and the port which served the royal court at Aberffraw. A small number
of medieval wrecks have been discovered within the area, two of which, both
from an inland location at Llyn Peris, have been dated to circa 1200 and
1547-9.
Weaknesses
Little concentrated archaeological work has been undertaken within urban
environments. Major opportunities in Bangor and Caernarfon have been missed in
the past. Much of the work is often undertaken as small watching briefs or
evaluation trenches, and it is rare to be able to place the findings in a wider
context. Small scale work has been undertaken at all the Edwardian boroughs and
at many of the other urban centres, but the resources are not available within
each of the projects to provide a full synthetic analysis of the results.
No work has been undertaken on port archaeology despite the remains of a
number of known ports which were never developed in post-medieval times.
Opportunities
It would be of advantage to pull together the results of smaller
projects on medieval towns and combining them with wider analyses of settlement
morphology, street layout, location of seminalbuildings etc. This would provide
a clearer understanding of the elements which made up a medieval town, and help
identify surviving remains. Eastgate Street, Caernarfon, under which lies a
medieval bridge, is an example where several projects have been undertaken over
a period of considerable time, yet the results are disparate, and no project
has brought together all the results, nor attempted to place the significance
of the bridge within the layout of the town and the development of commercial
areas immediately outside.
Though medieval ports are not easy to recognise from archaeological
evidence alone, we have their location from historical evidence, and
archaeological assessment of these sites will provide a clearer understanding
of their location and form.
INDUSTRY
Strenghs
Utilisation of raw materials, including copper, lead, slate, limestone
and coal, is known to have taken place, but very little work has been
undertaken on the industries of medieval Gwynedd. Some knowledge exists of the
coal mining industry, and some work has been undertaken on milling and textile
mills.
Our knowledge of iron working in the medieval period in Gwynedd has been
considerably enhanced by the work of Peter Crew at Coed y Brenin.
Weaknesses
Our understanding of medieval industry, and the impact of the Edwardian
conquest with its influx of craftsmen, is very poor, and few archaeological
studies have been undertaken.
Opportunities
The very nature of resource exploitation means that evidence for early
extraction and processing is nearly always destroyed by later workings, though
excavation on potential metal extraction and processing sites should be
undertaken. There is considerable opportunity for the analysis of building
stone to identify their source. Water mills and wind mills were widely used
throughout the Middle Ages, and though their primary use was for grinding
grain, they were also used for fulling cloth and in the preparation of metal
ores. The identification of medieval mill sites, and the location of those not
supsequently used in later times, is one approach tried for Anglesey which has
had limited success. Questions of particular importance which remain to be
answered are the date of introduction of water power, and the date and
frequency of use of horizontal water wheels. Anglesey possesses millstone
quarries that were used throughout the medieval period, though no systematic
survey has been undertaken.
CHURCH AND MONASTIC
Strengths
A large number of churches survive with medieval architecture and
fittings throughout Gwynedd. There is a bias towards earlier pre-conquest work
surviving in Anglesey, particularly Romanesque sculpture. Later medieval work
is distributed more evenly throughout the area, though the school of ornate
woodwork which produced roofs and screens of high quality is located more in
western Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire.
The Cadw funded study of medieval churches, combined with work by RCAHMW
for the Anglesey and Caernarfonshire inventories, has provided a good base
record for researcher’s to use. There are a number of good 19th century
accounts surviving of medieval churches which were subsequently destroyed, and
also paintings and prints which survive from before the 19th century
restorations. The value of using these sources has been demonstrated by work
undertaken at Beddgelert Church, where interpretation of the former monastic
church has been enhanced. Monastic remains survive at a number of locations,
though the wealthiest abbey in the area, Aberconwy, has not survived well.
Nonetheless, there is good archaeological potential at a number of Cistercian
and Augustinian sites, including the first site of Aberconwy in western
Caernarfonshire, which, if correctly identified at Dinas y Prif, will preserve
evidence of early Cistercian settlement.
There has been a considerable amount of work undertaken on the history
of the Cistercians, particularly by David Williams, but also by Lawrence
Butler. Work by the same authors and Colin Gresham has been undertaken on lands
owned and managed by the monastic Orders.
Weaknesses
Though there is a relatively strong history of the study of
ecclesiastical architecture in the area, there is still considerable work to be
undertaken in analysing trends, identifying schools or workshops, and
recognising the primary lay and ecclesiastical influences behind architectural
developments. Work is required on causal relationships between major historical
episodes, such as the conquest of 1283, or the uprising of Glyndwr, and
architectural developments. Gwynedd, and particularly Anglesey, formerly had a
large number of field chapels, but the location of many of these is not known,
and their status is poorly understood. Few detailed surveys of individual
churches has been undertaken, though there are excellent articles by Harold
Hughes and others which provide a good starting point.
No comprehensive excavation has been undertaken on any of the church
sites in the area which matches that undertaken at, for example, Capel Maelog.
Thus the origins of church sites, their development and their liturgical
geography are unknown.
Our knowledge of the archaeology of pilgrimages is also very poorly
understood. Though not easily evidenced, work is required on pilgrimage routes,
the impact upon church architecture, the use of holy wells in the medieval
period and the archaeology of relics.
Opportunities
More comprehensive surveys of individual churches are required. A study
of sculpture, moulding profiles and window tracery will help provide a firmer
chronology and identify more clearly the schools of craftsmen working in the
area and the spread of techniques and designs. The impact of the Edwardian
conquest on church architecture is rarely discussed, yet the importation of
masons and carpenters from England certainly influenced the styles of the
borough churches, with a subsequent impact upon native styles. Excavation
undertaken both during church renovation and on deserted church sites is
required to provide information on chronological development and liturgical
layout.
Opportunities for research should be sought within major renovation programmes,
particularly those funded by Heritage Lottery grants. These should include
detailed survey, dendro-chronological dating and excavation. Work of this
nature is being undertaken at Llaneilian, though an opportunity was missed at
Holyhead.
The current programme of dendro-chronological sampling by RCAHMW needs
to be continued and widened. Dates for only one Gwynedd church, that at
Pistyll, have been published. We need to improve our understanding of
pilgrimages, and how they impacted upon the development of church architecture.
Research on monastic lands has the potential to throw much new light
upon the medieval landscape, agriculture, economy, trading patterns and
building traditions. Studying a single grange allows a known part of the
medieval landscape to be studied as a microcosm, and a real understanding can
be obtained into its working. Work on two granges in Gwynedd is currently being
undertaken as part of a Cadw funded pilot project.
Paper prepared by Andrew Davidson (GAT)
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