Climate Change & Coastal Heritage

Project Areas

10 March 2021• Welsh Project Areas

10. Ramsey Island & Caerfai Camp

News Letter

Location Map

Introduction

Ramsey Island and Caerfai Camp form part of the important prehistoric coastal landscape of St David’s peninsula which boasts at least twelve coastal promontory forts including the impressive Clawdd y Milwyr on St David’s Head.

Ramsey Island

Ramsey Island is separated from the mainland by the treacherous Ramsey Sound to the west of St Davids. The history of human interaction with the Ramsey can be traced back to the Bronze Age period over 4,000-5,000 years ago through the presence of round barrows, cairns and field boundaries across the island. It was also an important place during the medieval period where it was known in legend as being burial place of 20,000 saints. The two chapels of St Justinians and St Tyfanog’s are also recorded to have been located on the island during the medieval period.
CHERISH has used Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and Historical aerial photography to identify and map all visible archaeological monuments on the island in order to improve and expand upon the existing monument records for the island.
Digital elevation model (DEM) of Ramsey Island created from the ALS data.
Digital elevation model (DEM) of Ramsey Island created from the ALS data.

Caerfai Camp

The promontory fort site of Caerfai Camp (possible translation: blamed walled city) occupies a very large and visually dominant natural coastal promontory approximately 1.3km to the southeast of the city of St David’s. This site is unique in the way that is occupies the tip a long natural promontory that protrudes around 500m into St Bride’s Bay where it would have been extremely visible to past seafarers. The site is made distinctive by its heavily eroded ‘chasm’ which over time has eroded to create a sub-rectangular parcel of land connected at the very tip of the long natural promontory. Running parallel to the chasm on its northern side is a series of four banks and ditches which were constructed and adapted throughout the prehistoric period. Interesting is the way that the constructed defences appear to respect where the erosion has occurred.
Aerial image of Caerfai Camp taken using UAV.
Aerial image of Caerfai Camp taken using UAV.

Why are we working here?

Coastal erosion has had a noticeable impact upon the archaeology in this region, especially at Caerfai where there a considerable amount of the site has been lost to the sea. Archaeological and paleoenvironmental research of this area will also draw wider conclusions about regional patterns of climatic variability in the past as well as identify the main processes causing the erosion

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The village of Cwm-yr-Eglwys which has been subject to severe storms throughout history.

10 March 2021• Welsh Project Areas

9. Dinas Island & Cwm yr Eglwys

News Letter

Location Map

Introduction

Few sites illustrate coastal erosion, loss and environmental change more than the headland of Dinas Island and the village of Cwm yr Eglwys. The headland has been delineated from the mainland through glacial processes creating a narrow u-shaped valley, some 70 metres deep. The cluster of cottages at the northern end of the valley makes up the hamlet of Cwm yr Eglwys.

Most notable landmark in valley is the ruined church dedicated to St. Brynach which sites on a platform some 3 metres above and immediately behind the beach. It is surrounded by a handful of weathered headstones. 


The church was damaged by storm of 1850 and 1851 destroying the chancel and removing the surface of the cemetery exposing human remains. The final straw came in the Royal Charter Storm of 1859 which demolished the walls and roof leading to its abandonment. Erosion has been stabilised for now by the construction of modern concrete sea walls, but it uncertain how future climate change and sea-level rise might impact the cove.

Visible are the remains of the church heavily damaged by a series of intense storms during the 1850s. The more modern sea defences represent an ongoing struggle between the village of the sea.
Visible are the remains of the church heavily damaged by a series of intense storms during the 1850s. The more modern sea defences represent an ongoing struggle between the village of the sea.

Why are we working here?

A swampy carr-fen occupies the central portion of the valley floor. The fen is an important archive of past environmental change, which has previously been shown to extend back to the last glaciation. CHERISH is hoping to re-examine these deposits using the latest high resolution x-ray fluorescence techniques to look for chemical signals that might be used to reconstruct storm patterns and evidence of past environmental change.

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8 March 2021• Welsh Project Areas

8. Castell Bach & Cardigan Island

News Letter

Location Map

Introduction

Project area 8 contains the two intriguing and mysterious coastal prehistoric sites of Castell Bach and Cardigan Island. Both are situated along the beautiful south Ceredigion coast and represent some of the best prehistoric archaeological remains in the region. Whilst they are clearly significant to the story of the prehistoric period in this part of Wales very little is known about them due to them being severely under researched.

Castell Bach

Aerial photograph showing Castell Bach
Aerial photograph showing Castell Bach

The site of Castell Bach is located on a secluded and well-hidden stretch of coastline around 3km southwest of Newquay, Ceredigion. The coastal fort is situated within an amphitheatre-like ‘coastal bowl’ where it is centred upon a small, almost pyramid-like, islet. Its defences comprise a circuit of two concentric banks and ditches which enclose a small promontory. Evidence of an entranceway survives on its eastern side. It is possible that the promontory previously enclosed the entrance to a land bridge that may have connected the small central islet to the mainland. To the east of the fort are also the remains of a third bank and ditch which create an annex, possibly added later as an extension to the inner fort. The inner defences are now actively eroding on their western side.

Cardigan Island

The eroding northern enclosure on Cardigan Island.
The eroding northern enclosure on Cardigan Island.
Cardigan Island is a small uninhabited island that is situated at the mouth of the Teifi estuary. The whole of the island is a scheduled monument because of the two survived enclosed settlements which, based on their form, are likely to be Iron Age in origin. Within both enclosures there is evidence of possible roundhouses that are now visible as shallow earthworks. The northern enclosure has been visibly affected by coastal erosion where much of the cliffs have visibly fallen away.

Why are we working here?

Coastal erosion has had a noticeable impact upon the archaeology of both sites where parts of the sites have been lost to erosional processes. CHERISH is working in this area to provide baseline data for sites that have seen little attention from archaeologists in the past. Archaeological research by the project will look to uncover some of the sites’ secrets as well explore the main processes causing the erosion.
Visible erosion of the western side of Castell Bach’s defences.
Visible erosion of the western side of Castell Bach’s defences.

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7 March 2021• Welsh Project Areas

7. Ynyslas & Cors Fochno

News Letter

Location Map

Introduction

The seaside villages of Borth and Ynyslas are built on a coastal landform know as a spit. It has developed naturally over time by the action of the wind and waves moving and depositing beach sands and gravels during storms. The spit has not always been in its current location, it has been pushed progressively westward as sea-level have risen since the end of the last ice-age. Behind and underneath the spit is Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) which is the largest active raised bog in Britain.
Aerial photograph of Ynyslas, Ceredigion
Aerial photograph of Ynyslas, Ceredigion

Environment

Evidence of how the environment of Borth and Ynyslas has changed can be seen in the beach foreshore. Ancient tree stumps and thick blocks of old peat littler the shore illustrating how sea levels have changed. About 5000 years ago much of the area was a pine and oak forest, with the sea much further out into Cardigan Bay. However, after about 1000 years, the local water table began to rise, drowning the trees and stating the formation of Cors Fochno. As sea levels rose, the spit protecting the bog was moved inland coming to rest in its current location.
The ancient woodland at Borth
The ancient woodland at Borth
Peat bogs are a fantastic archive of palaeoenvironmental information, preserving biological, mineralogical and chemical material that can be used to reconstruct past environmental conditions. Cors Fochno has already revealed the natural and man-made changes to the local vegetation, evidence for metal mining during the Bronze Age and Roman Period, volcanic ash from Alaskan and Icelandic volcanoes and the chemical signature of storms during the last thousand years.
It is important to understand the timing and rates of development of coastal features such as spits. They are dynamic, fragile ecosystems in their own right but also affect the wider landscape and habitats within it. Future increases in sea-level coupled with an escalation of storm frequency or intensity may have significant implications for coastal communities and heritage sites.

Why are we working here?

CHERISH is working at Borth and Ynyslas to understand when the spit reached its current location and how long it took to develop through the process known as long-shore drift. We are taking cores from the dunes and beach ridges and dating the sand overlying the peat bog deposits using OSL. We have conducted ground penetrating radar to look beneath the ground surface and combined this with high-resolution ALS data to reconstruct how the course the river Leri has changed through time.

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6 March 2021• Welsh Project Areas

6. Sarn Padrig & Morfa Harlech

News Letter

Location Map

Introduction

Project area 6 is comprises a narrow coastal strip rising steeply into the Rhinog Mountains of the Harlech Dome. The mountains are heavily scarred by the impacts of ice flowing east-west over the range during the last Ice-Age and have some of the best examples of glacial landforms in Britain. The coast is fringed by long stretches of sandy beaches and occasional large sand-dune complexes.

Environment

The dunes of Morfa Harlech are suspected to be post-medieval in age. The base of Castell Harlech was believed to be navigable by boat with access to the sea during the reign of Edward I. Any evidence of how the waterways may have looked is now buried under Morfa Harlech, modern development and improved pastureland.

Sarn Padrig (St Patrick’s Causeway) extends some 20km off-shore, and is composed of large, loose stones that have come from the Rhinog Mountains and beyond. The exact mechanism of its construction is still not fully understood, but it is clearly a relic landform from the last glacial period between 15 and 20 thousand years ago. It is littered with dozens of post-medieval shipwrecks that got into trouble around the reef. CHERISH is producing a detailed bathymetric survey in an attempt to visualise its extent and nature and increase awareness of any wreck sites that can be identified.

The reef of Sarn Padrig
The reef of Sarn Padrig

Why are we working here?

The focus of CHERISH’s work in this area is off-shore around Sarn Padrig. It is the largest of the sarns that extend into Cardigan Bay – Sarn-y-Bwch and Sarn Cynfelyn lie to the south of Sarn Badrig. Features such as this are usually subject of myths and legends and Sarn Badrig is no exception. Cantre’r Gwaelod, was a legendary ancient fertile kingdom within Cardigan Bay between the isles of Ramsey and Bardsey. It has been described as a “Welsh Atlantis” and well known from Welsh folklore and literature.

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