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Friday 24 January 2014

Pembrokeshire’s Sunken Heritage





Kimberly Briscoe and Sarahjayne Clements, Community Archaeologists at the Royal Commission visiting the memorial in Moelfre Churchyard, Anglesey to the lives lost on the passenger ship The Royal Charter.

Welcome back from the Community Archaeologists, these last few weeks we’ve really hit the ground running after our Christmas break; in this case this meant finally putting all our hard work, planning and organisation for the Shipwrecks Project into action.

The Shipwrecks Project was based on the story of a violent gale, which swept over Britain in 1859, wrecking hundreds of ships along the coasts of England and Wales, culminating in horrific coastal damage and loss of life. The Royal Charter, one of the largest and most famous transatlantic wrecks of the storm, was lost just off the coast of Anglesey. It was responsible for the largest number of lives lost in the storm, so much so that the gale has often been renamed the ‘Royal Charter Gale’. The documentation of the Royal Charter wreck, and studies of items recovered from the wreck, reveal an interesting snapshot of the lives of those on board.

The memorial to the Royal Charter and the effects Great Gale 1859 at Cwm yr Eglwys, Pembrokeshire.
The Royal Commission and Cadw Shipwrecks Project was inspired by the great story of the Royal Charter. The project was designed to investigate the wider impact of the storm, this time  along the coast of Pembrokeshire, centring on the story of the lesser known transatlantic vessel, The Charles Holmes. The project involved a series of days working with Welsh Baccalaureate students from Pembrokeshire College, to engage them with the story of The Great Gale 1859, their local maritime heritage, and how resources such as archives can be great for researching the impact of past events on your local area.

Aberbach beach, Pembrokeshire. The wreck site of the transatlantic cargo ship ‘The Charles Holmes’, lost on the night of the Great Gale 1859.

The project began on Tuesday 7 January, when Sarahjayne, Deanna and I gave the students of Pembrokeshire College a brief introduction to maritime archaeology and the background of the storm. Asking questions throughout our presentations, the students seemed genuinely engaged with the story of the losses, and local areas that were severely affected by the storm also seemed to resonate strongly with the pupils. Often local shipwrecked vessels are a great starting point for exploring local history within a specific time period. Once you’ve located a wrecked vessel you can understand further the impact of the vessel on the local community, explore the wealth of an area and the variety of occupations and maritime industry in that area.
Deanna Groom, Sarahjayne and Kimberly positioning the archive tasks ready for the Pembrokeshire College Welsh Baccalaureate students.
A great way, and often the only way of exploring local lives and unpublished local shipwrecks, is to visit the first-hand sources at your local archive. Therefore, for the second week of the project, we used this as an opportunity to take students out of the classroom and allow them to conduct their own first-hand research at the local Pembrokeshire County Archives.


The unique Port of Cardigan Shipping Registry for 1850–1855, an example of the fantastic resources available for use at the Pembrokeshire County Archives.
They used the local shipping registers to trace the story of the ships (e.g. their construction, cargo and ownership).They then turned to local church burial records to research details of the crew lost in the wrecks. Finally local census records enabled them to understand the stories of the villagers who recovered the bodies from the wrecks.
Pembrokeshire College Welsh Baccalaureate students engaged in researching their sunken heritage through Pembrokeshire Archive Census and Shipping Registers.
All in all it was a great way of getting the students engaged, they were really keen on answering the questions provided and were amazed to have the opportunity to be able to actually touch some unique original documents.

Gan Kimberly Briscoe


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Thursday 23 January 2014

A snapshot of Uplands Initiative work at Manod Bach, Gwynedd





Royal Commission staff members, Jon Dollery and Nikki Vousden, recently joined the Commission’s Uplands project co-ordinator, David Leighton, on a visit to Manod Bach, near Blaenau Ffestiniog. We shadowed archaeologists, Richard Hayman and Wendy Horton, who were undertaking a survey of the area as part of the Royal Commission led Uplands Initiative. The long-running project aims to survey and record archaeology on all moorland over 244m above sea level. Some 2380 square km has been surveyed to date. Each year the Royal Commission awards grants to enable teams of archaeologists to record monuments and features in some 150 square km of landscape. Before work on the ground proceeds an archaeologist within the Royal Commission examines all vertical aerial photographs held at the Commission and uses GIS software to produce maps of all archaeological features. This work is currently undertaken by Mapping Officer, Jon Dollery. The mapping guides archaeologists in the identification of features as they walk in parallel 30-50m transects across the landscape. It also helps them understand long linear features such as trackways, artificial watercourses or former field boundaries.

Manod Bach, mapped using 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs. The red line depicts the boundary of the area under survey. Possible features are highlighted in order to guide archaeologists in the identification of features on the ground.
Conversely, archaeologists on the ground can identify small features such as stone-built cairns or prehistoric standing stones that may be too small for identification from the air.

Our field-walking resulted in the verification of numerous mapped features, including a sheep fold and an intricately built sheep wash utilising natural landscape features. It also resulted in the identification of features not visible on aerial photographs, including two mine shafts, one of which was previously unrecorded.

Archaeologists noting the detail of a sheep wash. Sheep would be held in a series of walled-in pens on the natural platform adjacent to the rock outcrop, before being released through the stream.


Water-filled mine shaft.
The fieldwork was a valuable opportunity to see how our desk-based work on air photograph interpretation aids the identification of features on the ground.

By Nikki Vousden.


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Wednesday 15 January 2014

Mesurau Newydd ar gyfer Amgylchedd Hanesyddol Cymru







Ar Ddydd Mawrth 14 Ionawr cyhoeddodd John Griffiths AC, y Gweinidog Diwylliant a Chwaraeon, fesurau newydd ar gyfer yr amgylchedd hanesyddol yng Nghymru, gan gynnwys y penderfyniad y bydd y Comisiwn Brenhinol a Cadw yn parhau’n gyrff ar wahân am y tro.

Mae'r Comisiynwyr yn falch bod y Gweinidog wedi gwneud penderfyniad clir y dylai’r Comisiwn Brenhinol barhau i weithredu fel corff hyd-braich a noddir gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Maent hwy wedi ymrwymo i barhau i weithio'n agos â Cadw (eu hadran nawdd o fewn Llywodraeth Cymru) a phartneriaid eraill i ddarparu’r gwasanaethau amgylchedd hanesyddol gorau posibl i bobl Cymru.

Gellir gweld datganiad llawn y Gweinidog ar wefan Llywodraeth Cymru.

Mae’r ymatebion llawn i’r ymgynghoriad ‘Dyfodol ein Gorffennol’ bellach ar gael ar-lein.   I weld dadansoddiad llawn o’r ymatebion i’r ymgynghoriad, ewch i wefan Llywodraeth Cymru.


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Monday 13 January 2014

Swyddogaeth cyfryngau cymdeithasol newydd ar gyfer Coflein!





Mae gan Coflein, cronfa ddata ar-lein chwiliadwy y Comisiwn Brenhinol, swyddogaeth newydd sy’n caniatáu i chi rannu gwybodaeth ddiddorol am safleoedd! Gall tudalen canlyniadau Chwiliad Safle gael ei rhannu bellach â chynulleidfa ehangach drwy gyfrwng safleoedd rhwydweithio cymdeithasol. Mae hyn yn ei gwneud hi’n haws i chi rannu cysylltau i unrhyw safle ar Coflein â’ch teulu, ffrindiau ac unrhyw un arall sydd â diddordeb. O dan bob disgrifiad o safle fe welwch eiconau cyfryngau cymdeithasol a fydd yn eich galluogi i roi nod tudalen i’r dudalen dan sylw ar nifer o safleoedd rhwydweithio cymdeithasol, gan gynnwys Facebook a Twitter.

Gall yr eiconau cyfryngau cymdeithasol o dan y disgrifiad gael eu defnyddio i roi nod tudalen i’r dudalen hon ar safleoedd rhwydweithio cymdeithasol.
Gan: Nikki Vousden

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Friday 10 January 2014

Baddondy Glan Môr Coll yn dod i’r golwg ar ôl i Storm Ddifrodi Cysgodfan!





Cafodd Cysgodfan Bathrock ei gynllunio i roi cysgod i gerddwyr ar y promenâd. Mae’r pedair ochr agored yn cynnig cysgod rhag gwynt a glaw o unrhyw gyfeiriad ac mae’r parwydydd gwydrog yn darparu golygfeydd eang dros Fae Aberteifi.

Mae’r llanwau uchel diweddar a fu’n taro promenâd Aberystwyth wedi dinoethi olion baddondy pwrpasol cynharaf y dref, yn ogystal ag achosi difrod difrifol i adeiladwaith y cysgodfan hanesyddol ym mhen gogleddol Rhodfa’r Môr.

Llwyddodd tonnau a gyrhaeddodd dros 6 throedfedd o uchder i ddinistrio wyneb y morglawdd ar nos Wener, gan ysgubo ymaith y cerrig llanw o dan Gysgodfan Bathrock (NPRN: 411501). Adeiladwaith pren ag ochrau agored yw’r cysgodfan a adeiladwyd mewn dull Neo-Sioraidd syml yn y cyfnod rhwng y rhyfeloedd. Mae’n enghraifft ardderchog o’r celfi stryd a oedd yn nodweddiadol o drefi glan môr ar ddechrau’r ugeinfed ganrif. Yn anffodus, gan fod y cerrig llanw oddi tano wedi’u golchi i ffwrdd, mae’r slab concrit yr oedd y cysgodfan yn sefyll arno wedi dymchwel ac mae’r adeilad wedi dechrau disgyn i’r gwagle islaw.

Mae’r cysgodfan wedi’i danseilio ar ôl i stormydd diweddar olchi’r cerrig llanw i ffwrdd. Er gwaethaf y difrod i’r adeiladwaith, mae’r adeilad ei hun yn weddol gyfan. Mae cynlluniau ar y gweill i sefydlogi’r cysgodfan a’i symud o’i safle i’w atgyweirio.
O fewn y gwagle, mae cyfres o waliau islawr wedi’u dadorchuddio. Cafodd y Marine Baths eu hadeiladu ym 1810 gan Rice Williams Ysw., meddyg a gredai’n gryf fod cymryd bath rheolaidd mewn dŵr heli yn lleddfu rhai cyflyrau meddygol. Roedd yr arfer o ymdrochi mewn dŵr heli am resymau meddygol wedi dechrau ar ddiwedd yr ail ganrif ar bymtheg, ac roedd cytiau ymdrochi yn nodwedd gyffredin mewn llawer o drefi glan môr erbyn dechrau’r bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg. Byddai baddondy Dr Rice wedi galluogi’r ymwelydd llai anturus i fanteisio ar y pleser o ymdrochi yn nŵr y môr. Roedd ystafelloedd preifat ar gael i’r ymdrochwyr a baddon ymhob un ‘six feet long and two and a half wide, lined with Dutch tile, which being much less porous than marble, is more effectually cleansed from all impurities to which they are liable’. Yn ogystal, roedd boeleri mawr yn twymo’r dŵr fel nad oedd pobl o gyfansoddiad llai cadarn yn gorfod plymio i ddŵr oer.

Roedd gan y baddondy sylweddol faddon plymio, baddon cawod a baddon anwedd, a llety ar y llawr cyntaf. Ond erbyn diwedd y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg roedd yn gorfod cystadlu â baddondy newydd ar Newfoundland Street (Stryd y Baddon erbyn hyn) a’r Queens Hotel yr oedd gan ei ystafelloedd ymolchi dapiau poeth, oer a dŵr heli er cyfleuster ei westeion. Ym 1892 fe gaeodd y Marine Baths a dymchwelwyd yr adeilad wrth wneud gwelliannau wedi hynny i’r promenâd gogleddol.
O fewn bastiwn mur y promenâd, mae olion waliau islawr y Marine Baths wedi dod i’r golwg. Roedd pibellau haearn bwrw yn ymestyn ymhell i Fae Aberteifi i sicrhau cyflenwad o ddŵr heli glân heb unrhyw dywod ynddo. Byddai boeleri islawr yn twymo’r dŵr i’r rheiny a ddymunai fwynhau ymdrochi llai bywiocaol.
Bu’r Comisiwn Brenhinol yn tynnu lluniau o’r waliau islawr ac mae’n bwriadu gwneud gwaith ymchwil a chofnodi mwy manwl pan fydd yn ddiogel i wneud hynny. Mae trafodaethau ar y gweill rhwng Cyngor Ceredigion a Cadw ar sut i sefydlogi ac atgyweirio Cysgodfan Bathrock.

Gan: Susan Fielding


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