Historical background
An area which contains extensive evidence of late prehistoric
settlement and associated field systems. By the late eighteenth
century the area formed part of the estate of Hughes of Llysdulas,
a family whose fortunes derived from the Parys copper mines.
Colonel Hughes was ennobled as Lord Dinorben in the early nineteenth
century. Cae Rhonwy is associated with the satirist Siôn Caeronwy
(John Jones, fl. 1784).
Key historic landscape characteristics
Relict archaeology (settlement and lynchets)
The pattern of fields evident at the time of a survey carried
out in 1809 is still largely evident in the present landscape,
which overlies an extensive (presumably late prehistoric) field
system. Unlike the sea-facing slopes around Rhostryfan, the
main field boundaries here are preserved as grassed-over lynchets
which don't have walls or banks overlying them and have largely
fallen out of use. There are several (contemporary?) settlements
within the field system, and a small hillfort on the eastern
edge. None of the sites has been excavated, and there is not
a reliable, accurate plan. Most of the area is scheduled.
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Landscape Character Map
