Uplands Initiative Field Projects 2002-3 Mynydd Hiraethog Survey Area, North Wales. Archaeological Survey Report

An archaeological identification survey of the Mynydd Hiraethog area of North Wales (SH
870550 centred) was undertaken in May 2002. The work was undertaken by Oxford
Archaeology North (OA North) on behalf of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and
Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) as part of the Uplands Initiative. The
fieldwork consisted of an identification survey to identify, locate and describe
archaeological and historical features within the defined survey area.
The Mynydd Hiraethog study area incorporates Historic Landscape 39 (Countryside
Council for Wales), and part of the study area has been previously surveyed for the
Mynydd Hiraethog Survey by Clywd Powys Archaeological Trust. The OA North 2002
survey area comprised c40 sq km, encompassing lower, enclosed and improved
agricultural land as well as large open tracts of heather and rough grass moorland which
rise steadily to the north of the area. The study area is to the north of the village of
Pentrefoelas and is enclosed between the two divergent roads of the B5113 and the B543,
to its north is the village of Gwytherin. The southern tip of the survey area is dominated by
the estate village of Pentrefoelas, with its historic mills, smithy and shop buildings. North
of this the landscape is essentially agricultural with enclosed well-improved land and
place-name evidence attesting to the hafod practice of summer stock movement. This land
was traditionally under the control of the Wynne family though it has now come to be part
of the Voelas Estate; the majority of the farms in the area are tenants of this estate. The
northern part of the area is predominantly open moorland, with the exception of the
enclosed farmlands around Nebo and Gwytherin.