The Modern Antiquarian. Ancient Sites, Stone Circles, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic Mysteries

Wales   Powys   Montgomeryshire  

Llanymynech Hill

Ancient Mine / Quarry

Nearest Town:Oswestry (8km N)
OS Ref (GB):   SJ264221 / Sheet: 126
Latitude:52° 47' 27.73" N
Longitude:   3° 5' 29.62" W

Added by Rhiannon


Discussion Topics0 discussions
Start a topic


Show map   (inline Google Map)

Folklore

Add folklore Add folklore
In England, most of the peasantry swallow with credulous avidity any ridiculous stories of ghosts, hobgoblins and fairies. There certainly is, however, in the Welsh, a greater inclination to credulity than an Englishman can discover among his own people. There are but few of the mountaineers of Wales, who have not by heart a string of legendary stories of disembodied beings.

The cavern in Llanymynech hill, not far from Oswestry, has been long noted as the residence of a clan of fairies, to whom the neighbouring villages attribute many surprising and mischievous pranks. Whilst they have stopped to listen at the mouth of the cave, the people state that they have sometimes even heard the little elves in converstation, but this was always in such low whispers, that the words which were reverberated along the sides and roof of the cavern could not be distinguished. The stream that runs across a distant part of this cavern is celebrated as the place where the fairy washerwomen and labourers have been heard frequently at work.
p323 of 'Excursions in North Wales' by William Bingley (third edition, 1839).

.. the fairies are still believed.. to keep possession of the deserted mines of the Romans in the hill of Llanymynech, from which place the benighted miner sometimes imagines that he sees them coming forth to perform their gambols on the grassy slopes of the mountain. p64 in 'On the Local Legends of Shropshire' by Thomas Wright. p56 in 'Collectanea Archaeologica' v1, 1862. Online at Google Books.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
17th September 2007ce
Edited 17th October 2007ce

Llanymynech Hill is topped by a huge Iron Age fort - it is, afterall at a rather strategic spot near the confluence of two rivers. But probably more importantly, the hill has been the site of mining for a Very Long Time, at least since 200BC (and maybe longer - you know how new mining obscures older mineworkings). The metal here is copper (plus some lead and zinc) - which would have been invaluable for making bronze tools and weapons. The Romans certainly made use of the site when they arrived here.

The hill is swathed in metal/mine-related folklore. For example, this from Burne and Jackson's 'Shropshire Folklore' of the 1880s:
'The Giant's Grave' is the name giveen to a mound on the Shropshire side of Llanymynech Hill, where once was a cromlech, now destroyed. The story goes that a giant buried his wife there, with a golden circlet round her neck, and many a vain attempt has been made by covetous persons to find it, undeterred by the fate which tradition says overtook three brothers, who overturned the capstone of the cromlech, and were visited by sudden death immediately afterwards."
There is also the underworld/cave-related folklore which you might expect (this from"Mines of Llanymynech Hill", by David Adams & Adrian Pearce, SCMC Account No.14)
It was explored by Dovaston in the early 19th century and he relates "... Superstition, ever prone to people in darkness with the progeny of imagination, has assigned inhabitants here, such as Knockers, Goblins and Ghosts; and the surrounding peasantry aver, with inflexible credulity that the aerial harmonies of Fairies are frequently heard in the deep recesses. ... Tradition says this labyrinth communicated by subterraneous paths with Carreghova Castle; and some persons aver that they have gone so far as to hear the rivers Vyrnwy and Tanat rolling over their heads, and that it leads down to Fairyland".

"... A writer in Brayley's 1878 'Graphic and Historical Illustrator' .. claimed of the Ogof Cave on Llanymynech Hill "...the main passage is said to extend beneath the village, passing near the Cross Keys {Guns} Hotel cellar. An old blind fiddler is said to have penetrated thus far, and was heard from the cellar, performing upon the violin".

[..]

The final written record of legends appears in 1896 and refers to Ned Pugh "... Ned then asserted that he could walk from the Ogo to the Lion Inn at Llanymynech. He was not believed, and then he made a wager that he would on the following Sunday, play a tune, at the usual time that the choir sang, that he should be heard by all the congregation in church. His boasting challenge was taken up. On the following Sunday Ned went to the entrance of the Ogo on the hill carrying with him his harp and he disappeared into the Ogo. As the time came on for the choir to sing, everyone was intently listening for the sound of the harp, and sure enough out of the earth proceeded it's sounds. The people distinctly heard a tune, which the singers took up and when they had finished the harpist too ceased. The poor man though never emerged out of the Ogo. The tune in consequence was called 'Farewell Ned Pugh'.
(Ogof - or 'ogo' as is put here, is Welsh for cave). These latter quotes are part of a long article about the mines and the artefacts that have been found there. This is on The British Mining Database, at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~lizcolin/llanymyn.htm
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
1st March 2005ce
Edited 17th September 2007ce

Miscellaneous

Add miscellaneous Add miscellaneous
On the eastern brow of Llanymynech hill "once stood a cromlech measuring 7 feet by 6, and about 18 inches thick," styled Bedd y Cawr. No trace of it is said to have been discoverable at a later period. Mont. Coll., 1870, iii, 205, note, quoting Camb. Register, 1796, i, 275.

"On the south-western part of the hill stood two rows of flat stones, parallel, 6 feet asunder, and 36 in length. A tradition exists which states that in digging near this place a Druid's cell was discovered, but of what shape or size it does not relate. There were a number of human bones and teeth in a state of good preservation also discovered. In digging between the parallel rows a stratum of red earth was found, about an inch thick" (Mont. Coll., 1878, xi, 182).
It's difficult to know what to make of all that, collected in 'An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the county of Montgomery' (1911). 'Bedd y Cawr' means the giant's grave, though.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
14th January 2010ce
Edited 14th January 2010ce

Links

Add a link Add a link

Gathering the Jewels


Aerial photograph of the hill.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
1st March 2005ce