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Wales   Gwynedd  

Carn Fadryn

Hillfort

<b>Carn Fadryn</b>Posted by GLADMANImage © Robert Gladstone
Also known as:
  • Carn Fadrun
  • Carn Madryn

Nearest Town:Pwllheli (9km E)
OS Ref (GB):   SH279352 / Sheet: 123
Latitude:52° 53' 10.59" N
Longitude:   4° 33' 29.5" W

Added by Rhiannon


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<b>Carn Fadryn</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Carn Fadryn</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Carn Fadryn</b>Posted by GLADMAN <b>Carn Fadryn</b>Posted by GLADMAN

Folklore

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About fifteen miles to the westward of Crickaeth there is a lofty hill, called Carn Madryn, which is noted for having been a strong hold of Roderick and Maelgwyn, the sons of Owen Gwyneth.

There are many remains of fortifications upon it, from which may be ascertained what was the state of architecture at an early period among the Welsh. "the bottom, sides, and top are filled with cells, oblong, oval, or circular, once thatched, or covered from the inclemency of the weather: many of them are pretty entire. The chieftains resided on the top; the people of the country, with their cattle, in times of invasion, occupied the sides and bottom." (Pennant).

The stones of the walls are not connected by cement, but are thrown roughly together, and with infinitely less attention to neatness and arrangement than would be observed by a Briton of the present day in the construction of a pig-sty.
A pig-sty? a bit harsh, it is thousands of years old. It's hard to know from this if the Owain Gwynedd (a prince of North Wales) connection is a folk story or something dreamt up by historian types.
From "A voyage round Great Britain, undertaken in the summer of the year 1813.." by Richard Ayton and William Daniell.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
4th October 2012ce
Edited 4th October 2012ce

There are numerous remains on Carn Fadryn - the large Iron Age fort was overlain by a castle in the 12th century.

The fort is associated with Queen / Saint Madrun (supposedly the granddaughter of Vortigern). Maybe the name is also linked with the Roman mother goddess of Matrona..

"Ceidio, in the promontory of Lleyn, is under the remarkable isolated hill of Carn Madryn, which takes its name from Madrun. The local tradition is that on the burning of the palace of Gwrtheyrn, under Tre'r Ceiri, Madrun fled with Ceidio, then a child in arms, to the fortress on Carn Madryn, and that later in life Ceidio founded the church that bears his name beneath the mountain..." (from Baring-Gould's section on S. Ceidio in 'Lives of the British Saints').

Such a vantage point is also ideal for throwing stones from -
Penllech Coetan Arthur originated up here.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd March 2006ce
Edited 22nd April 2013ce

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Vortigern Studies


This informative page includes a long-distance view of the striking mountain.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
22nd March 2006ce