Cantre’r Gwaelod

Also known as:
Borth Mesolithic forest, The Drowned Hundred and The Lowland Hundred
Nearest town:
Tywyn (9km NNW)
OS reference:
SN60429255
OS sheet:
135
Latitude:
52° 30' 45.15 N
Longitude:
4° 3' 25.49 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

Two pieces of red deer antler and a shin bone, found in January 2014 when storms exposed a section of submerged forest at Tywyn.

A chance conversation in a tea shop produced these.

Image credit: A. Brookes/Mark Kendall (26.7.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 3, 2015
Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

The trees in this forest were mature, thriving here before Stonehenge was begun.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.4.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 3, 2015
Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

As well as the tree stumps, there are extensive areas of compacted peat exposed at low tide.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.4.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 3, 2015
Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

4000-5000 year old tree stumps, exposed at low tide at Borth.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.4.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 3, 2015
Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

The Dyfi estuary. The submerged Mesolithic forest would’ve filled the bay on the left. The skyline is formed by the Tarrenau, of which Tarrenhendre is crowned with a large Bronze Age barrow. Cadair Idris is behind the Tarrenau ridge.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.4.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 3, 2015
Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

The line of the Sarn Cynfelyn causeway is highlighted by the tide.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.4.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 3, 2015
Image of Cantre’r Gwaelod (Mesolithic site) by thesweetcheat

The landward end of the Sarn Cynfelyn causeway (SN58508575), which stretches 7 miles out into Cardigan Bay. The little square building is a lime kiln.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.4.2015)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat May 3, 2015

Articles

Cantre’r Gwaelod

Mythical ' Sunken Kingdom' of Wales rises again

moss
moss May 23, 2019
comment 1 comment

A prehistoric forest which was buried under water and sand more than 4,500 years ago and inspired a local legend has been uncovered on a Welsh beach.

The forest near the village of Borth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales, used to stretch for up to three miles along the shore between Ynys-las and Borth but eventually was buried under layers of peat, sand and saltwater.

The eerie remains of these ancient trees under Borth’s beach have led to the local legend of the mythical Sunken Kingdom of Wales, called Cantre’r Gwaelod.

Folklore has it that Cantre’r Gwaelod, or the Sunken Hundred, was a once-fertile land and township stretching for 20 miles, but was lost beneath the waves in a mythical age.

According to tales passed down through the ages, disaster struck and Cantre’r Gwaelod was lost to floods when Mererid, the priestess of a fairy well, apparently neglected her duties and allowed the well to overflow. Some say that on a quiet day, they can hear the bells of the drowned church of Cantre’r Gwaelod.

Now the remains of the forest’s trees have been exposed more clearly than ever by low tides and high winds from Storm Hannah.

dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7057361/Petrified-forest-Bronze-Age-emerged-Welsh-beach.html

comment 1 Comment
Cantre’r Gwaelod

4,000-year-old red deer skull and antlers found in Borth

Chance
Chance Apr 29, 2016

The skull and antlers of a deer dating back 4,000 years have been found.
Researchers from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David are examining the red deer remains, discovered on a beach in Borth, Ceredigion.
They were first spotted in early April, but were not recovered until Friday due to the tides.
Dr Ros Coard, from the university, said: “The individual was certainly in the prime of his life showing full development of the large antlers.”
When the skull was first seen, it was reported to the Royal Commission in Aberystwyth which alerted Dr Martin Bates, of UWTSD’s school of school of archaeology, history and anthropology.
The people who found it photographed the area where it was spotted and this was used by the team who manually searched the water at low tide until the skull was found under 1m (3.2ft) of water.
This discovery comes from a channel cut through an area which in the 1960s turned up bones of a large auroch, an extinct form of large wild cattle that once lived in Europe.
The forest and peat deposits either side of this channel date to between about 6,000 and 4,000 years ago – the time of the last hunter gatherers and the earliest farmers in Britain.
Dr Bates said: “This is a wonderful discovery that really brings the forest and its environs to light.
“Although the exact age of the skull has yet to be confirmed, it’s probable that the channel within which the find was made is contemporary with the forest and so an age in excess of 4,000 years old is likely.”
Dr Coard, a faunal specialist at UWTSD, added: “Although the antlers and partial skull still have to undergo full analysis, the antlers can be said to come from a very large, mature male red deer.”

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-36157302?SThisFB

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