Day 30

Day 30

Another rainy morning in Holyhead. I got the same super breakfast, and went to the bus stop. Not so early this time, because on Sundays there are less services, so I had to be organized. I checked the bus routes to get to Moelfre, and resulted that the only possible connection was going through Porthaethwy, an from there going back in direction to Amlwch. The connection and my sense of direction proved perfect until there. Right stop, right bus and right stop before Moelfre. There are a few places near by, but basically there are two of particular interest. One is the burial chamber named Lligwy, and the other is a British village from the Roman times.

LLIGWY BURIAL CHAMBER

The Lligwy burial chamber is nice example of Neolithic work. It was excavated in 1909 and founds of around 30 persons were found there. Probably it dates from 2500 to 2000 BC, and were covered with a mound or stones. If so, again is one of those examples of mixed styles that are current in North Wales. The capstone is massive measuring about 5 by 5 meters and it said to weight 40 tons. The entrance is aligned with the North.

If is possible to trace a history of how the megalithic monuments evolved, it should be from the dolmen like structure, to burial chambers and passage mounds, and then to standing stones and stone circles. |The chalk drawings are linked with this time too, which comprises the end of the Neolithic age. The iron age forts are the last of the structures, and mostly don’t carry any religious meaning. These forts always make me imagine that this must have been a violent time in Britain, with more enclosed and defensive communities.



Lligwy must be dated around the end of the dolmen era to the burial mounds age. Most of North Wales monuments have mixed features which can be related with the time of transitions they were built, but also with distinct cultural elements from the people which lived there, like we see in Bryn Celli Ddu burial chamber.

12th CENTURY CHURCH

the church

... and the view

Not far from Lligwy there are two other interesting sites. One is a small church from the 12^th century built in stone and restored in the 16^th century and that is in ruins. One may wonder why to built a church in such a desolated place, but it seems that the church was the only parish church in miles, so it might been necessary. From the 16^th century improvements there is an underground chamber that looks pretty much as a refuge or a storeroom.






DIN LLIGWY

Quite close to the Neolithic chamber and the Medieval church there are the remains of an enclosed settlement from the Roman age. From this site were excavated several pieces Roman pottery and iron pieces, suggesting that there were a forgery there and that iron pieces were fabricated. Most of the findings were made in a particular house, so all leads to believe that there was a working place.

The village is called Din Lligwy, “Din” meaning an enclosed site. The site were built in different stages, as the fashion of the houses suggest. It is dated from the 4^th century, during the Roman occupation in Wales, so we can assume that they had contact and worked for the Romans. But they were not Romans, as it can seem by the structure of the houses. They were built in a polygonal structure, and there are seven structures, two of them round and the others (not all of then were houses) rectangular. The width of the walls could reach 1.50 meters. Amongst other features, some of the stones had very special holes in it, suggesting some specific use, probably for holding wooden stacks or to structure the roof. They are all around, suggesting a usual feature.

houses of the late iron age period

these marks in the stone certainly had a practical porpouse

After leaving Din Lligwy I went after some other places pointed in my map, but it was impossible due to the rain. After a while I was totally wet and been lucky enough to get to the road close to a bus stop in time to go to Bangor before going back to Holyhead. Unfortunately I was unable to enjoy much under the rain. So I went home and it was the best I could do.

I must remember to rest on Sundays.