Cyfaredd 17: Research on Ynys Môn—Day Two, Part One

Haia Pawb

On my way back from Moel-y-don the previous day, I decide to check out Melin Llynnon (Llynnon Mill), which is near the rural village of Llanddeusant. However, when I arrived the place was shut, so first thing my second day on Ynys Môn I went straight there.

Mill and Roundhouses (Source)

Melin Llynnon is the only working windmill in Wales producing stoneground wholemeal flour using organic wheat. It was originally built in 1775, for £550, was damaged in a storm in 1918, and restored by the local council between 1978 and 1986. Interesting though the mill and its history was, I was there to explore the two Iron Age replica roundhouses that were also on site.

Display Board

One of the roundhouses

The roundhouses were built in 2007 by Ancient Arts and are similar to those that existed on Ynys Môn 3000 years ago and common in the Celtic world from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. The simple wooden structures were covered with wattle and daub and thatched with water reed. Materials used for the construction were harvested locally and a trail from the site takes visitors through woodland planted with species common to the area in the Iron Age. (See here for a film about the construction of the roundhouses.)

The entrances to both roundhouses were wider and higher than those at Castell Henllys, which might reflect an attempt at depicting status. Only one roundhouse was open, so I spent time inside pacing it out (10 metres in diameter) and becoming acquainted with the decorations on the walls, the layout and construction of the building itself, the smell of the packed dirt floor and the thatched roof, and the furnishings. I loved the carved logs used for seats both inside and outside the huts and the dragon totem pole set up in the clearing nearby (though I don’t know how historically accurate this was.

A typical Celtic loom

Dragon totem pole

Obviously, my reason for visiting such places is to soak in the ambience, which I hope to then transfer to my novel, and discover relevant information unavailable through book and online research. One such discovery concerned construction, not of something in the roundhouses themselves but in the ground immediately around them.

Interior of the roundhouse

Typical Celtic utensils

Triskele wall decoration

I remember from my scouting days putting up tents and digging ditches around the circumference to run off rainwater. When I walked around the roundhouses I noticed gravel trenches directly under the thatched-roof overhang. Of course, such things would exist to channel rainwater away, though I hadn’t thought about it till the moment of my discovery, which wouldn’t have been possible through off-site research. Such a detail, when used appropriately, should convey authenticity to my writing in the novel.

Llynnon Mill Roundhouse. Note the gravel rain trench under the 'eaves'.

After wandering around the site for some time and walking the woodland trail, I bought gifts from the Melin Llynnon shop and went back to my hotel to catch up with family on Facetime before heading out for more explorations of Ynys Môn, which I’ll share in my next post.

As always, I hope you’re enjoying these posts and I welcome any comments.

Cofion cynnes

Earl

Cyfaredd 12: Castell Henllys

Haia Pawb

One of the reasons I travelled to Britain in 2013 was to conduct research for my dark ages novel. I had a few sites in mind, which I then visited (or not, as explained in my post about Dinas Emrys). However, after my return to Australia I discovered more places I would like to visit, if I ever had the chance to come back.

The residency at Stiwdio Maelor came when I least expected such an opportunity and in the last week of my time there I picked up a hire car for the research phase of my trip. My posts about Cader Idris and Dinas Emrys describe two early research outings, but on the actual day I picked up the car I decided to visit Castell Henllys ('castle of the old court'), a reconstructed Iron Age village built on the site of an ancient village.

For my novel I plan to set a number of scenes in roundhouses, situated in various parts of the island, so I welcomed the chance to visit roundhouses built in the traditional way. Castell Henllys has four, plus a granary that is built off the ground, unlike the others. All of them have been reconstructed on their original foundations, with the upright poles that support the roof of each roundhouse having been placed into the original post holes. The size of each roundhouse has been gauged from the remains of drainage ditches.

One thing I noticed was the different levels of finish between what was termed the Chieftain’s Hut and the other roundhouses. This difference in finish was evident both in the interior, with the varied quality of paintings and lime wash around the wattle and daub walls, and the exterior, with the thatching around the doorway cut higher on the Chieftain's Hut so that those entering didn’t have to bend.

Below are videos and photos of aspects of the village I may use in the novel:

Video of the roundhouses and surroundings.

The 'Chieftain's Hut'.
Note the high thatching above the entrance.

Interior of the 'Chieftain's Hut'.

Typical Iron Age loom. 

Polished bronze cauldron. Sunlight coming through the doorway
(which is in the east) would make the cauldron glow like gold
to impress visitors to the 'Chieftain's Hut'.

Range of reproduction swords and scabbard.

Hilt of reproduction ceremonial sword.

Saddle quern, used to grind corn*. Bone analysis shows females
suffering from arthritis in hands, knees and back, possibly from
long hours spent using such querns in a bent over position.

Rotary quern, a more efficient way
of grinding corn.

Raised hearth in the 'Cook House'.

Typical wooden bowls.

Video of interior of a roundhouse used for meetings.
Up to 80 warriors could assemble in here. 

Chieftain's Chair in the Meeting Hut.

Forge in the smithy's roundhouse.
Note the double hand bellows on the right.

Small iron anvil embedded in a log.

Wooden container of charcoal used for the forge.
(My foot being there is not a mistake, but is used for scale.)

The granary. Being off the ground allows
air to circulate and keep grain dry.

Wood lathe. 

Bread oven.

Interior of another round housing, showing central hearth,
loom and box beds against the far wall. Note the iron cauldron,
obviously not used for showing off status.

Although I have done and continue to do much book research, such visits produce practical insights into lifestyle and setting that I am sure will provide authentic 'telling details' for my novel. 

For those following my jackdaws 'saga', here's another instalment:

'Is this seat taken?'

By the way, my friend Ali Ni Dhorchaidhe, whom I met at the 2009 W B Yeats Summer School and who has studied Irish and Scots Gaelic, tells me the Irish Gaelic for jackdaw is cág, pronounced ‘cawg’, the word being like the sound they make.

Till next time.

Cofion cynnes (Warm wishes)

Earl

PS. Corn in this case means wheat and other cereal crops, not maize, which is called corn by Americans and Canadians and wasn't introduced into Britain till after Columbus returned from the Americas.