CPAT Regional Historic Environment Record
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Llangors crannog

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 630
Trust : Clwyd Powys
Community : Llangors
Unitary authority : Powys
NGR : SO12892690
Site Type (preferred type first) : EARLY MEDIEVAL CRANNOG
Status : scheduled monument

Summary :
Crannog of small stones revetted with oak planks each c40cm wide and 5cm thick, these survive only around parts of the west and south sides.

Description :
Crannog of small stones revetted with oak planks each c40cm wide and 5cm thick, these survive only around parts of the west and south sides.

Historical evidence associates the kings of Brycheiniog with the area of Llangorse in the 8th century: In AD916 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the destruction of Brecananmere (see PRN 87275). The historical and archaeological evidence suggests that the crannog is the 9th/10th century residence of the kings of Brycheiniog.

Sims-Williams puts the case that Llangorse may have been the base for the author of the Llywarch Hen poems (Sims-Williams, P 1993, 27-63).

Partial excavations in 1868 by Dumbleton (Dumbleton 1870) yielded finds of animals bones, pottery, leather, bronze and a rubbing stone (all of which are now lost) which were thought by Fox to be Iron Age or Romano-British but may well have been of later date.

Excavation and survey programme of crannog carried by between 1987 and 1993 by University of Wales, Cardiff and National Museum of Wales dated to crannog to the 9th century AD with dendro date of AD859. Whole feature apparently a dark age "hall" perhaps comparable to Irish royal crannog sites.The crannog was defended by a palisade which was partly excavated in 1991. The earliest finds are from the late 1st/early 2nd century AD. Prehistoric and Roman material incorporated in the make-up of the mound (199-200). The high quality of finds supports the identification of the site as one of the royal sites of Brycheiniog.

See PRN 35107 for excavation details 1987-1993.

Probably associated with wooden canoe find PAR 631.

Summary of work from discovery to 1993 given in Redknap, M and Lane, A 1994, 189-205. The construction of the crannog is now dendro dated to 890s.

(CR 1;Fig.13e) YNYS BWLC is a crannog lying about 40 m offshore on the N. side of LLANGORSE LAKE at a height of 155 m above O.D. It comprises a small overgrown island which, though often submerged in winter, at times protrudes 0.8-1 m above the water, forming an area 40 m E.-W. and 30 m N.-S. Now known to have been connected to the shore by a plank-driven causeway up to 3 m wide,3 the site was first described and excavated during the 1860s.4 The structure then revealed was stake-supported, oak piles having been driven through an amalgam of clay and stones. Beneath this is a layer of peat which overlies Mesolithic flints (MS 14). Recognition of its potential interest to Dark Age settlement is recent and has resulted in a long-term excavation and survey programme, ongoing at the time of writing. Re-planning of the submerged features reveals two concentric lines of timber piles (marked upon the plan (FIG. 13e) forming three independent runs of planks and revetting lumps of sandstone dumped upon a brushwood mattress under a lacework of timber, within a complex which included a thick layer of peat. Wattle and protruding softwood timber were also noted.
Finds have so far included a log boat (the second from the lake, radiocarbon dated to the ninth century A.D.), part of an antler comb, fragments of carbonised textile tentatively dated between the 5th and 10th centuries A.D., carbonised grain and animal bone.6 Initial radiocarbon dates and dendrochronology suggest construction during the ninth century. Sapwood dates have been precisely given as 890/893 A.D. It is possible that the structure was prefabricated. An historical explanation has been advanced for the site as the seat of the Kings of Brycheiniog7 and attention has also been drawn to the nearby presence of
RCAHMW, 1995 - Draft Inventory description

Royal residence of the rulers of the kingdom of Brycheiniog, constructed between AD889 and 893, and destroyed by a Mercian (Saxon) army in AD916 (Redknap, 2002, pp28).

Application for grant aid approved by Cadw in 2003, prior to re-tendering of conservation engineering works. (Cadw 2003)

Sources :
Ancient Monuments Board for Wales , 2005 , Annual Report 2004-05
Brecon Beacons National Park , 1996ff , BBNP Archive - Llangors lake
Brecon Beacons National Park , 2006 , BBNP Archive - Llangors crannog
Brecon Beacons National Park , 2006 , BBNP Archive - Llangors crannog conservation
Brecon Beacons National Park , 2006 , BBNP Archive - Llangors crannog errosion
Brecon Beacons National Park , 2006 , BBNP Archive - Llangors crannog pac 428
Brecon Beacons National Park , 2006 , BBNP Archive - Llangors crannog pac 428a
Brecon Beacons National Park , 2006 , BBNP Archive - Llangors crannog pac 428b
Briggs, C Stephen (ed) , 2003 , Towards a Research Agenda for Welsh Archaeology. Proceedings of the IFA Wales/Cymru Conference, Aberystwyth 2001
Burnham, H., 1995 , A Guide to Ancient and Historic Wales: Clwyd and Powys
Cadw , 1988 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - Br158(POW)
Cadw , 1993 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - Br158(POW)
Cadw , 2002 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - Br158(POW)
Cadw , 2002 , Cadw Field Monument Wardens Report - Br158(POW)
Cadw , 2003 , CPAT Threat Archive - Llangors crannog
Cadw , 2003 , CPAT Threat Archive - Llangors crannog
Campbell, E, Lane, A & Redknap, M , 1990 , Llangorse crannog , Archaeology in Wales : 30 : 62-3
Campbell, E., Lane, A. & Redknap, M. , 1989 , Excavation and survey on the Llangorse Crannog in 1989 an interim report. ( © Cardiff University)
Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust , 1980 , Site visit record - PRN630
Cross, Holly , 2010 , Early medieval ecclesiastical wealth of Wales AD 600-1080 , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 159 : 197-219
Davies, J , 1999 , The Making of Wales
Dumbleton, E N , 1870 , Llangorse crannog , Archaeologia Cambrensis : 1 : 192-5
Fox, C , 1926 , Crafts in England and Wales , The Antiquaries Journal : 6 : 122-151
Gaimster, D R M, Margeson, S & Barry, T , 1989 , Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1988 , Medieval Archaeology : 33 : 161-241
Gaimster, D R M, Margeson, S & Hurley, M , 1990 , Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1989 , Medieval Archaeology : 34 : 162-252
Gardener, C , 2004 , Exploring the Caves of Llangattock
Makepeace, G. A , 2001 , Land to the Rear of Hendy Gwyn, Llangorse, Powys: Archaeological Watching Brief ( © Makepeace, G A)
National Museums & Galleries of Wales , 1999 , title unknown - Llangors crannog
Nenk, B S, Margeson, S & Hurley, M , 1991 , Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1990 , Medieval Archaeology : 35 : 126-238
Nenk, B S, Margeson, S & Hurley, M , 1993 , Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1992 , Medieval Archaeology : 37 : 240-313
Nenk, B. S., Margeson, S., & Hurley, M , 1992 , Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1991 , Medieval Archaeology : 36 : 184-308
Olding, Frank , 2011 , Early Welsh Literature - a window on the Dark Age? , Brycheiniog : 42 : 93-100
Ordnance Survey , 1973 , OS record card SO12NW 6
Redknap, M , 1991 , Llangorse Crannog , Archaeology in Wales : 31 : 38
Redknap, M , 1992 , Llangorse Crannog , Archaeology in Wales : 32 : 77
Redknap, M , 1993 , The Llangorse Landscape Project , Archaeology in Wales : 33 : 36-7
Redknap, M & Lane, A , 1994 , The early medieval crannog at Llangorse, Powys: an interim statement on the 1989-1993 seasons , The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology : 23.3 : 189-205
Redknap, M, Campbell, E & Lane, A , 1989 , Llangorse crannog , Archaeology in Wales : 29 : 57-8
Redknap, M., 2000 , Vikings in Wales An Archaeological Quest
Redknap, M., 2002 , Re-Creations. Visualizing Our Past
Rees, S E , 1997 , Historical and Cultural Importance of Ponds , Aquatic Conservation : 7.2 : 133-139
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , 1995 , An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Brecknock (Brycheiniog); The Prehistoric and Roman Monuments, Part i - draft text
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales , 1997 , An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Brecknock (Brycheiniog); The Prehistoric and Roman Monuments, Part i
Sims-Williams, P , 1993 , The Provenance of the Llywarch Hen Poems: A Case for Llan-gors, Brycheiniog , Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies : 26 : 27-63
Thomas, C , 1994 , And shall these mute stones speak? Post-Roman inscriptions in Western Britain
Unknown , nd , Photograph of Llangors crannog
Welsh Office Ancient Monuments Branch , 1974 , Schedule of Ancient Monuments in Wales
Welsh Office Ancient Monuments Branch , 1981 , Schedule of Ancient Monuments in Wales
1. E.Jones,'Remains of lake dwellings', Arch.Camb. 128 (1923), pp. 154-5;I.Peate,'A reported lake dwelling site near Tregaron', B.B.C.S. 4 (1927), pp.283-4;Antiquity 2 (1928),p. 473;H.N.Jerman, 'Oak piles from the Peat in North Breconshire', Antiq.Jnl 15
(1935), pp.68-9;W.F. Grimes, The Prehistory of Wales, (Cardiff, 1951), p. 232.
2. J.G.Roberts and R. Peterson, 'Crannog Sites in Wales and the Marches', Arch.in Wales 29 (1989), p.40.
5. A. Lane, pp.121-3 in N. Edwards and A. Lane, (eds.), Early Medieval Settlements in Wales AD 400-1100,(Early Medieval Wales Archaeology Research Group, Cardiff and Bangor,1988).
7. by E. Campbell and A. Lane, 'Llangorse: a 10th-century royal crannog in Wales', Antiquity 63 (1989), pp. 675-81, following W. Davies, An Early Welsh Microcosm, (London, 1978), p.184;Wales in the Early Middle Ages, (Leicester, 1982), p. 97.
8. S. Taylor, (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;a collaborative edition, Volume 4, Manuscript B, Cambridge: U.P., 1983), p.64.
9. Campbell and Lane loc.cit., n. 7.
10. F.M. Chambers,'Flandrian environmental history of the Llynfi catchment, South Wales', Ecologia Mediterranea, Tome XI (Fascicle 1), pp. 73-80;R. Jones, K. Benson-Evans, F.M.Chambers, B.Abell Seddon and Y.C.Tai,'Biological and chemical studies of
sediments from Llangorse Lake, Wales',Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 29 (1978), pp. 642-48;R. Jones, K. Benson-Evans and F.M.Chambers, 'Human impact upon sedimentation at Llangorse Lake, Wales', Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 10 (1985), pp.
227-235.
Llangorse
Nenk, B S, Margeson, S & Hurley, M 1992, 305). - C14 date

Events :
35108 : Llangors crannog, excavation 1868-70 (year : 1868-70)
35107 : Llangors crannog, excavation 1987-1993 (year : 1987-93)
58780 : Llangors crannog, research project 1987ff (year : 1987-93)
58781 : Llangors crannog, topographical survey 1987ff (year : 1987-93)
58782 : Llangors crannog, conservation work 2005 (year : 2005)
23620 : Llangors crannog, environmental sampling 1987-1993 (year : 1987-83)
152982 : Llangors, The Llangorse Crannog Investigations in 1987-1988, archaeological intervention (year : 1988)
152983 : Llangors, Llangorse Crannog, archaeological intervention, 1989 (year : 1989)
152983 : Llangors, Llangorse Crannog, archaeological intervention, 1989 (year : 1989)

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Compiled date : 31-12-1981


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Archaeological data, from the Historic Environment Record, supplied by The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust in partnership with Local Authorities, Cadw and the partners of ENDEX © CPAT, 2025 (and in part © Crown, 2025). It is intended to be used for private research only and is not for use as part of commercial projects. If you wish to use this information for publication in printed or multimedia form or to compile resources for commercial use, prior permission must be obtained in writing. Use of this information is subject to the terms and conditions of access to HER data published on CPAT's website. Please contact the HER if you have any further questions regarding this information. Please quote the Primary Reference Numbers (PRNs) in any correspondence.

March 30, 2025, 6:42 pm - File produced for Archwilio from CPAT's Regional HER.
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, The Offices, Coed y Dinas, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 8RP
tel (01938) 553670, email her@cpat.org.uk, website www.cpat.org.uk

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