• Source: Mynydd-y-Gaer

Mynydd-y-Gaer is a hill that sits on the boundaries between the South Wales communities of Baglan (south-western quarter), Cwmavon (south-eastern quarter) and Briton Ferry, (northern half), all within Neath Port Talbot county borough. The summit, at 314 m (1,030 ft), has grassland fields subdivided by dry stone walls. Foel Fynyddau lies 2 km to east. To the south is the coastal plain of the Bristol Channel. To the West is the Vale of Neath. To the north is the Crythan Brook and the town of Neath. It has numerous prehistoric monuments, and evidence of occupation in medieval times, as well as 19th and 20th century coalmining.




Prehistory


Three scheduled monuments are on the hill, all dating to the Iron Age. Close to the summit is the hillfort enclosure of Buarth-y-Gaer. On the south-west flank, close to Baglan, is a small hillfort, Craig Ty-Isaf. A third hillfort, Gaer Fawr is 800 m (870 yd) from the summit, on the northern spur.
Bronze Age burial cairns are also recorded. One, near the summit, is within the enclosure at Buarth-y-Gaer. Similarly the enclosure at Gaer Fawr has a group of 5 cairns, which may once have been as many as 19, but the rest appear to be ploughed away. Another cairn is located on the crest of the ridge, part way between the two enclosures.




Medieval occupation


There are records of a deserted medieval village having been located on Mynnydd-y-Gaer, although the location is uncertain. A house platform has been identified on the east side of the hill. The only high-level road over the hill is a minor road that runs north-south over the saddle between Mynydd-y-Gaer and Foel Fynyddau, close by the house platform, and also past a number of disused coalmining levels, in the vicinity of Gelligaer Fach Farm, and probably dating at least to the 19th century.




Coal mining


Although no coalmining currently takes place on the hill, two collieries were located there in the first half of the twentieth century. The numerous earlier levels had accessed the coal from levels on the east side of the hill. At a much larger scale the Cwm Mawr colliery, based further south in Cwmafon, opened up a No 3 slant around 1920, running into the side of Mynydd-y-Gaer. From 1922 it was owned by Briton Ferry Collieries Ltd, who employed upwards of 100 men at the Cwm Mawr mines for the next 20 years. It closed in 1944, with a short-lived re-opening in 1950.
On the northern tip of the Mynydd-y-Gaer ridge was the Eskyn Colliery. This was established early in the 20th century, and constructed a leat, engine house, tramroad and spoil tips, all of which remain. However it was of short duration, and was listed as disused in 1919.




Access


No footpaths run to the summit of the hill. On the eastern side a minor road crosses the high saddle 80m below the summit. A section of the Forestry Commission's Margam Forest may allow access to its rides. On the western side are the Briton Ferry Woods, a mixed woodland including plantations and broadleaved trees, occupying a large area of the slopes and ridges on that side of the hill, and with many paths and rides. The Wales Coast Path has an inland section that runs along the south-western rim of these woods.
In 1861 the Ynysmaerdy Railway Incline was opened along the northern edge of the hill, to transport coal down to Briton Ferry docks. The line closed in 1910.




See also


List of Scheduled Monuments in Neath Port Talbot
Buarth-y-Gaer




References

• Source: Mynydd y Gaer

Mynydd y Gaer is a 295-metre-high hill in Bridgend County Borough in South Wales. The summit is crowned by a trig point.
It is reputed to be the site of Caradoc's fortress who in the first century AD resisted the Roman invasion of the Silures territories around 48-50 AD.
There is a Caer Caradoc tumulus at the eastern end of the mynydd which is still displayed on the OS maps that is, according to local legend, the burial place of Caradoc.
It is claimed the burial mounds of Meurig and Athwr II who resisted the Saxons in the 6th century are nearby.




Geology


The hill is formed from sandstones of the Pennant Sandstone Formation assigned to the Warwickshire Group laid down late in the Carboniferous Period. The strata here dip moderately steeply northwards into the South Wales Coalfield syncline. A number of coal seams are recorded as outcropping on the hillside including the No 1 Rhondda, No 2 Rhondda, Brithdir and Brithdir Rider.




Access


The upper parts of the hill are mapped as open access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and so open to public access on foot. A public footpath and a byway climb the southwest and southeast slopes of the hill respectively from a car park at the end of a minor road from the nearby village of Heol-y-Cyw. Both rights of way are followed by the Ogwr Ridgeway Walk. Two further public footpaths climb the hill’s northern slopes from the direction of Glynogwr.




References






External links


images of Mynydd y Gaer and area on Geograph website

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

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• Mynydd-y-Gaer
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• John Cowper Powys
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