Page images
PDF
EPUB

56

DIN SYLWY, ANGLESEY.

THE fortified post of Din Sylwy, or, as it is more frequently called, Bwrdd Arthur, is situated on the northeast coast of Anglesey, at a distance of about half a mile from the sea, near the eastern extremity of Red-wharf Bay, and in the parish of Llanfihangel; the small church of which, lying close under the hill crowned by the fort, is distinguished from the numerous ecclesiastical edifices dedicated to Mihangel (Michael), as Llanfihangel Din Sylwy. The word, like most Welsh names, is plainly descriptive, being compounded of din, fortress; and sylwy or sylwi, "to observe"; and means fort of observation. It would be difficult to meet with a spot commanding a finer prospect both by sea and land. The hill upon which the fortress stands is visible from a great distance, and is well known to mariners navigating the Irish Channel as "the Table Land." the Table Land." It presents a marked outline when viewed from seaward, as well as from remote parts of Anglesey and Caernarvonshire. The popular name of Bwrdd Arthur (Arthur's table) has doubtless been given to it on account of the flatness of the summit, and the great extent of surface contained within the walls of the camp, which, like many other works of magnitude in the British isles, is ascribed to Arthur. The cromlech at Lligwy, on the same side of Anglesey, is called Coetan Arthur (Arthur's quoit). The hill is an elevated plateau of limestone rock, having, excepting at the south-west corner, a nearly plane surface inclining downwards towards the north, where the sides are much less precipitous than to the south and south-west. This table-land is four-sided, being tolerably regular to the west, north, and east; but there is a considerable indentation on the south.

The wall, following exactly the shape of the hill-top, and containing an area of about thirteen acres, is still nearly perfect at many points, particularly on the western

[graphic][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[graphic][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]
« PreviousContinue »