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Building Stones Of Wales
The building stones of Wales are many and varied reflecting the diverse geology of the country. Some of the earliest known use of natural stone for building purposes was the sourcing of Ordovician dolerite in the Preseli Hills for the 'bluestone' lintels of Stonehenge. Other early use was in the construction of dolmens, burial cairns and stone circles in the late Stone Age and Bronze Age. The tradition of building in stone was continued into Iron Age with the establishment of such hill forts as those at Tre'r Ceiri in North Wales and Garn Goch in the south. The Welsh Stone Forum was established in 2003 to raise the profile of building stone in Wales. Lower Palaeozoic stone The Lower Palaeozoic (Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian) geological periods have each provided Wales with sources of building stone. The Cambrian Caerbwdi sandstones may be seen in St David's Cathedral whilst Ordovician slates from northern Pembrokeshire were once an important local roofing stone. The Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. The Ordovician, named after the Celtic Britons, Welsh tribe of the Ordovices, was defined by Charles Lapworth in 1879 to resolve a dispute between followers of Adam Sedgwick and Roderick Murchison, who were placing the same Rock (geology), rock beds in North Wales in the Cambrian and Silurian systems, respectively. Lapworth recognized that the fossil fauna in the disputed Stratum, strata were different from those of either the Cambrian or the Silurian systems, and placed them in a system of their own. The Ordovician received international approval in 1960 (forty years after Lapworth's death), when it was adopted as an official period of the Paleozoic Era by the International Union of Geological Sciences, Intern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park occupies more than a third of the area of the county and includes the Preseli Hills in the north as well as the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Historically, mining and fishing were important activities, while industry nowadays is focused on agriculture (86 per cent of land use), oil and gas, and tourism; Pembrokeshire's beaches have won many awards. The county has a diverse geography with a wide range of geological features, habitats and wildlife. Its prehistory and modern history have been extensively studied, from tribal occupation, through Roman times, to Welsh, Irish, Norman, English, Scandinavian and Flemish influences. Pembrokeshire County Council's headquarters are in the county ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goodrich Castle
Goodrich Castle is a Norman medieval castle ruin north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye. It was praised by William Wordsworth as the "noblest ruin in Herefordshire"Hull and Whitehorne, p. 37. and is considered by historian Adrian Pettifer to be the "most splendid in the county, and one of the best examples of English military architecture".Pettifer, p. 96. Goodrich Castle was probably built by Godric of Mappestone after the Norman invasion of England, initially as an earth and wooden fortification. In the middle of the 12th century the original castle was replaced with a stone keep, and was then expanded significantly during the late 13th century into a concentric structure combining luxurious living quarters with extensive defences. The success of Goodrich's design influenced many other constructions across England over the following years. It became the seat of the powerful Talbot family before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey ( cy, Abaty Tyndyrn ) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and only the second in Britain (after Waverley Abbey). The abbey fell into ruin after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Its remains have been celebrated in poetry and painting from the 18th century onwards. In 1984, Cadw took over responsibility for managing the site. Tintern Abbey is visited by approximately 70,000 people every year. History Earliest history The Monmouthshire writer Fred Hando records the tradition of Tewdrig, King of Glywysing who retired to a hermitage above the river at Tintern. He then emerged to lead his son's army to victory against the Saxons at Pont-y-Saeson, a battl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Llanthony Priory
Llanthony Priory ( cy, Priordy Llanddewi Nant Hodni) is a partly ruined former Augustinian priory in the secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep-sided once-glaciated valley within the Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It lies seven miles north of Abergavenny on an old road to Hay-on-Wye at Llanthony. The priory ruins lie to the west of the prominent Hatterrall Ridge, a limb of the Black mountains. The main ruins are under the care of Cadw and entrance is free. The priory is a Grade I listed building as of 1 September 1956. Within the precincts of the Priory are three other buildings with Grade I listed status: the Abbey Hotel, listed on 1 September 1956; St David's Church, listed on the same date, and Court Farm Barn, listed on 9 January in the same year. History Foundation The priory dates back to around the year 1100, when one of Hugh de Lacy's knights called William reputedly came upon a ruined chapel of St. David in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abergavenny
Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border with England and is located where the A40 trunk road and the A465 Heads of the Valleys road meet. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches. The town contains the remains of a medieval stone castle built soon after the Norman conquest of Wales. Abergavenny is situated at the confluence of the River Usk and a tributary stream, the Gavenny. It is almost entirely surrounded by mountains and hills: the Blorenge (), the Sugar Loaf (), Ysgyryd Fawr (Great Skirrid), Ysgyryd Fach (Little Skirrid), Deri, Rholben and Mynydd Llanwenarth, known locally as " Llanwenarth Breast". Abergavenny provides access to the nearby Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons National Park. The M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the town of books"; it is both the ''National Book Town of Wales'' and the site of the annual Hay Festival. The population of the town in 1841 was 1,455; this had grown to 1,680 by 1901. The town has grown little since, with 2018 estimates at 1,900. The built-up area includes Cusop across the border in England and has a population of around 2,000. Location The town lies on the south-east bank of the River Wye and is within the north-easternmost tip of the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains. The town is just on the Welsh side of the border with Herefordshire, England, here defined by the Dulas Brook. Where the brook joins the River Wye just north of the town, the border continues northwards along the river. The Wy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Brecknockshire (Breconshire); although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of the County of Powys, it remains an important local centre. Brecon is the third-largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais. It lies north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range, but is just within the Brecon Beacons National Park. History Early history The Welsh name, Aberhonddu, means "mouth of the Honddu". It is derived from the River Honddu, which meets the River Usk near the town centre, a short distance away from the River Tarell which enters the Usk a few hundred metres upstream. After the Dark Ages the original Welsh name of the kingdom in whose territory Brecon stands was (in modern orthography) "Brycheiniog", whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied. The first significant adaptive radiation of life on dry land occurred during the Devonian. Free-sporing vascular plants began to spread across dry land, forming extensive forests which covered the continents. By the middle of the Devonian, several groups of plants had evolved leaves and true roots, and by the end of the period the first seed-bearing plants appeared. The arthropod groups of myriapods, arachnids and hexapods also became well-established early in this period, after starting their expansion to land at least from the Ordovician period. Fish reached substantial diversity during this time, leading the Devonian to often be dubbed the Age of Fishes. The placoderms began dominating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also extends northwards into Greenland and Svalbard. These areas were a part of the ancient continent of Euramerica, Euramerica/Laurussia. In Britain it is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) to which Stratigraphy, stratigraphers accord Geological unit#Lithostratigraphic units, supergroup status and which is of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, ORS is often used in literature on the subject. The term was coined to distinguish the sequence from the younger New Red Sandstone which also occurs widely throughout Britain. Sedimentology The Old Red Sandstone describes a suite of sedimentary rocks deposited in a variety of environments during the Devonian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dry Stone Wall
Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction method, which is characterized by the presence of a load-bearing façade of carefully selected interlocking stones. Dry stone construction is best known in the context of stone walls, traditionally used for the boundaries of fields and churchyards, or as retaining walls for terracing, but dry stone sculptures, buildings, bridges, and other structures also exist. The term tends not to be used for the many historic styles which used precisely-shaped stone, but did not use mortar, for example the Greek temple and Inca architecture. The art of dry stone walling was inscribed in 2018 on the UNESCO representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, for dry stone walls in countries such as France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Cro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 at the peak development of the slate industry, but fell with the decline in demand for slate. The population of the community, including the nearby village Llan Ffestiniog, was 4,875 in the 2011 census: the fourth most populous in Gwynedd after Bangor, Caernarfon and Llandeiniolen. The population not including Llan is now only about 4,000. Etymology and pronunciation The meaning of Blaenau Ffestiniog is "uplands of Ffestiniog". The Welsh word ' is the plural of ' "upland, remote region". Ffestiniog here is probably "territory of Ffestin" (Ffestin being a personal name) or could possibly mean "defensive place". The English pronunciation of Blaenau Ffestiniog suggested by the ''BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names'' is , but the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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