Caer Gai (also Caer-gai) is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Roman fort in the district of Penllyn,

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, UK. It is located about 1 mile or 1.6 km north of the village of

Llanuwchllyn Llanuwchllyn () is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid). It is one of the most sparsely populated communities in Wales. The electoral ward includes the small settlement of Llangywer. The ...

, and the same distance west of

Lake Bala Bala Lake ( cy, Llyn Tegid ) is a large freshwater glacial lake in Gwynedd, Wales. The River Dee, which has its source on the slopes of Dduallt in the mountains of Snowdonia, feeds the long by wide lake. It was the largest natural body o ...

Toponym

The fort's Roman name is unknown. During the medieval period, the site became associated with the legendary hero Cai, son of Cynyr (

Sir Kay In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay ( cy, Cai, Middle Welsh ''Kei'' or ''Cei''; la, Caius; French: ''Keu''; Old French: ''Kès'' or ''Kex'') is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. ...

is a character in

Arthurian literature The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Western ...

). The fort is mentioned as Cai's home in the work of the Bards of the Nobility ( cy, Beirdd yr Uchelwyr). Other Medieval Welsh stories that mention the fort include ''

Culhwch and Olwen ''Culhwch and Olwen'' ( cy, Culhwch ac Olwen) is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the Whit ...

'' and ''

Three Welsh Romances The Three Welsh Romances (Welsh: ') are three Middle Welsh tales associated with the ''Mabinogion''. They are versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are base ...

''.

History

Roman

The first fort, which is believed to have been constructed during the reign of Emperor

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

in the 1st Century CE, was built from wood and earth. It was sited next to the River Dee near a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and junction of two

Roman roads Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

running through the area. One was a minor route of

Sarn Helen Sarn Helen refers to several stretches of Roman road in Wales. The route, which follows a meandering course through central Wales, connects Aberconwy in the north with Carmarthen in the west. Despite its length, academic debate continues as t ...

that linked

Deva Victrix Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia on the site of the modern city of Chester. The fortress was built by the Legio II ''Adiutrix'' in the 70s AD as the Roman army advanced north ag ...

(

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

) and a fort at

Brithdir, Caerphilly Brithdir is a small village in the northern part of the Rhymney Valley near New Tredegar, in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, and within the historic boundaries of Glamorgan. It was formed in the early twentieth century to provid ...

. The other road connected the outpost with the Roman fort of

Tomen y Mur Tomen y Mur is a First Century AD Roman fort in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, Wales. The fortification, which lies on the slope of an isolated spur northeast of Llyn Trawsfynydd, was constructed during the North Wales campaigns of governor Gnaeus Juliu ...

, through Pennant-Lliw. The fort lay on a low shoulder with steep slopes on three sides. To the north, is

Arenig Fawr Arenig Fawr ( en, Great High Ground) is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, close to Llyn Celyn reservoir, alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala. Location Arenig Fawr is the highest member of the Arenig range, with Arenig Fach ( ...

() with the

Berwyn Mountains The Berwyn range (Welsh: ''Y Berwyn'' or ''Mynydd y Berwyn'') is an isolated and sparsely populated area of moorland in the northeast of Wales, roughly bounded by Llangollen in the northeast, Corwen in the northwest, Bala in the southwest, and ...

and

Aran Benllyn Aran Benllyn is a subsidiary summit of Aran Fawddwy in southern Snowdonia, North Wales, Wales, United Kingdom. It is the second highest peak in the Aran mountain range. It rises from the south shore of Llyn Tegid, and tops the northern point o ...

to the south. A second fort built in stone replaced the earlier earthen wood fort in the 2nd century CE. It enclosed about . A fragment of a statue was discovered with a Latin inscription recording that it was built by Julius, son of Gavero, a soldier in the 1st Cohort of the

Nervii The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. D ...

: . The statue stood in a sanctuary to the east of the fort; shards of pottery were also found there dating from around the first half of the 2nd century (AD).

Post-Roman period

The fort was the home of the bard

Tudur Penllyn Tudur Penllyn (fl. c. 1420 – 1490) was a Welsh language poet during the time of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'', the professional poets of the late Middle Ages. Tudur's place of birth is uncertain, but he was probably brought up in the Hundred of ...

(c. 1420–1485) and his son

Ieuan Ieuan is one of several Welsh forms of the male given name John. Famous people named Ieuan *Saint Ieuan, 6th-century saint; there is a church dedicated to him in Llantrisant, on the Isle of Anglesey. *Ieuan ab Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1380 – c. 143 ...

(fl. c. 1480). Tudur obtained the fort after marrying Gwerful Fychan, a descendant of Rhirid the Wolf (died c. 1160), and the fort may have been owned by Rhirid when he received the lordship of Penllyn. There are references to the court of Penllyn being held at the fort in medieval times, before it moved to Bala.

Rowland Vaughan Rowland Vaughan (1559–1629) was an English manorial lord who is credited with the introduction of a new irrigation system that greatly improved the grass and hay production of meadows through a system of periodic "drownings". This method so i ...

(c. 1587–1667), a poet and well-known royalist in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

built a large house across part of the site. Although it burnt down in 1645 during the war, it was replaced by a farmhouse.

Preservation

The site is managed by

CADW (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

and is open to the public. It is

. The remains of the fort's wall can be seen in places showing up to five courses of stonework. Archaeological excavations in the area have found a Roman tomb about to the north-east of the fort. Traces of a building, probably a bath house, have also been discovered to the south-east. A civilian small settlement is assumed to have surrounded the fort.

References

{{reflist

Sources

*Rachel Bromwich, ''Triads of the Island of Britain'' (Cardiff, 1978) *Thomas Roberts (ed.), ''The work of Gwaith Tudur Penllyn and Ieuan ap Tudur Penllyn'' (Cardiff, 1958) *Grace Simpson, ''Caerleon and the Roman Forts in Wales in the second century AD'', ''

Archaeologia Cambrensis ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society not ...

'' CXI (1962). Roman fortifications in Gwynedd Roman legionary fortresses in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Gwynedd