Upper Talley Lake and Lower Talley Lake (Welsh: and ) are two small lakes immediately north of the village of

Talley Talley ( cy, Talyllychau, historically cy, Tal y Llychau, label=none) is a community and small village in Carmarthenshire, Wales.The population taken at the 2011 census was 494. The community is bordered by the communities of: Llansawel; Cy ...

, north of

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the B ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

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 ...

. They are protected as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI).

Morphology

The lakes occupy a glacial hollow that formed during the last ice age, the intervening ground being formed from hummocky glacial deposits. Lower Talley Lake to the north is almost and Upper Talley Lake to the south is . The SSSI has an area of .

History

The earthworks of a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

occupy the neck of land between the two lakes. The remains of the castle motte (mound) are in diameter and high and would have originally have been topped by a timber framed defensive tower. The surrounding bailey would have enclosed the lord's hall and related buildings. The castle probably fell out of use when

Talley Abbey Talley Abbey ( cy, Abaty Talyllychau) is a ruined former monastery of the Premonstratensians ("White Canons") in the village of Talley in Carmarthenshire, Wales, six miles (10 km) north of the market town of Llandeilo. It lies in the River ...

was established. Talley Abbey is immediately to the south of the upper lake, and was founded between 1184 and 1189. The monks used the lakes for farming fish. The abbey was dissolved in the sixteenth century and is now a ruin.

Mythology

There is a tradition that a drowned town lies under the lakes.

Natural history

The lower lake is surrounded by

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

woods and is not easily accessible. It is used by overwintering wildfowl. The upper lake is more open and can be seen from the B4302 road.

Great crested grebe The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds noted for its elaborate mating display. Taxonomy The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in t ...

s and

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home ...

s regularly breed on the reserve. Regular visiting birds include

tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...

pochards Pochard is a common name used for several species of diving ducks: *Four species in the genus ''Aythya'': ** Common pochard, ''Aythya ferina'' ** Baer's pochard, ''Aythya baeri'' ** Ferruginous pochard, ''Aythya nyroca'' ** Madagascar pochard, ''A ...

, goldeneye ducks and

goosander The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (''Mergus merganser'') is a large seaduck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees. ...

s. Water plants in the lower lake include yellow and white

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a Serial imagery, series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionism, Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his Fondation Monet in Giverny, flower garden at Fond ...

and water crowfoot. This is the most southerly British location of the water sedge. Invertebrates in the reserve include

water beetle A water beetle is a generalized name for any beetle that is adapted to living in water at any point in its life cycle. Most water beetles can only live in fresh water, with a few marine species that live in the intertidal zone or littoral zone. Th ...

s and the leaf beetle '' Donacia obscura''.

Dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

are commonly seen including the

emperor dragonfly The emperor dragonfly or blue emperor (''Anax imperator'') is a large species of hawker dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae, averaging in length. The generic name ''Anax'' is from the ancient Greek , "lord"; the specific epithet ''imperator'' is ...

References

{{authority control Lakes of Carmarthenshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Carmarthen & Dinefwr

Morphology

History

Mythology

Natural history

See also

References