A Welsh Landscape through Time

Excavations at Parc Cybi, Holy Island, Anglesey

Jane Kenney, Frances Lynch, Andrew Davidson

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781789256901
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

Holy Island is a small island just off the west coast of Anglesey, North Wales, which is rich in archaeology of all periods. Between 2006 and 2010, archaeological excavations in advance of a major Welsh Government development site, Parc Cybi, enabled extensive study of the island's past. Over 20 hectares were investigated, revealing a busy and complex archaeological landscape, which could be seen evolving from the Mesolithic period through to the present day. Major sites discovered include an Early Neolithic timber hall aligned on an adjacent chambered tomb and an Iron Age settlement, the development of which is traced by extensive dating and Bayesian analysis. A Bronze Age ceremonial complex, along with the Neolithic tomb, defined the cultural landscape for subsequent periods. A long cist cemetery of a type common on Anglesey proved, uncommonly, to be late Roman in date, while elusive Early Medieval settlement was indicated by corn dryers. This wealth of new information has revolutionised our understanding of how people have lived in, and transformed, the landscape of Holy Island. Many of the sites are also significant in a broader Welsh context and inform the understanding of similar sites across Britain and Ireland.

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Introduction

Introduction

Holy Island, known in Welsh as Ynys Gybi, is a small island off the west coast of Anglesey (Ynys Mȏn), a large island off the north coast of Wales (Figure 1). Holy Island is best known for its principal town of Holyhead (Caergybi), from which runs one of the main ferry routes to Ireland. Archaeologically Anglesey is known for its high density of Neolithic chambered tombs, and one such tomb, the Trefignath Chambered Tomb, lies just south of Holyhead. The Welsh Government proposed a mixed-use development, to include a business park and housing, on land adjacent to the tomb. The development aimed to help regenerate the area and was located in this position, immediately south of Holyhead, for its proximity to the A55 trunk road and easy access to the port. The Trefignath Chambered Tomb indicated that significant archaeological remains were likely to be found, so a staged programme of archaeological works was funded by Welsh Government as part of the planning process, to identify and record any archaeological remains that could not be avoided by the development. While archaeology was expected, the extent and range of the discoveries was beyond expectations for this farmed landscape.

The excavated features range from the Mesolithic to the 19th century, with particularly significant finds from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods. Early Neolithic settlement was represented by a rectangular timber building and occupation of a more ephemeral character. Temporary settlement continued into the Middle and Late Neolithic period, and a burnt mound was used repeatedly throughout the Beaker period. In the Bronze Age, a complex of ceremonial monuments was constructed, consisting of a multiple-cist barrow, the ring-ditch of a barrow, a deep-ditched enclosure, and, nearby, a standing stone. A timber roundhouse and other activity probably indicate Bronze Age settlement.

A settlement of stone-built roundhouses with complex stratigraphy was accompanied by several outlying roundhouses and other structures, as well as possibly contemporary field boundaries. The settlement was preceded by boundary ditches and a stone platform. A large fire occurred on the platform in the Early Iron Age, possibly the burning of a timber building. This was replaced in the Middle Iron Age by a settlement with up to four main houses at any one time, and additional buildings including granaries. Two outlying clay-walled roundhouses were roughly contemporary with the main settlement and other small-scale activity occurred on the site at this time.

Later Iron Age activity was represented by a small structure and associated pits, and possibly by four- and six-post granaries. Early Roman activity was slight, but by the late 3rd or 4th century AD, a trackway ran through the site. Next to the trackway was a Late Roman farmstead, with industrial and storage functions. This included a clay-walled building with hearths and troughs inside, a square stone building and numerous timber storage structures. Late Roman smithing activity took place within a pre-existing long cist cemetery on top of a hill, dating the cemetery to the Roman period. Evidence for Early Medieval activity included several corn dryers, all dating to the 5th or 6th centuries AD. There was evidence for the development of later Medieval and post-medieval field systems, cottages and farmhouses, and this is supplemented from the 18th century by estate maps.

The business park has been named Parc Cybi after Saint Cybi, who was said to have established a monastery on Holy Island, and who gives his name to the island in Welsh (Ynys Gybi (Cybi’s Island)) and to the Welsh name for Holyhead (Caergybi (Cybi’s Fort)). The name of the archaeological site is therefore Parc Cybi, but the area had other names prior to this latest chapter of its history. The names of the various farms that covered the area are discussed below but one name was particularly intriguing. Tegwyn F. Jones, now an artist living in Bodedern, grew up in Holyhead. He remembers in the 1950s that one local gentleman referred to land next to a marsh, within what is now Parc Cybi, as ‘pant yr hen bobl’; a literal translation would be ‘hollow of the old people’, but in this instance it is better translated as ‘the hollow of the former, or ancient, people’. Young Tegwyn was confused by this, but that hollow was the site of the Middle Iron Age roundhouses, and the name shows that local people, if not archaeologists, knew of their existence. This knowledge may have come from taking stone from the roundhouses to build the surrounding field walls, but local people were aware that the stones they were using came from an ancient settlement. Now we have discovered how and when Yr Hen Bobl (The Ancient People) lived in this corner of Holy Island.

Figure 1. Location of Parc Cybi showing current road layout and location of Holy Island (base map © Ordnance Survey 100021874)

Project background

(For further details, including methodology, see Appendix II)

Parc Cybi covers over 41 hectares of pastureland to the south of Holyhead (centred on SH 2555 8075) (Figure 1), lying between the A55 trunk road and Kingsland Road (B4545) (Figure 2). A narrow lane, known as Lôn Trefignath, runs through its eastern side. This lane was open to traffic prior to the development, but is now a footpath and cycleway.

Figure 2. Ploughsoil stripping under way at Parc Cybi. View looking south with the A55 on the left and Kingsland Road on the right (photograph by David Longley)

Gwynedd Archaeological Trust carried out a staged programme of archaeological work, starting in 2000 with an archaeological desk-based assessment, followed in 2001 by initial field evaluation which revealed a high density of archaeological sites requiring further evaluation. A geophysical survey in 2004 was followed by further trial excavations from 2004 to 2006.

The main excavation phase started on 6 November 2006 and was completed on 30 June 2008, with a second phase between 7 September 2009 and 26 February 2010. The aim of these phases was to mitigate the impact of the development by identifying and recording all significant archaeological features and deposits within areas to be affected by construction activities. In order to understand the archaeology fully, the site needed to be approached as a complete landscape; this was achieved by controlled removal of the ploughsoil by machine under archaeological supervision. The stripped surfaces were examined to identify archaeological remains, which were evaluated and mapped. Where significant features were identified, these were fully investigated and recorded in detail.

The results from both phases of excavation were assessed and an Assessment of Potential Report was submitted in June 2011, along with a project design for post-excavation work and publication. This final essential phase was delayed for some years; when the work was tendered by Welsh Government in December 2017, the contract was won by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust and work commenced in June 2018. This resulted in the submission of a full grey literature report, including all specialist reports (Kenney et al. 2020), in December 2020. This report is available online from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Coflein website (https://www.coflein.gov.uk/) (search for Parc Cybi) and the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust website (http://www.heneb.co.uk/).

Dissemination of the results of the project during 2019 to 2021 included the creation of a website (http://www.heneb.co.uk/parccybi/index.html), a summary report available digitally, and public talks. A day school was held in association with the Anglesey Antiquarian Society in Holyhead, and public exhibitions at the Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead and Oriel Môn, Llangefni, created with the assistance of pupils from Ysgol Cybi, Holyhead.

On site, roads and other infrastructure had been built during 2008, alongside the excavations. Since then development has taken place on areas that had been archaeologically excavated and recorded. In 2020, substantial parts of the site remain uninvestigated, so future development in these areas will need to be preceded by fieldwork.

Report guide

This report provides a summary of the most significant features found at Parc Cybi. The fine details of stratigraphy and descriptions of features can be found in the grey literature report (Kenney et al. 2020). This publication contains summaries of the results of the specialist reports, but the full reports are to be found in the grey literature report, available online from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Coflein website (https://www.coflein.gov.uk/) (search for Parc Cybi) and the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust website (http://www.heneb.co.uk/). The current work contains some slight changes in interpretation compared with the grey literature report and must be taken as the final statement on the site by the excavator.

Certain conventions and abbreviations have been used in this monograph. PRN refers to the Gwynedd Historic Environment Record (HER) Primary Record Number and identifies a site recorded in the Gwynedd HER. There are many sub-sites across the development area and their PRN has been used as an identification number for these, superseding other reference terms used during the excavation.

Where a reference is given to a certain PRN FI File, this refers to Further Information files held by the HER for certain sites and filed by PRN. The abbreviation ‘SF’ indicates ‘Small Find’ and is used to distinguish numbers identifying artefacts from other record numbers, such as Context Numbers. The latter are numbers used to identify deposits and cuts and these are presented in the text without brackets, unless these are grammatically necessary. The Context Number for the cut of a feature is used to identify that feature. Numbers, part of the Context Number sequence, were allocated to groups of features, especially structures, so that these could be referenced as a whole. Some of these Structure or Group Numbers have been used in the text but in some cases it was convenient on site to refer to structures, such as the main stone-built roundhouses, by letters and this practice has been continued in the text.

All dates are based on calibrated radiocarbon dates or, for later periods, historical dates. For generalised dates, BC and AD are used, with cal BC and cal AD for specific dates quoted. All individual radiocarbon dates are presented at 95% probability, unless otherwise stated, and rounded out to the nearest 10 years. Where dates from other sites have been used for comparison, those produced some years ago have been calibrated or recalibrated using Oxcal v4.3 with the IntCal 13 curve (Bronk Ramsey 2009). Where calibrated dates have been quoted in other publications without rounding out they have been rounded out to the nearest 10 years for consistency. Details of all dates from Parc Cybi are included in Appendix I.

Where places or topographic features have both Welsh and English names, the English name is used in this report, with the Welsh name in brackets when the name is first used.

Archive

A database was created in Microsoft Access containing all site information, allowing its efficient interrogation and output. The database includes the drawing, photographic, finds and samples registers, and selected information from the context sheets. All field drawings, context sheets and object record sheets have been scanned to provide a backup digital copy. The digital archive also includes photographs, surveys and specialist data.

The paper record is held at Anglesey Archives, Llangefni; the digital archive is held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales in Aberystwyth; and the artefactual archive is held by Oriel Mȏn, Llangefni (main collection: accession number 45/2019; gold ring: accession number 9/2016). A copy of the grey literature report is held in the Gwynedd Historic Environment Record (HER) and is available on-line through the Archwilio website. The report is also held by Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and is available on their Coflein website.

Acknowledgements

The excavations and post-excavation analysis were funded by Welsh Government and thanks are due to Clwyd Roberts for working with us on the post-excavation phase, assisted by consultant Rob Early of WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff. On site, our work was greatly assisted by Jones Bros. Ruthin Co. Ltd., with particular thanks to Hefin Lloyd-Davies, and thanks also to Atkins Engineering Consultancy, especially Rob Sutton, who were the archaeological advisors for the Welsh Government. Thanks to the staff of Gwynedd Archaeological Planning Service, Emily La Trobe Bateman, Ashley Batten and Jenny Emmett, for their support and advice through both the fieldwork and post-excavation work. The Project Manager for Gwynedd Archaeological Trust throughout the course of the project was Andrew Davidson. The Site Directors were Roland Flook for the initial months, and Jane Kenney for the remainder of the project. Up to 40 archaeologists at any one time worked on the site during the two phases of fieldwork, and their hard work through weather of all kinds is much appreciated.

Thanks for advice and discussions to Ray Karl, Kevin Blockley, Steve Burrow, Frances Lynch, George Smith, Helen Flook, Sue and Dave Chapman and the Gwynedd branch of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. Roy Loveday is thanked for drawing my attention to his work on solar alignments, which clarified my ideas about the chambered tomb. Thanks are also extended to the following people for permission to use figures or unpublished information: Christopher Tolan-Smith, Jacky Nowakowski, Mark Gardiner, Stephen Thompson and Ian Grant. The author extends a very big thank you to Tegwyn F. Jones for permission to use his early paintings and for information about Pant yr Hen Bobl.

All the specialists who have contributed to the project are thanked for their contributions and willingness to discuss relevant elements of the site and presentation of the results. Frances Lynch, George Smith and Roz McKenna in particular had large tasks and put in extra work. The specialists involved in this project are as follows: Nora Bermingham, freelance (animal bone); Evan Chapman, National Museum Wales (metal and shale objects); Hilary Cool, Barbican Research Associates (Roman glass); Jolene Debert, University of Lethbridge, Canada (lithic use-wear analysis); Mary Davis and Adam Gwilt, National Museum Wales (gold penannular ring); Julie Dunne and Richard P. Evershed, University of Bristol (organic residue analysis of pottery); Ben Gearey, Tom Hill, Emma Tetlow and Emma-Jayne Hopla, Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental (pollen analysis); Jonathan Goodwin, Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology (post-medieval pottery); Pam Grinter, freelance (charcoal and charred plant remains); Derek Hamilton, SUERC (radiocarbon dating); Jana Horák, National Museum Wales (petrological description of selected objects); Emma Kitchen and Ben Gearey, Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental (insect remains and plant macrofossils); Kristina Krawiec, Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental (wood identification); Helen Lewis, University College Dublin (soil micromorphology); Frances Lynch, formerly Bangor University (prehistoric pottery); Rosalind McKenna, freelance (charcoal and charred plant remains); Elaine L. Morris, University of Southampton (Cheshire Salt Containers); Andrew Moss, Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental (marine shells); Phil Parkes, Cardiff Conservation Services (X-rays and conservation); Alan Pipe, MOLA (animal bone); Patrick Sean Quinn, UCL Institute of Archaeology (pottery fabric analysis); Alison Sheridan, National Museums of Scotland (cannel coal and amber beads); George Smith, Gwynedd Archaeo...