Pen Llystyn Roman Fort

There used to be a Roman military settlement just north of where the old Roman road changes direction at Bryncir, (the now A487 was once the Roman military road between the forts at Caernarfon (Segontium) and Trawsfynyedd (Heriri Mons, a.k.a. Castell Tomen-y-Mur)). It was built at a strategically important position between the Ganganorum Promontorium (Lleyn Peninsula) and the mountains of Snowdonia. It is estimated that the fort housed about 960 foot soldiers. The fort was probably established in the AD 70’s and then deliberately destroyed by its garrison and abandoned in around AD 90. The site was extensively excavated and documented between 1954 and 1962, and the fort is now almost completely removed due to gravel extraction, because it’s now the site of a quarry.