Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Gwynedd

Aquatic Monsters / Cryptozoology / Dragons / Folklore / Legends

Lake Bala

Llyn Tegid is Wales’s largest lake being nearly four miles long. It lies in a rift valley running north east to south west, extending down to the sea at Tywyn. The lake is 529 feet above sea level, has a maximum depth of 136 feet and covers an area of 1084 acres.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Bryn Hall

Bryn Hall was haunted by the ghost of a headless horseman. The haunting is said to have ceased after one of the servants received a message from the horseman pertaining to the location of a buried body.

The body was that of an illegitimate child belonging to the Lord of the hall.

Legends

Aberdyfi and Cardigan Bay

The area around Cardigan Bay has a number of ‘lost land’ legends pertaining to it. These legends have changed over the centuries.

The most recent story concerns ‘The Lost Lowland Hundred’; lands now drowned which were ruled by a King called Gwyddno Garantir. The area was protected from the sea by a system of sluices, dams and waterways.

Folklore / Folktales / Welsh Folktales

The Lost Land of Wales

This tale is one of two stories of a similar theme attached to Cardigan Bay in Gwynedd. This story is the later one of the two and explains how a realm was lost to the sea through debauchery and drunkenness. There are traces of walls and roadways under the sea at Cardigan Bay, they can be seen at low tide and may have given rise to the legend of the ‘Lost Lowland Hundred’.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds / Giants / Legends

Barclodiad-y-Gawres Chambered Cairn

This burial mound has five carved stones within its chamber, now capped by concrete to prevent their erosion. The stones are carved with a range of patterns including spirals cup marks and zig-zag features. The purpose of these marks is unknown, but they may have had some ritual function.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Folklore / Wells

Llddwyn Island

This island is connected by a sandy beach to Anglesey, and was home in the Dark Ages to a religious community, founded by the female Saint Dwynwen. St Dwynwen is a patron saint of Welsh lovers, and after her death the island became an important place of pilgrimage.

Dragons / Folklore / Giants / King Arthur / Legends

Snowdon

Standing 3650 ft above sea level, Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales, second highest mountain in Britain and is also probably the busiest due to it popularity with hillwalkers.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds / Folklore

Bedd Branwen

The chambered tomb called the Bedd Branwen, is said to be the resting place of Branwen, the legendary wife of Bran described in early Welsh stories.

Directions: To the East of Elim.

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds

Bryn Celli Dhu

The name of this site translates as the mound in the dark grove. It is a developed site, which changed in ritual use and importance during the Neolithic and Bronze age period.