Craig yr Aderyn
| Craig yr Aderyn | |
|---|---|
 Craig yr Aderyn | |
| OS grid reference | SH647066 |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
Craig yr Aderyn (English: Bird's Rock) is a hill rising to a height of 258 metres (846 ft) above sea level on the south bank of the River Dysynni near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales.[1]
The site is owned by the Snowdonia National Park Authority, lies entirely within the Craig yr Aderyn SSSI, and is named after the large number of birds, such as the great cormorant, that nest on the peak. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Cardigan Bay coast.
The ruins of Castell y Bere, built by the Princes of Gwynedd in the 13th century, are nearby.
According to local tradition, there were two castle watchtowers on the end of the rock and watchmen would raise red flags in case of danger.
The two prominent faces of the hill are known locally as 'Y Palis Mawr' and 'Y Palis Bach' (English: the large stockade and the small stockade).[2]
Cultural associations
The writer Susan Cooper leads her characters to "Bird Rock" in her book The Grey King from the The Dark Is Rising Sequence.
The naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin visited this site as a student at Cambridge. He apparently shot seabirds here, according to recollections of a freind, John Maurice Herbert[3].
See also
List of Scheduled prehistoric Monuments in Gwynedd (former Merionethshire)
References
- ^ Craig yr Aderyn (Bird's Rock), Joint Nature Conservation Committee
- ^ Davies, William (1900). Casgliad o Lên Gwerin Meirion, yn "Cofnodion a chyfansoddiadau buddugol Eisteddfod Blaenau Ffestiniog 1898" (in Welsh). p. 153.
- ^ Herbert, John Maurice. 2.6.1882. [Recollections of Darwin at Cambridge]. CUL-DAR112.B57-B76 (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
External links
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