The country of Wales located to the west of the United Kingdom boasts many ancient relics that signify its rich history. With Gothic medieval castles that appear as if straight out of King Arthur’s Camelot and villages with strong Celtic culture, Wales is brimming with rich folklore and legends. Prime among these is the myth of Cantre'r Gwaelod.
Just to the east of the St. George’s channel and south of Wales’ national park--Snowdonia National Park--lies the home of one of the biggest fables in Welsh history. Envisioned in the seventeenth century, the kingdom of Cantre'r Gwaelod was a low lying agricultural empire governed by King Gwyddno Garanhir. A flourishing kingdom, priding itself on its crops, merchants, and princes, Cantre'r Gwaelod was one of the most prosperous countries in Wales. As an unelevated kingdom depending on the nearby bay to keep their low walls (called dykes) were constructed to keep the water running in regular intervals. According to legend, the king appointed a prince named Seithennin to open and close the dykes at the proper increments every day. Unfortunately during one day of excessive celebration, Seithennin drank a copious amount and forgot to close the dyke wall. As a result, that night, the high tide swept away the beautiful city of Cantre'r Gwaelod never to be seen again.
Or so we thought until a storm on April 27, 2019 unveiled possible remains of the medieval kingdom. Preserved in The Black Book of Carmarthen (written in the mid-1200s), fables about Cantre'r Gwaelod have been passed down through the generations. As Storm Hannah made its way around the United Kingdom, it uncovered parts of petrified trees from the 1500s BC. According to National Geographic, the trees were so well preserved over four millennia because of its close proximity to peat bog. Made of decomposed vegetable matter, peat is commonly used as a fertilizer. Linking the peat, the “high [alkalinity] and [the] lack of oxygen,” the oak and pine trees are remarkably intact.
38-year-old local photographer Wayne Lewis is said to be the first to come upon this astonishing discovery. However, past storms and hurricanes have revealed vague sightings in the distance--enough for villagers to speculate what might be hiding beneath the cerulean waves. In 2014, two archaeologists--Deanna Groom and Ross Cook--were excavating the aged land by the Cardigan Bay when they came upon something unexpected. Among the trees lay a small, broken, man-made wooden pathway. Further testing proved the construction was over 4000 years old. Coinciding with the Cantre'r Gwaelod fable, this wooden structure seemed to be a part of a dyke used to let water in and out of the kingdom.
“The trees really are stunning. It’s breathtaking that these trees were part of a Bronze Age forest that extended almost to Ireland, but have not been seen for thousands of years.” --Wayne Lewis
Even earlier in 2012, human footsteps from the same time period were preserved in peat and rock much like the tree stumps. There have been sightings all through the course of history to support Cantre'r Gwaelod’s existence. A Welshman in 1770 saw man-made buildings underwater. The author of The Topographical Dictionary of Wales alleged to see human monuments by the Cardigan Bay. If these eye witness accounts are true evidence or if they are ramblings of men looking through a biased telescope would be difficult to say. Either way, this newly discovered land is still being studied so it is always possible for scientists to find indisputable proof of the existence of Cantre'r Gwaelod.
Chairman of the Friends of Cardigan Bay, Phil Hughes, wholeheartedly believes that Cantre'r Gwaelod is a reality and additional exploration would only prove that. Even if his and other Welsh beliefs of Cantre'r Gwaelod are amiss, the folklore has still had an enormous impact on Wales. Inspiring several works of art, music, and more, Cantre'r Gwaelod would not be forgotten soon.
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