The Story of Wales Addysg Cymru - Education Wales

Huw Edwards introduces a collection of clips from his landmark BBC Wales history series, The Story of Wales.

Between the years 600 – 800 B.C. the Celtic tribes living in Wales began to try making iron. We can see objects they made in hoards of precious things which they put into lakes as offerings to their gods. An example is the hoard found in the lake at Llyn Fawr near Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf. In the Llyn Fawr hoard, as well as locally made iron objects, there are some which were made a long way from Wales, such as part of a decorated sword-blade from eastern France. There are many places in Wales where we can see evidence of what daily life was like in this period, such as the hillfort of Tre’r Ceiri on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd. Life in a Celtic roundhouse was a busy cycle of growing, preserving and cooking food, raising animals, making cloth and fashioning tools from metal and wood. Women as well as men could be leaders, and children were essential to the family economy.

Between the years 600 – 800 B.C. the Celtic tribes living in Wales began to try making iron. We can see objects they made in hoards of precious things which they put into lakes as offerings to their gods. An example is the hoard found in the lake at Llyn Fawr near Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf. In the Llyn Fawr hoard, as well as locally made iron objects, there are some which were made a long way from Wales, such as part of a decorated sword-blade from eastern France. There are many places in Wales where we can see evidence of what daily life was like in this period, such as the hillfort of Tre’r Ceiri on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd. Life in a Celtic roundhouse was a busy cycle of growing, preserving and cooking food, raising animals, making cloth and fashioning tools from metal and wood. Women as well as men could be leaders, and children were essential to the family economy.

After the Roman invasion of Britain on AD 43, it took thirty years to subdue the Celtic tribes in the area we now call Wales. A key point of control was the legionary fortress of Isca in modern Caerleon which was built in the territory of the fierce Silures. But eventually the tribe submitted to Roman rule and joined the economy and lifestyle of the Empire. Recent discoveries have revealed a large civilian settlement outside the powerful fortress, with docks for goods brought from the Mediterranean. The scale of Roman presence in Wales is bigger than we used to think.

After the Roman invasion of Britain on AD 43, it took thirty years to subdue the Celtic tribes in the area we now call Wales. A key point of control was the legionary fortress of Isca in modern Caerleon which was built in the territory of the fierce Silures. But eventually the tribe submitted to Roman rule and joined the economy and lifestyle of the Empire. Recent discoveries have revealed a large civilian settlement outside the powerful fortress, with docks for goods brought from the Mediterranean. The scale of Roman presence in Wales is bigger than we used to think.

William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) invaded England and defeated the English king, Harold in 1066. He rewarded the lords who had supported him with grants of land along the border between England and Wales. These areas were known as marches. Norman Marcher Lords pushed into Welsh territory and began to build castles: motte-and-bailey castles at first, using timber and earth, then increasingly imposing castles of stone with complex fortifications. Welsh resistance meant that the Norman campaign lasted hundreds of years. Caerphilly Castle is the largest Norman castle in Wales and one of the most ingenious in the design of its defences. Begun in 1268, it helped to inspire the design of the castles Edward I built across Wales to ensure his control of the country. The Normans employed some of Europe’s most gifted master masons and craftsmen in their castle-building.