Craig yr Aderyn ( en, "Bird's Rock") is a hill rising to a height of above sea level on the south bank of the River Dysynni near Llanfihangel-y-Pennant in the county of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County B ...

, north-west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Craig yr Aderyn has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the

chough There are two species of passerine birds commonly called chough ( ) that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family of birds. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), and the Alpine chough (or yello ...

s and other birds that breed there.

The hillfort

Craig yr Aderyn is the site of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Rom ...

, showing two phases of construction. The earlier phase comprises an upper fort enclosure of approximately 0.6 hectares, measuring 100 by 55 metres; the latter, a stone-walled enclosure of approximately 1.6 hectares, measuring 119 by 170 metres. The site has been excavated three times: in 1874, 1921 and 1967. Finds from the Roman period were discovered during the 1874 dig.

The hill

Craig yr Aderyn is an isolated hill in the county of

, that juts out into the

Dysynni Valley , name_etymology = , image = Afon Dysynni & Morfa Gwyllt - geograph.org.uk - 194680.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Dysynni estuary , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

. It rises to a height of above sea level on the south bank of the River Dysynni, near Llanfihangel-y-Pennant. The summit is rocky and the lower slopes are clad in tussocky grassland, heather and bracken. The two prominent faces of the hill are known locally as 'Y Palis Mawr' and 'Y Palis Bach' ( en, the large stockade and the small stockade). The site is owned by the

Snowdonia National Park Authority Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

, lies entirely within the Craig yr Aderyn

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...

, and is named after the large number of birds, such as the

Chough There are two species of passerine birds commonly called chough ( ) that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family of birds. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), and the Alpine chough (or yello ...

(''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), that roost and nest on the peak. It is from the

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geo ...

coast. The hill is used by a number of species of bird for breeding. The largest inland breeding site for cormorants in Wales is here. Other birds nesting here include the

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himala ...

little owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at ...

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey ( raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey ...

common redstart The common redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), or often simply redstart, is a small passerine bird in the genus ''Phoenicurus''. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, (Turdidae), but is now known to be ...

, northern wheatear and common linnet. The ruins of

Castell y Bere Castell y Bere is a Welsh castle near Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd, Wales. Constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s, the stone castle was intended to maintain his authority over the local people and to defend the south-west part of ...

, built by the Princes of Gwynedd in the 13th century, are nearby.

Cultural associations

The writer

Susan Cooper Susan Mary Cooper (born 23 May 1935) is an English author of children's books. She is best known for '' The Dark Is Rising'', a contemporary fantasy series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the Arthurian ...

leads her characters to "Bird Rock" in her book ''The Grey King'' from ''The Dark Is Rising'' Sequence.{{isfdb contents , 366203 , The Grey King , first UK edition. Retrieved 26 April 2016 The naturalist and scientist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

visited this site as a student at Cambridge. He apparently shot seabirds here, according to recollections of a friend,

John Maurice Herbert John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

.Herbert, John Maurice. 2.6.1882. ecollections of Darwin at Cambridge CUL-DAR112.B57-B76 (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

References

External links

Snowdonia National Park Authority
Llanfihangel-y-Pennant Mountains and hills of Gwynedd Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Gwynedd

The hillfort

The hill

Cultural associations

See also

References

External links