Hiraethog’s History

The ancient landscape and settlements of the Mynydd Hiraethog have a rich and fascinating history stretching back many thousands of years. At first glance the landscape appears to be an area untouched by human hands – or, as Thomas Roscoe once described the area …

“Moors stretching along in almost interminable tracts with scarcely a tree to offer obstruction to the winds of heaven ...”

But if you look more closely, it begins to reveal hidden secrets of both its ancient and more recent past.

The wild empty moors with little natural shelter have been occupied since prehistoric times – extensive excavations during the construction of the Brenig Reservoir in the 1970s revealed evidence of a Stone Age camp and Bronze Age cairns, monuments and burial mounds. All of these sites can be explored by visiting the Archaeological Trail on the northern shore of Llyn Brenig.

For most of its past, the area has been a traditional upland farming area, and there is much evidence of the summer and winter pattern of farming which is traditional in upland areas and was prevalent in medieval times.

But the main changes which have shaped the landscape that we see today have come about since the end of the Victorian Period – with the planting of the great Clocaenog Forest and the building of two large reservoirs – Llyn Brenig and Alwen Reservoir.

Today, modern Hiraethog is an example of both past and modern approaches to management of both water and land, whilst maintaining the beauty of this wild and largely untouched landscape which make it so unique and appealing to visitors.