Sacred Groves of Siluria

Everybody it seems, loves a Druid. 

Since the 18th century Romantic revival, Druids - the priestly class in ancient Celtic culture - have become inextricably linked with the Neo-pagan movement and a kind of harking back to "the good old days" when we "got down" with nature and the cycle of the seasons. 

The French tip their berets to Druidry with the avuncular character of Getafix in the Asterix comic book series, while in Britain old bearded men in white robes (usually accompanied by much younger women) descend on Stonehenge to celebrate the Solstices and remove orange paint spattered all over the monument by Stop Oil protesters. 

In Welsh popular culture, where we still venerate that other ancient Celtic class - the Bardoi or Bards - we tend to view Druids a little satirically. In the classic cult book noir "Aberystwyth Mon Amour", Druids are characterised as "gangsters in mistletoe" driving round in Montegos with blacked-out 

windows and terrorising the local population. 

Roman Accounts. 

Roman authors wrote that Druids did not meet in stone temples or other constructions, but in sacred groves of trees, known as Nemeta. In his Pharsalia the Roman poet Lucan described such a grove near Massilia in rather lurid terms; 

"no bird nested in the nemeton, nor did any animal lurk nearby; the leaves constantly shivered though no breeze stirred. Altars stood in its midst, and the images of the gods. Every tree was stained with sacrificial blood. the very earth groaned, dead yews revived; unconsumed trees were surrounded with flame, and huge serpents twined round the oaks. The people feared to approach the grove, and even the priest would not walk there at midday or midnight lest he should then meet its divine guardian"

These accounts are likely to have been embellished to justify Roman persecution of "Barbarians"; but the Druids were leaders of resistance to Roman rule. In Britannia, the centre of Druidic learning was said to be Mona, modern Anglesey, Wales. Roman attempts to attack Mona in 60AD were interrupted by the uprising of Boudicea, leader of the Iceni tribe. 

It's quite possible the Silures, further south, had their own sacred groves and indeed modern place name evidence in Silure territory hints at the original location of such places, and indeed at the nature of the deities worshipped by the Silures, a warlike tribe.  

Gwernyfed. 

Gwernyfed is a tiny little community that sits just south of the meandering river Wye, snaking it's way through the heart of mid-Wales. It takes it's name from Gwernyfed Park, a medieval deer park. The Gwernyfed estate is ancient, believed to have been gifted to Peter Gunter by Bernard de Neufmarche, one of the earliest of the Norman Marcher Lords. Intriguingly, there appears to have been a significant amount of Roman military activity in this area; a marching camp sits just outside the nearby village of Aberllynfi; later a permanent Roman fort was built nearby. 

But the other intriguing thing about the name Gwernyfed is that there's actually five of them; all of them situated in and around probable Silure tribal territory. It appears to include two place name elements - "Gwern" - "Alder" and "Nyfed" which is a modern Welsh rendering of ancient Brittonic "Nemet"; a sacred grove. Rendered in Common Brittonic the name reads "Vernemeton". 

Also notable is the strong occurrence of the name element "Llanwern/Llan y wern" - the Enclosure of the Alder Tree. Again, almost all of these place names occur either around Brecon or Gwent. 

Figure 1. Gwernyfed and Llanywern place names (all concentrated in SE Cymru)

As a place name element "Vernemeton" occurs elsewhere in Britain; at Willoughby-in-the-Wolds in Lincolnshire lies the ancient Roman station of Vernemeto. An ancient British site, it sits along the ancient routeway known as Watling Street; later adapted by the Romans, it was probably originally a major Iron Age trade route. Generally Vernemeton is translated as "The Grove of Spring" or "The Great Grove" but the "Gwern" element in modern Welsh suggests that the proper meaning is "Sacred Grove of the Alder Tree." And this is where it gets really interesting, as the Alder tree has strong mythic and folkloric associations with warfare. 

The Mythology of Alder. 

The Alder tree has a key place in Welsh and Irish myth. And it's strongest association is with warfare. 

In the Mabinogi of Branwen, Gwern, son of Bran is plunged by his jealous uncle Efnisien into the fire, provoking outright war between Wales and Ireland. In the poem the Battle of the Trees, the sorcerer Gwydion raises an army of trees, in the vanguard of which is the Alder tree. Curiously in the Irish tree alphabet, the "Ogham", Alder is named in exactly the same way as "Vanguard of Warriors". 

It is a tree pre-eminently associated with warfare. Cut an Alder tree and it's sap is blood red. 

But the Battle of the Trees also hints at a hidden calendrical role for the Alder tree. Alder is placed at the vanguard because it is the first of trees, associated with the Spring, and in fact proto-Celtic "Werna" is cognate to latin "Ver" "Spring" which would explain why some translators have trouble with the name "Vernemeton" and assume the first element is Latin, translating the name as "Sacred Grove of the Spring". 

But the Alder wasn't just a tree; it represented a God. Romano-British altar stones found in the north of England attest to the Celtic deity Vernostonus - the god of the Alder tree. This figure in turn is linked to the deity Cocidius - the "Red God", equated by the Romans with Mars, the God of warfare.  

The Romans further associated Cocidius with Silvanus, god of forests, groves and wild fields. 

Gods of Forest Warfare

The Romans equated Mars with many native divinities. However it seems from the record that the divinities in question represented different, specialised functions of Mars. At Caerwent, the remains of a statue with a pair of human and a pair of goose feet bear a dedication to the god Mars Lenus or Ocellus Vellaunus. It's believed that Brittonic Lenus in modern Welsh is "Llwyn" which means "Mars of the Grove". Caerwent sits just below the forest of Wentwood, which back in the Iron Age would have covered a vast area of modern Gwent. 

Perhaps it's no surprise that the Silures, a notoriously warlike tribe, venerated martial gods. However it seems they revered divinities that smiled upon a particular aspect of the martial tradition - forest warfare. These sacred sites tell us much about the nature of the landscape in which the Silures waged war upon the Roman invaders. While much of coastal and upland Wales in the Iron Age was probably not dissimilar to the modern Welsh countryside, the myriad smaller valleys of the interior were likely heavily forested, ideally suited to the "hit and run" guerilla tactics waged even up to Glyndwr's day.  

However, what these sacred spaces also hint at is social organisation, as in some cases they are closely located next to powerful hillforts that further demonstrate their significance to a powerful military elite.

 

           Figure 2.      Llanwern Church - note it's central location in relation to the surrounding hillforts

               Figure 3. Gwernyfed (Vernemeton) - note it's location behind Castell y Dinas hillfort. 

All of which begs the question really. If we have the sacred groves, and we have the military leaders...where were the Druids? 

Nidum: The Last Silurian Frontier?

 

 When the Romans invaded Britannia in AD43 they swept across the south-east of the island in the space of four years, conquering tribe after tribe. Until that is they got to the Severn Estuary and met the Silures, who were to prove a major headache for the Rome for the next 30 years. Initially led by the famous British leader Caratacus, his subsequent capture did nothing to deter them, and they continued to wage war against Rome for another quarter of a century. 

Our primary source for the Silures is the Roman historian and politician Tacitus, who tells us that the Silures waged guerrilla warfare against the Roman legionary forces, causing one Governor of Britain to have a complete mental breakdown and pop his clogs before subsequently chewing their way through another three Governors, only to be "subjugated" in AD75 by Sextus Julius Frontinus, except...

This standard narrative is built around the establishment of the town of Venta Silurum in AD75,      marking the final alleged conquest of the Silures and their incorporation into the Empire as a Roman Civitas, but in fact the archaeological record tells a slightly different story, as we shall shortly see...

Nidum. 

This last stage in the subjugation of the Silures is marked by the construction of a number of forts during the reign of Frontinus in the western regions of Silurian territory. One such fort, Nidum, sits at the bottom of the Neath valley in the heart of Neath itself. But excavations undertaken by the Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust (GGAT) in 2012 raise questions about the extent of Roman control over the tribe at a time when the Silures had supposedly been pacified with the construction of Venta Silurum, far to the east. 

Plan of Nidum Roman Fort (Source: GGAT)

Nidum sits on a low plateau overlooking the River Neath, and dating evidence suggests that the fort was built and rebuilt through a number of phases extending from AD75 right through to the first decades of the 4th century. It follows the classic square configuration of Roman forts and evidence suggests 4 centrally placed entrances in each face of it's four walls. However due to the defensive configuration of this fort it's believed that it "faced" the north-west and that this is where the greatest threat was perceived to lie. 

And in fact the really intriguing thing about Nidum is that further evidence indicates that part of the fort was destroyed during it's construction. It appears that a huge fire consumed the north-western corner of the fort even as it was being built - precisely where an attack would be expected. Other evidence suggests that the north-western gate was either reinforced, or that work on the gate was also interrupted. Finally a whole series of defensive ditches were constructed to the north-west, but later filled in to be replaced by a single ditch and huge projecting tower. 

Interestingly, this tower projects into the ditch, meaning that Legionaries could direct "enfilade" fire along the axis of the ditch on either side. It appears that the original ditches were not enough to deter determined attackers, and so the Romans took a different tack. Unusually, while Roman forts are generally enclosed by ditches, there is no evidence whatsoever for ditches on the north-east of the fort. It appears that priority was given to the north-western defences, and this is precisely where attacks originated. 

Another unusual feature of Nidum, and which has wider ramifications, is the fact that the largest excavation in the fort's history uncovered no evidence of a road connecting the fort to the next fort in the chain - Leucarum, 15 miles to the west. A small surfaced area outside the north-western gate terminates abruptly. Even up to the second phase of remodelling of the fort in 90 AD there is still no road to be found. 

It seems that 15 years after the establishment of the massive Legionary base at Caerleon, 40 miles to the east, the region to the north and west of Nidum remained wild and contested territory. 

So what exactly was going on? 

To the north of Neath, at the top of the small Dulais valley, sits the small ex-mining community of Seven Sisters. In 1875 a group of children playing outside the village made a fantastic discovery after a great storm; they stumbled upon an ancient hoard of metalwork, washed out of the banks of the nearby river. 

The Seven Sisters Hoard 

Gradually over the ensuing years this hoard made it's way into the hands of what is now the National Museum of Wales. It contains a tantalising mix of Roman and Native British items. Intriguingly the Roman equipment is all military and questions have been asked as to how it ended up deposited with Native material, including 5 tankards, indicative of some kind of celebratory activity. 

Both Roman and British items are horse-related, including items for horse-riders, chariots and carts. 

Interestingly, the Dulais Valley runs parallel with the larger Vale of Neath, exiting just 2.5 kilometres to the North-East of the Fort. While the upland ridgetops of Wales had largely been cleared by the Bronze Age, the smaller valleys below were likely still extensively forested, providing perfect cover for guerrilla activity. 

And in fact Roman accounts themselves corroborate the archaeological evidence; Tacitus also tells us that the Silures took Roman hostages and used them as collateral to secure the support of neighbouring tribes. So it's possible that the presence of Roman artefacts can be explained by the capture of Legionary troops by a raiding party. But if that's truly the case then the obvious target for such a raid is Nidum, conveniently located a mere 2.5 kilometres from the bottom of the Dulais Valley

                   The Hirfynydd signal station...sits directly above Seven Sisters and links down to Nidum to the South

Of course, it's largely conjecture that the Dulais and probably Tawe Valleys were used as cover for such activity, targeted at the fort in Neath. However what's notable is that the Romans constructed a series of beacons along the ancient ridgeway route directly above the Dulais Valley - known today as Sarn Helen. These beacons form part of a communication network between Nidum, at the bottom of the Neath Valley, and the other Roman Fort at Coelbren, at the top. Any significant movement at the top of the Dulais Valley could be relayed down to Nidum to alert the fort to incoming attacks. The fact that the Romans felt the need to construct beacons at this location suggests that special significance was ascribed to this region. 

All of which begs the question; from where was such determined resistance orchestrated? And it just so happens that a very potent local candidate sits right at the top of the Neath Valley. 

At Pontneddfechan, at the confluence of the rivers Mellte and Sychryd, sits the powerful hillfort of Craig y Ddinas. Constructed on a high imposing spur of rock, jutting out into the valley below, Craig y Dinas would have been nigh on impregnable. However it remains unexcavated. 

But Craig y Dinas is also associated with a powerful ancient legend linked to King Arthur. This legend states that Arthur and his warriors sleep beneath the mountain and will only awaken when the Black Eagle and the Golden Eagle go to war. Victory would lead to the re-establishment of Arthur's kingdom at Caerlleon - the "Fortress of Legions". 

But it's possible that the legend of the Black Eagle predates King Arthur and has it's roots in the great Silurian War. For the Black Eagle "Valeria" is a byname for the Legio Valeria Victrix - the Roman XXth Legion that invaded Silure territory. And the Golden Eagle? None other than an ancestral sigil of Caratacus himself, as depicted on coinage issued in his name, and those of his forebears. 

CELTIC, Trinovantes & Catuvellauni. Caratacus. Circa AD 43-51. (Source: CNG)

This might also explain why Craig y Dinas sits next to a community called "Penderyn" - "the Chief Bird" - preserving a possible memory of Caratacus himself while Nidum, sat at the other end of the valley, is also Latin for "Nest" - a fitting name for a fort occupied by the Legion of the "Black Eagle"!