In 1999 Edmund Waddelove self published a 300 page book on Roman Roads in North Wales. ISBN 0 950683 1 1. He was by then a retired surveyor for the Forestry Commission living in Ruthin in Clwyd and travelled extensively in pursuit of this retirement activity. I bought a copy from him shortly before he died at the age of 94 in 2013. Copies of the book can occasionally be found second hand or in libraries. The book is illustrated with drawings and some black and white photographs. There is a great deal of material involved and I have only looked at chapters 5 and 15. Not all of his grid references are accurate – I have some sympathy for this as I regularly have to proofread my own!
In Chapter 5 he proposes a route from Caer Llugwy to Bangor, including the turnpike route from Capel Curig up Nant Ffrancon to Llyn Ogwen, ie SH72075816 to SH66826051, on the south side of the Afon Llugwy, and draws extensively on Thomas Telford’s notes, which were available to him from the archives in Ruthin, to explain why Telford abandoned this route in favour of the present A5 to the north of the river. This southern route is a bridleway, now Lon Las Ogwen, and is of massive construction across a peat bog. It includes some impressive double slate lined culverts to drain the bog, which Waddelove does not refer to. The slates are machine cut and can only be a product of the Penrhyn quarry; although the Romans did use slate slabs at Segontium, that product is of a much more basic origin, and nothing like so substantial. It appears on 1818 as “old turnpike”, but 1795 shows an older route now marked by a field boundary which stays on higher ground around the southern end of the bog, and if you follow that you will find a more modest road construction, which must be the route built by the owners of Penrhyn Quarry to their new retreat in the country in 1798, what is now the National Outdoor Pursuits Centre of Plas Y Brenin.
So this “Roman” route is an early turnpike. It would be natural to think that the Romans would have used this route, if they needed to reach Bangor, but this settlement was not created until after the Roman period. Their focus would be Segontium on the outskirts of Caernarfon, via the Roman camp at Pen y Gwryd at the top of the Llanberis Pass, as detailed in chapter 15, see below. He also posits a Roman camp at Bangor, but this I suspect is because the main route to Anglesey is now through the city, whereas until the 18th Century it was across the now drowned Lavan Sands to Beaumaris, see my article Ashton’s Road to Parys Mountain There is an earthwork of unknown date and purpose at the highest point in the city, SH58087285, GAT45816, popularly known as Caesar’s Camp, but I don’t think much reliance can be placed on that attribution. Any more than a reconstructed “Roman bridge” under Pont Pen-y-Penglog on the A5 at the head of the Ogwen Valley at SH64916051, which isn’t mentioned in the archaeological records at all. Roman Bridge station at SH71315146 , which I have used occasionally, presumably refers to the adjacent Pont Sarn Ddu SH71125158 GAT4619 which is C18th in origin. Sarn Helen RR69 crosses the river 2 miles downstream. He does correctly identify two stages of construction in parts of the route, but this is consistent with the difference between the turnpike and the Penrhyn road.
In chapter 15 the author also proposes a road from Capel Curig through Pen y Gwryd to Llanberis and then Segontium. This is a better founded hypothesis, also hinted at by RCAMHW, 1795 , and the regular references to an “ancient trackway” on C19th Ordnance Survey maps. I know this route in some detail, although I disagree with Waddelove’s proposed route in several places. The crux of this route is the marching camp at Pen y Gwryd (GAT1479 SH66005575), defined and excavated in 1962.
“ The enclosed area is roughly 4 hectares, which is about half the size of a standard legionary camp and seems to have been designed to hold around 2000 men”, considerably more space than was available at the permanent Caer Llugwy/Bryn y Gefeiliau. This is a substantial effort, there is no dating evidence but it is at a critical point for controlling the environs of Snowdon. Logically it must belong to a period of conquest, ie late 1st century, there would have been no need for it after that. There must have been routes for accessing it, and although the current remains are rather fragmentary, and don’t match the “A” road status linking major forts in North Wales, there must have been a use. See my article Capel Curig to Segontium
Revised 8th May 2024
