Resources

Dambusters: Aerial view of Nant-y-Gro in the Elan Valley (NPRN:408280)
Tonight, the night of the 16 - 17 of May 2013,  marks the 70th anniversary of the celebrated “Dambusters Raid” by aircraft from 617 Squadron led by Guy Gibson, when 19 Lancaster bombers took off from a runway in Lincolnshire in eastern England, each carrying a purpose built weapon - the bouncing bomb - and dropped them in Nazi Germany's industrial heartland. This triumph was later immortalised in the 1954 film, Dambusters.

The idea for the Dambusters raid originated in 1940, when aeronautical designer Dr Barnes Wallis calculated the explosive power required to breach the Ruhr dams and discovered that no existing bomber could carry a large enough bomb. However, Wallis realised that smaller bombs accurately positioned at the foot of the dam could have the same effect. To make this possible, Wallis designed the "bouncing bomb" that would skip across the water and hit the dam. The bomb needed to be dropped at the right speed, at the right distance from the dam and at the right height above the water.

 Unknown to many people today mid-Wales played a crucial part in the development of Barns Wallis’ ingenious “Bouncing Bomb”.


An aerial view clearly shows part of the 60ft wide breach in the former dam (NPRN:408280) In July 1942 the prototype charge was proof-tested at a small dam in the Elan Valley, where 280lbs of high-explosive destroyed the central portion of the masonry dam. The experiment was a complete success. The evocative and sobering remains of the bombed dam may still be seen today. The Nant-y-Gro Dam (NPRN 408280) is located at SN92196348, and is protected as one of Cadw’s Scheduled Ancient Monuments.




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The Cwmsymlog Chimney. Built in 1855 and restored 2006 by Trefeurig Community Council with a grant from the Spirit of the Mines regeneration project.
© Crown copyright: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
Four hundred years ago this year, a Welsh entrepreneur Hugh Myddelton from Denbigh completed the construction of the New River, which brought fresh drinking water from Hertfordshire to north London. As a reward for this work he was granted the leases on a number of mines in Ceredigion. These mines were so rich in silver that bullion was transported to the Tower of London to be minted into coins.

On May the 25 and 26 the Metal Links Project, a European funded project to reconnect people with their mining heritage, and the Welsh Mines Preservation Trust will be providing free guided tours of Cwmsymlog, Berth Llwyd (now known as Bronfloyd), Goginan and other mine sites that were once owned by Sir Hugh Myddelton. Samantha Jones, Community Archaeologist for the Metal Links Project said, “It is odd to think today that this beautiful part of rural Ceredigion has a connection with the hustle and bustle of London. This event will mark that connection and engage people with an element of their past they may not be aware of, that Ceredigion was an industrial landscape”.

Saturday 25th will also see a short memorial prayer said in the ruins of a chapel (Capel Myddelton) that bears his name at Cwmsymlog mine. The service will pay respects to Sir Hugh and the miners that worked there. Sir Hugh built the chapel for his miners soon after he acquired the mine. For a few minutes at 12pm the chapel will be brought back to life. All are welcome to join us.

At 7pm on Saturday 25 at the church hall Llanbadarn Fawr there will be a series of short talks by local archaeologists and enthusiasts on the life of Sir Hugh and on the mines he owned. All are welcome.

All events over the weekend are free. Walks will be starting at 10am from Cwmsymlog (SN700 837) where there will be a free shuttle bus to ferry walkers between sites. Please bring a packed lunch and wear sensible footwear and appropriate clothing.

For further details contact Samantha Jones, samantha.jones@rcahmw.gov.uk or call 01970 621203.

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Delegates ascending the magnificent incline at Gorseddau slate quarry to inspect its upper workings.
The Archaeology in the Uplands event held on 10th-11th May in Snowdonia was a resounding success for all concerned. Organised jointly between the Royal Commission, the Snowdonia National Park Authority and the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, the event featured a packed dayschool on Friday 10th May at Plas Tanybwlch followed by a guided walk to the slate quarrying landscape of Gorseddau on the Saturday.

On Friday over 60 delegates joined Royal Commission staff at Plas Tanybwlch for a dayschool opened by Councillor Caerwyn Roberts OBE, Chairman of the Snowdonia National Park Authority, followed by an address by Dr David Gwyn. The day began with reports of the most recent surveys completed for the Uplands Archaeology Initiative in north, mid and south Wales, before a series of afternoon talks from specialists from Wales, England and Scotland about various aspects of the archaeology, history, paleoenvironment and management of the upland heritage of north-west Wales.

On the following day, two minibuses of delegates accompanied Royal Commission archaeologists to the slate quarrying landscape around Gorseddau quarry above Porthmadog, in the expert company of Dr David Gwyn of Govannon Consultancy who lead the tour. Despite a few rain showers there was plenty of sunshine and an excellent day was enjoyed by all learning about the history, worker’s lives, transport networks and fluctuating business fortunes of Gorseddau quarry, the abandoned industrial village of nearby Treforys, and the unique Ynysypandy slate mill.

David Gwyn explaining the archaeology and history of Ynysypandy slate mill. The massive corbelled wall protecting the line of the slate tramway at Gorseddau from the slate tips above.

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Published by University of Wales Press, April 2013.

By Nancy Edwards

This volume, the final of three, focuses on the inscribed stones and stone sculpture of North Wales c. AD 400-1150. It provides fresh insights and new interpretations of over 150 monuments, many of which have been found since V. E. Nash-Williams's Early Christian Monuments of Wales was published in 1950. The introductory discussion analyses the historical and archaeological context of the monuments, earlier research, geology, their form and function, ornament and iconography, and the language and lettering of the inscriptions, as well as their cultural connections, dating and chronology. The well-illustrated catalogue provides more detailed descriptions and analyses of individual monuments.

The Royal Commission has contributed many striking photographs and illustrations. Techniques used to record these stones photographically included night photography using a generator to power studio lights positioned to provide oblique lighting. The illustrative work within the book derives from rubbings produced in the field, which provided an accurate record of each monument including the inscriptions and letter-forms.

The project was led by Professor Nancy Edwards of Bangor University.

Article by: Charles Green, Graphics Officer, Public Engagement Team.


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Uwchlaw’r–coed, NPRN:28881, the earliest Snowdonian house dated by inscription. Over the last four years the Royal Commission has been working in partnership with the Dating Old Welsh Houses Group in North-west Wales. Led by Margaret Dunn, she and her large group of volunteers have identified and successfully dated around seventy early houses with the help of the Royal Commission’s architectural historian, Richard Suggett. The earliest Snowdonian house dated by inscription is Uwchlaw’r–coed, Llanenddwyn in Merioneth, dated 1585.
The 1585 inscription at Uwchlaw’r–coed.
Tree-ring dating now carries the story of the Snowdonian house back to the early sixteenth century with the dating of Dugoed, Penmachno, to 1516/17.

Dugoed, NPRN:26415, recently tree-ring dated 1516/17. Numerous other houses have been dated and the results are now available on Coflein. An analysis of these results in the context of the economic and social changes of the sixteenth century by Richard Suggett and members of the Dating Old Welsh Houses Group will be published by the Royal Commission in autumn 2014.

By Richard Suggett, Senior Investigator Historic Buildings

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Our People’s Collection Wales event at Bangor Museum in March resulted in a recent follow-up visit by Nikki and myself to a nearby farmstead, Goetre Isaf near Bangor, to record interesting features there. These included rows of bee-boles, a carved slate fireplace surround, a horse-gin, chairs from the investiture of Prince Charles in 1969, and an early ‘vertical drop’ toilet among other treasures. Here’s a taster - to see the rest, visit the collection on People’s Collection Wales.

                  
This row of bee-boles is a series of slate-topped recesses set in an outside stone wall at Goetre Isaf. Small bee skeps or straw hives were placed inside to protect them from wind and rain. Bee-boles like these were widely used before the invention of modern bee-hives.


This beautiful hand-carved slate fireplace was saved from destruction at Bethesda and has been re-used at Geotre isaf. Slate carving such as this, now recognised as a special form of Folk Art, often included names and dates, concentric circles and motifs such as plants, birds and animals. This example commemorates the marriage of John and Elinor Parry, Bethesda, 3 May 1836. An excellent site which explores the history of slate carving in North Wales can be found on the Friends of Gwynedd Museum website where many other examples are shown.

To see the other features recorded at Goetre Isaf visit the collection on People’s Collection Wales.

If you have more information on any of these features, or have photographs of your own, why not add them to the growing collection on People’s Collection Wales?

By: Helen Rowe, People's Collection Wales Officer


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Exterior view of Dolbelydr (NPRN:27114) taken by the Royal Commission in 1950. Dolbelydr, near St Asaph is open to the public this weekend, 26-29 April, with demonstrations of Calligraphy on both Saturday 27 and Sunday 28. Fully restored in 2003, and now owned by the Landmark Trust, Dolbelydr is an impressive example of a sixteenth-century storeyed gentry house with its tall end-chimneys and lime-washed elevations. Once seat of a branch of the Salusbury's of Lleweni in the fourteenth century, Dolbelydr was the former home of Welsh grammarian Henry Salesbury (1561-1632/7), who wrote his "Grammatica Britannica" there in 1593 and for whom the current building was probably constructed. The house was a tenanted farmhouse throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was last occupied in 1910 until its restoration by the Landmark Trust. Those interested in the architecture of the house will find reconstruction drawings in Houses of the Welsh Countryside, page 246, figure 137. The National Monuments Record of Wales holds a wealth of information ―74 Collection Records― on this important house, which has been tree-ring dated c.1578 and was recorded by the Royal Commission’s investigators in 1950 and 1999. Many of images are now available on Coflein.

Detail view of door showing draw-bar slot at Dolbelydr.
Coflein - Discovering Our Past Online
Coflein is the online database for the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales.
   
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A brand new television series on S4C this September…

The producers of ‘Coal House’ a ‘Snowdonia 1890’ want to give you the chance to travel back in time and find out what life is really like upstairs - and downstairs – in a grand Welsh country house in 1910.

We’re looking for families and individuals of all ages to live and work in a beautiful country estate for three weeks this September. Could you be a butler or cook, maid or housekeeper, the farming family or even the Squire and his wife? Your life in the house will mean dressing, working, eating and playing just as they did in 1910, and the cameras will capture all the action for a landmark series on S4C and online this autumn.

Perhaps you’re a fan of period dramas bringing our bygone days to light or you have parents or grandparents who experienced domestic service. This is your chance to find out how they lived; in a fully immersive, unforgettable real-life experience bringing our history to life.

For an application form, please contact the production team by email yplas@yplas.tv or call 029 20 671540.

Deadline for entries: 13th May 2013.

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One of the first viewers of the exhibition.
Visions of Place, the Royal Commission’s contribution to this year’s Wales Festival of Architecture, a joint venture between the Mid-Wales Branch of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales and the Aberystwyth Arts Centre, is now on display in the main level of Aberystwyth Arts Centre. The panels explore the story of designed settlement in Wales. This exhibition covers the Garden Village Movement, Newport Prefabs, Herbert Luck North: Arts and Crafts Architect, John Nash and the Picturesque, and Eco-housing. The exhibition is strikingly illustrated with images drawn from the National Monuments Record of Wales, many of which are available on Coflein.

The exhibition is open daily and will run until the 4 May, 2013.

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Big Pit Tapestry. Copyright: Mad Mountain Stitchers
The incredible tapestry of Big Pit, Blaenavon, cleverly created last year by the Mad Mountain Stitchers and reported by the Heritage of Wales blog in September will be on display for public viewing at Big Pit from the 1 May, 2013. Using a number of different and highly-creative materials and techniques, Margitta Davis, Ann Notley, Penny Turnbull, Milli Stein and Jan Winstanley took two years to ingeniously create this wonderful tapestry using images drawn from the National Monuments Record of Wales and in particularly pictures from the extensive John Cornwell collection.

   Left: Connecting tunnel between Pit Bottom and River Arch. NPRN 433 (John Cornwell Collection)
Right: Nineteenth-century workings in Coity Pits. NPRN 433 (John Cornwell Collection)
The National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) holds the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales from the earliest times to the present day. It includes almost 2,000,000 photographs, over 125,000 drawings, over 32,000 archived maps, and over 530,000 pages of text and reports. An increasing amount of this material is available on Coflein, our on-line database. In addition the Royal Commission welcomes enquiries about its collections and offers a free public enquiry service.

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Kymer’s Canal and the Pwll-y-Llygod Tramroad Bridge Survey in progress at the Pwll-y-Llygoed Tramroad Bridge.
©Crown Copyright. NPRN 43100, DS2013_139_001 Kymer’s Canal is the oldest purpose-built canal in Wales and was constructed by Thomas Kymer between 1766-8. The canal ran for 4.8 kilometres and transported goods from a series of anthracite collieries and limestone quarries situated along the valley of the Gwendraeth Fawr, to a quay at Kidwelly. At Pwll-y-Llygod, which marked the terminus of the canal, a tramroad linked from Carway Colliery. This tramroad crosses the river adjacent to the canal, and the bridge carrying it has recently been the focus of work for the Royal Commission. An important scheduled monument this is the oldest tramroad bridge in Wales and one of the oldest in the World.

Following a request from Cadw, Royal Commission Investigators have been undertaking a detailed survey of the bridge. The structure has suffered damage from recent floods and to help inform repairs it was essential that a detailed survey was undertaken. Using laser scanning and total station technology an accurate three-dimensional record of the bridge has been captured. The data, together with the resulting plans and elevations, will now be archived within the National Monuments Record of Wales. 

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Last month Britain from Above made its presence felt in not one but two locations in Carmarthen! Starting with the Tourism students from University of Wales, Trinity St David Carmarthen campus, the students explored the project and using the big screen projector in the classroom they looked at various locations around England and Wales― Cardigan and Reading being particularly popular. They also had the opportunity to look at some large prints of the collection as well as more recent prints from the Royal Commission’s archive taken by aerial investigator, Dr Toby Driver. The students were impressed by both the differences and similarities they could identify between the aerial photographs ― the result of the eighty-year time gap between them. Everyone seemed inspired by the project, and several of the third-year students enthused about how it would become a valuable resource for some of their future planning modules, and how they would be able to use the images as information to fuel or theme tours and guided walks around areas of the British Isles.
 

Later on in the day, we moved across town where residents from the local community came along to hear about the project for the first time. They were astonished by the range of the collection and the quality of the images. After hearing about the project and seeing the remarkable collection, they were all keen to log in and get started! Once registered, most people started their investigation of the site, some referring to the step-by-step guides when they reached an unfamiliar part. The group quickly started adding their own tags and comments. One lady commented that she was sure she had become addicted as she and the others started pointing out excitedly half-forgotten buildings. Another happy tagger said that one of the houses was her great-grandmother’s house which she used to visit as a very small girl.

Both groups seemed to really enjoy what the project had to offer; the students and members of the community alike were keen to make use of it as a research resource; the latter group delighting in the memories it brought back. The group really embraced and made the most of a lovely afternoon trip down memory lane.  Several of them are keen to become more involved in the project in a research capacity, and this will be exciting to develop!

Explore: Britain from Above website.

By: Natasha Scullion, Britain from Above Activity Officer, Wales.

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Free Event, Everyone Welcome!

Friday 26 April 2013, 10am-4pm
Newtown Library, talks: 11am, 1pm and 3pm

Come along and discover this fantastic online resource showcasing a previously unseen collection of aerial photographs of Wales, Scotland and England from the pioneering age of aviation. The collection covers the years 1919-1953, a period when the landscape of Britain was undergoing drastic change.

There will be three talks on the history of the collection and the project itself during the day at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, but everyone will be welcome to pop in and find out more through the day with a Britain from Above Activity Officer and have a go on the website itself as part of the Digital Unite Spring Online week.

Newtown Library, Park Lane, Newtown, Powys, SY16 1EJ.
Telephone: 01686 626934

Find out more at: www.britainfromabove.org.uk
Twitter: @AboveBritain

Natasha Scullion, Britain from Above Activity Officer, Wales.
e-mail: natasha.scullion@rcahmw.gov.uk
Telephone: 01970 621200

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It began with a public inquiry about imagery for Caernarvon Castle, but it triggered a visual memory with Cheryl Griffiths, the Royal Commission’s longest serving member of staff, of historic photographs she had seen in the Industrial Archaeology Collections.

This wonderful series of images shows the former Slate Quay on the River Seiont. The old landing point for the Castle was developed around 1817. With the coming of the Nantlle Railway in 1825-8, which brought slate from various quarries to the harbour, the mouth of the Seiont was turned into an even busier place.

Slate Quay Caernarfon, DI2013_0093. Maritime Officer, Deanna Groom, set out to try and recreate the view - ‘I was actually too far south along the bank... and there they were. Two really quite substantial wooden vessels, which I feel certain must have been engaged in the slate trade at sometime. The Harbour Master at Caernarvon, Richard Jones, believes that the vessel on the western bank was called the LILLY, but we’d love to hear from local people who may know more about them’.

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An exhibition called Visions of Place: the Story of Designed Settlement Recording By the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales will be on display at Aberystwyth Arts Centre as part of the first-ever Wales Festival of Architecture, 18 April – 4 May.  This exhibition will cover the Garden Village Movement, Newport Prefabs, Herbert North: Arts and Crafts Architect, John Nash and the Picturesque, and Eco-housing. The exhibition is strikingly illustrated with images drawn from the National Monuments Record of Wales, many of which are  available on Coflein.

This new festival aims to stimulate discussion about architecture. The Festival will provide a forum for architects, planners and other professionals, and the public to share views and knowledge about the built environment in a wide-ranging programme of talks, films, workshops and exhibitions. Highlights of the Festival include a two-day architectural ceramics workshop with Gwen Heeney, and an evening of architecture and poetry with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke. Spanning a six-week period, this festival ― the first of its kind in Wales ― will no doubt stimulate discussion about the special role of architecture in Wales, and provide something for everyone.

For further details, please contact Aberystwyth Arts Centre.


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Closing Date: 19 April 2013
Pay: £20,100 per annum.
Location: Aberystwyth
Contract: 10 month


Job Desription:
37 hours per week Fixed term appointment until 31.3.14 Pay Band C £20,100 - £25,200 per annum (Appointment is normally made at or near the minimum of the pay band) Based in Aberystwyth the Royal Commission is the organisation responsible for surveying, recording, publishing and maintaining a database of ancient historical and maritime sites, structures and landscapes in Wales. We are looking to recruit a Mapping Officer who will help maintain and develop our internal and external Geographic Information systems, develop on-line initiatives including projects under the Peoples Collection Wales Innovation Strand and carry out mapping of archaeological features from aerial photographs. You will have proven experience and/or appropriate professional or academic qualifications in GI systems, be able to recognise innovative ways to improve on-line service delivery and identify and map archaeological features on aerial photographs. Closing date for applications: 19th April 2013.

For complete details of this post, please visit: Current Vacancies
Application closing date for post: 19/04/2013.

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A dayschool organised by the Royal Commission, Snowdonia National Park and the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust
Plas Tan y Bwlch, Friday 10th May 2013

09:45  Assemble for coffee
10.15  Welcome  - John Griffith Roberts (Archaeologist, Snowdonia National Park)
Introduction by Cynghorydd/Councillor Caerwyn Roberts OBE, Cadeirydd, Awdurdod Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri/Chairman, Snowdonia Park Authority
10.30  Opening address: Kings, lords, commons and commoners - David Gwyn (Govannon Consultancy)
11.00 RECENT WORK ON THE UPLANDS ARCHAEOLOGY OF WALES
Introduction to the Uplands Archaeology Initiative - Henry Owen-John (Vice-chair, RCAHMW)
Chair: Henry Owen John
11.10     Recent surveys in Merionethshire - Richard Hayman (Hayman & Horton)
11.30    The east Glamorgan uplands - Paul Sambrook (Trysor)
11.50    The south-west Cambrian Mountains - Jenny Hall (Trysor)
12.10    The Cwm Prysor uplands - Tudur Davies (ArcHeritage)
12.30     Lunch and discussion with speakers
13:30  ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE UPLANDS
Chair: John Griffith Roberts
13.30    Roman Roads in Snowdonia - David Hopewell (GAT)
13.55    Surveying and Presenting the Slate Industry - Louise Barker (RCAHMW)
14:20    Recent work at Dinas Emrys - Kathy Laws (National Trust)
14:45    Tea/coffee
15:15    Past human-environment interractions in Snowdonia: a story from the palaeo-environmental record - Tim Mighall (Aberdeen University)
15:45    The Bronaber Ranges - Bob Johnston (Sheffield University)
16:15    Lives in the landscape: the complex archaeology of the Gwynedd hills from above - Toby Driver (RCAHMW).
16:45 close of dayschool

To register please contact David Leighton on 01970-621204 or david.leighton@rcahmw.gov.uk. The cost of the dayschool is £10.00 which includes lunch if ordered in advance,  payable by credit card on registration.

Please note: the dayschool will be conducted bilingually with simultaneous translation facilities provided.

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On Saturday 2nd March, Britain from Above held its first BBC Big Screen event in Swindon’s city centre to launch the second phase of Virtual Volunteering as part of the Britain from Above project. For three hours we took over the big screen showing aerial images of Swindon from the 1920s and a promotional film from Aerofilms, which was produced to showcase their working methods. It was all very exciting with plenty of shots of the planes soaring through the clouds on their way to record yet another fascinating view. The film was ground breaking when it was first shown to a public for whom the Charleston was the latest dance craze, however, on Saturday, it captured the attention of the Harlem Shake generation just as keenly!

People stopped throughout the afternoon, taking a seat to watch the rolling images and films, then most came to ask us about the project and take a closer look at the website, which we had set up on one of the stalls.

As well as iPads and a monitor to show the Britain from Above website, we let people discover how their own local areas used to look (www.britainfromabove.org.uk). we also had jigsaws to complete of various iconic images of Britain, a cut-away photoboard that lets you be the pilot for a photograph, and we also ran a paper plane competition with the chance to win an aviator teddy bear!



The paper planes proved very popular with children and adults, and even lured out the teenagers! We had four official competitions throughout the day, where the winner was decided by the plane that had flown the furthest, but everyone was welcome to join in, have a go at making and decorating a plane, and launching it from the runway line!

It was a successful, if cold, day in Swindon that helped raise the profile of the project to new audiences, who are now keen to have a go on the website themselves from the comfort of their own warm homes!

The project is running until 2014 and currently has over 25,000 images uploaded and available for everyone to view. Registering a free profile on the website allows you even more freedom to take part in the project: zoom in on images; share your stories; tag photos with place names to help us identify unlocated images; and join groups to talk to other people with the same interests. The collection is updated every few months; by the end of the project we will have all 95,000 images from the Aerofilms collection (1919-1953) uploaded for everyone to find out more about the changing face of Britain in the early 20th century.

By Natasha Scullion, Activity Officer (Wales) – Britain from the Above Project.

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Helen Rowe and Hazel Thomas demonstrate the People’s Collection Wales website. On International Women’s Day (Friday 8th March) Royal Commission and National Library of Wales staff members teamed up to present a workshop on how to get the most from People’s Collection Wales. This was part of a day of free women’s workshops at Penparcau, organised by Aberystwyth University to celebrate International Women’s Day.

The workshop included an introduction to People’s Collection by Royal Commission staff member, Helen Rowe. Helen gave a fascinating insight into the variety of material already added to the collection, both by organisations and individuals. She highlighted the significance of everyday photographs, which illustrate numerous aspects of social life in Wales throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. Helen made particular reference to family photographs, which are often undervalued, being stored away at home in cupboards or attics. In addition to recording family life, such photographs are also an important record of contemporary clothing, décor, buildings, farming methods, landscapes and many other aspects of life. It is often women who are the keepers of these treasure troves of historical information, all of which contribute to the story of Wales. Photographs and other documents deteriorate with time, and Helen urged anyone who has such items to endeavour to digitise them and upload them to People’s Collection, so that they can be preserved and shared as part of the social history of Wales.

National Library of Wales staff member, Hazel Thomas, then explained the different aspects of the People’s Collection Wales website and introduced participants to the practicalities of using it. Participants then had the chance to try out the website for themselves.

By Nikki Vousden

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Large barrels or Jerkins of butter appear to have been a regular cargo for auction in Australia for both the Royal Charter and the Great Britain – Merseyside Maritime Museum, National Museums Liverpool.
Over the winter months, the Royal Commission has been working with Cadw and the People’s Collection Wales to develop an educational resource for the Royal Charter shipwreck off the Anglesey coast.  The tragedy that unfolded during the night of 25-26 October 1859 resonated across the nation, and subsequently the world, as news reached Melbourne, Australia, from whence the ship was returning with some 450 passengers and crew onboard.

‘Even today, no one is sure how many people were onboard, but only 17 survivors were recorded in contemporary newspaper accounts’, said the Royal Commission’s Maritime Officer, Deanna Groom.  ‘We’ve been searching out some of the original archive material relating to the wreck and making it digitally available for teachers and students for project work. The two most interesting finds so far have been at Chester Archives and Merseyside Maritime Museum. Kind colleagues at Chester Archives retrieved a collection of papers relating to the bankruptcy of the ship’s builder, George Cram. These included a complete inventory of all the tools and machinery that were in use at the Sandycroft Ironworks on the Dee Estuary when the ship was being first laid down. At Merseyside Maritime Museum, archives staff made available a cargo book from the Gibbs Bright & Co, in which Cotswold rams are recorded being sent to Australia to improve breeding stock. On one of the pages, under an entry for the Royal Charter, is an entry for Brunel’s steamship, the Great Britain which is now preserved at Bristol. The Great Britain was also part of the fleet of the Liverpool and Australia Navigation Company.’

Steve Donnachie, a PhD student from Swansea University on a placement at the Royal Commission, has been actively involved searching out and loading material onto the People’s Collection Wales website.

‘It was one of the worst civil maritime disasters in British history, and the loss of life caused a sensation in the British press. It has been quite a different experience for me, having to research and come to grips with entirely new areas of history. Nineteenth-century shipping, ship building on the River Dee, and migration to Australia are far removed from my usual field of study, the medieval Mediterranean. The chance to get away from my safety zone and explore something new,  as well as a chance to use skills gained at university to produce something quite practical has been very rewarding’.



The inventory marking the end of George Cram’s dreams of a ship building enterprise is particular poignant as it makes clear that all his creditors will leave him with are the clothes that he and his family members possess – Chester Archives.
The resources have already been taken into three schools on Anglesey by Erin Robinson, Cadw’s Lifelong Learning Manager for North Wales. The children have visited the graveyard of Llanallgo to record the gravestones. They have also produced artworks of the weather phenomenon - this is the aspect of the story which has intrigued Helen Rowe, from People’s Collection Wales team, the most:

‘Scientists continue to debate the effect of solar activity on our weather, but just before the Royal Charter gale a large solar storm was report by astronomers. The UK’s October hurricane is mirrored in severe storm damage along the eastern seaboard of America. There are other oddities, for example, in its summary of the weather for October 1859 reported in the Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald, the Llandudno Weather Observatory noted that the aura borealis had been seen. This must be quite unusual for our latitude? We are going to try and keep looking at this part of the story over the coming months as the Royal Charter Gale Shipwrecks Project expands to include more of the recorded losses around the Welsh coast during the hurricane. It is going to be helped greatly by the National Library of Wales’ initiative to make more Welsh newspapers available online (a service launched on the 13 March).’

The People’s Collection Wales ‘Great Storm of 1859’ collection can be accessed via this link (the collection continues to be added to and edited):
http://www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/Collection/1515-the-great-storm-of-1859

We would like to extend special thanks to colleagues from Cadw (especially Caroline Pudney and Polly Groom); the county archives network - Anglesey, Ceredigion, Chester, Gwnydd and Pembrokeshire; to the Archives team at Merseyside Maritime Museum, National Museums Liverpool; the Met Office; and to the East Melbourne Historical Society down under.




One of several gravestones associated with the Royal Charter Wreck at Llanallgo Church - this a recent tribute placed by descendants.

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