Caergwrle () is a village in the county of Flintshire, in north east Wales. Approximately 5–6 miles (8.0–9.7 km) from Wrexham and situated on the A541 road, it is contiguous with the villages of Abermorddu and Hope, though in parts Caergwrle and Hope are separated by a river border. The village lies on the River Alyn and sits at the base of Hope Mountain. At the 2001 Census, the population was 1,650.[1] The population was subsequently absorbed in the community of Hope and only the electoral ward remained. The population of this ward as taken at the 2011 census was 1,619.[2] The ward includes the area of Abermorddu. Further south is the village of Cefn-y-Bedd.
| Caergwrle | |
|---|---|
 The River Alyn in Caergwrle | |
  Caergwrle Location within Flintshire | |
| Population | 1,619 (Ward, 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SJ303575 |
| Community | |
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WREXHAM |
| Postcode district | LL12 |
| Dialling code | 01978 |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Origins of name
editThe name Caergwrle derives from the Welsh caer 'fort' and a lost English placename *Corley 'river meadow of the crane'. Folk etymology explained the name by means of a cawr ('giant') named Gwrle, who was supposed to have lived in nearby Caergwrle Castle and to have been buried in the nearby Neolithic burial mound at Cefn-y-bedd.[3]
Caergwrle Castle
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The 13th-century, ruined Caergwrle Castle, also sometimes known as Queen's Hope Castle,[4] was first built by Tywysog (Prince) Dafydd ap Gruffydd, in lands agreed with Edward I of England during his invasion of Wales in 1277. Dafydd, in agreeing not to resist the invasion, had extensive improvements made to his castle at Edward's expense. In 1282 however, Dafydd bought his time and raised the banner of revolt, marching on Hawarden Castle controlled by Edward's invaders. Dafydd and his men seized the castle.
When Dafydd was executed on 3 October 1283 by King Edward I, Edward took control of the castle, and gave it to his Queen, Eleanor of Castile, which prompted the name Queen's Hope.[5]
Other features of Caergwrle
editThe 17th-century Packhorse Bridge, which is reputed to be haunted,[6] was nearly destroyed by flooding in 2000, though it has since been restored. There have been many other developments and restorations in Caergwrle.
Caergwrle was also home to a Welsh International football player George Alfred Godding who played from 17 March 1923 to 14 April 1923 with two caps for Wales.
Caergwrle's long association with the adjacent village of Hope has given rise to a well-known local joke: "Live in Hope, die in Caergwrle".[7] This was already described as an "old saying" in the 19th century, when it was recorded by the antiquarian John Askew Roberts.[8]
Transport
editRail
editThe service from Wrexham Central to Bidston passes through Caergwrle railway station. Bidston provides a connection to Liverpool via the Wirral Line. Caergwrle railway station is managed by Transport for Wales as of Autumn 2018.
Bus
editCaergwrle has bus links giving access to Mold, Broughton, Wrexham and Chester.
The Caergwrle Bowl
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The Caergwrle Bowl is a unique object dating to the Middle Bronze Age, c. 1300 BC, originally manufactured from shale, tin and gold. It is thought to represent a boat, with its applied gold decoration signifying oars and waves, and either sun discs or circular shields.[10] Some researchers have suggested that the Caergwrle Bowl represents a mythological solar boat.[11] Similarities have been noted with the contemporary miniature gold boats from Nors in Denmark, and with the later Broighter gold boat from Ireland.[12][13] The Caergwrle bowl has also been related to the earlier Nebra sky disc from Germany, which is thought to depict a solar boat.[14] Gold lunulae from the Early Bronze Age Beaker culture, including examples from Wales, have also been interpreted as representations of solar boats.[15][16] The gold cape from Mold, which dates from the same period as the Nebra sky disc, was found near to Caergwrle.[17]
The incomplete bowl was found in 1823 by a workman digging a drain in a field below Caergwrle Castle. It was donated to the National Museum Wales in 1912, and sent to the British Museum for restoration where it was originally reconstructed from wax with the decoration attached by an adhesive. Since then the bowl has been rebuilt again as the first conservation failed to be stable.[18]
References
edit- ^ 2001 Census: Caergwrle, Office for National Statistics, retrieved 2 July 2008
- ^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ^ Owen, Hywel Wyn; Gruffydd, Ken Lloyd (2017). Place-Names of Flintshire. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 40–1. ISBN 978-1-78683-110-1. OCLC 966205096.
- ^ Castles of Wales. Pen and Sword History. 6 April 2022. ISBN 978-1-5267-4996-3.
- ^ The Illustrated Hand-book of North Wales: A Guide for the Tourist, the Antiquarian, and the Angler. Whittaker. 1850.
- ^ "Ghost 'caught' on Packhorse Bridge". BBC. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ The AA touring guide to Wales, Automobile Association, 1975, p.205
- ^ Roberts, J. A. (1883). Gossiping Guide to Wales. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. p. 66.
- ^ "Caergwrle Bowl". National Museum Wales.
- ^ "Caergwrle Bowl". National Museum Wales.
- ^ Meller, Harald (2022). The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Caergwrle Ship. Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ Meller, Harald (2022). The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Nors Boats. Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ Denford, G.T.; Farrell, A.W. (1980). "The Caergwrle Bowl—A possible prehistoric boat model". The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 9 (3): 183–192. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1980.tb01296.x.
Analogies exist between the concentric circles [on the Caergwrle bowl] and a large body of finds referred to in the literature as sun discs. Butler (1963) refers to "the golden sun disc, symbol of a Bronze Age cult or religion common to the British Isles, northern Europe and wider areas as well". … the concentric circles or 'solar discs' on the Nors Boats must be mentioned here. … Numerous recorded examples exist of sun symbols associated with boats in Scandinavian rock art. The Danish rock-carvings have been dated to the Early Bronze Age and the first period of the Late Bronze Age and so tie in with our dating evidence for the Caergwrle Bowl. This frequent association of sun symbols with boats favours an interpretation of the bowl as a boat model. ... The oval form of the bowl is its most boatlike feature. We know of no other Bronze Age pottery to parallel this. The closest parallel is the Broighter Boat, a gold boat model found at Broighter, Co. Derry, Ireland
- ^ Meller, Harald (2021). "The Nebra Sky Disc – astronomy and time determination as a source of power". Time is power. Who makes time?: 13th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany. Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale). ISBN 978-3-948618-22-3.
The celestial ship, which transports or is associated with the sun, finds its earliest known representation in Central Europe on the Nebra sky disc, before appearing sporadically in Northern Europe from around 1600 BC and then being attested in numerous examples in Northern and Central Europe until the late Bronze Age. This is particularly impressively illustrated by the more than one hundred golden boats from Nors, in the region of Nordjylland (Denmark), on some of which the golden solar disc is found in the form of concentric circles. The ship from Caergwrle, Flintshire County (Wales), already discovered in 1823, also bears concentric circles below the railing, which can be interpreted as shields or solar symbols. (Translated from German)
- ^ Cahill, Mary (Spring 2015). "'Here comes the sun....: solar symbolism in Early Bronze Age Ireland'". Archaeology Ireland. 29 (1): 26–33.
- ^ "Early Bronze Age gold lunula". National Museum Wales.
- ^ Meller, Harald (2022). The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Mold Cape. Halle State Museum of Prehistory.
- ^ Davis, Mary "Re-conserving the Caergwrle Bowl Archived 2012-03-06 at the Wayback Machine" Museum Wales Website Retrieved on 17 February 2010
External links
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