Eden House Country Guest House B & B Accommodation - Preseli Mountains
The Preseli Hills or Preseli Mountains (Welsh: Mynydd Y Preseli / Y Preselau) are a range of hills in north Pembrokeshire and form part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Preseli Mountains are one of only two inland areas covered by The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
There is no universally accepted standard definition for the height of a mountain or a hill, although 1,000 feet is sometimes used as the point where a hill becomes a mountain, provided the base of the mountain is at sea level, that is. As mountains are generally steeper than a hill, the Preseli's, then, could be either The Preseli Hills or The Preseli Mountains. Irrespective of this, these wild, mysterious, rolling moors roamed by sheep and ponies provide a superb terrain for walkers and horse riders.
Although climbing to just 1760 feet at the highest point they afford exceptional all round views to the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, Snowdonia in the north, the Brecon Beacons to the east and the Bristol Channel and West Country to the south.
Judging by the huge abundance of relics that remain - Neolithic burial chambers, Bronze Age cairns, stone circles, standing stones and Iron Age forts, these hills were well populated by Prehistoric man. The bluestones that make up much of the inner circle of Stonehenge are made from spotted dolerite, and the only known place in Britain where this rock can be found, is in The Preseli Mountains. Was it hewn here and transported 180 miles from Preseli to Salisbury Plain? Quite how this could have been done still remains a hotly discussed issue.
The Preseli's were a stronghold of Celtic cultures who believed the entrance to The Celtic Underworld, Annwn, was in the foothills of The Preseli Mountains. The Preseli's feature in Arthurian legends and in The Mabinogion, a collection of pre Christian Celtic mythology. A walk over The Preseli's is called The Golden Road, an ancient trackway along the ridge of the mountains. A community bus service called The Preseli Green Dragon can be used to make walking in The Preseli's much easier. It stops at all the most important access points on and around the Preseli's. A circular walk circumnavigating The Preseli's opened in 2008. Called The Preseli Circle, it is way-marked along its entire route.
The hills rise to 536 metres above sea level at Foel Cwmcerwyn and are dotted with prehistoric remains including evidence of Neolithic settlement. Slate quarrying was once big business in the Preseli Hills and remnants of the quarries can still be seen in Rosebush, Pembrokeshire and there is a slate workshop today still at Llangolman, where authentic Welsh slate is still used in a variety of craft items. During the Second World War, the UK War Office used the Preseli Hills for training exercises. Its continued use for training exercises following the war was the subject of protest by Plaid Cymru, yet the area is in use today by aircraft of the Royal Air Force for training purposes.
This mountaine is so high and farre mounted into the ayre, that when the countrey about is faire and cleere, the toppe thereof will be hidden in a cloude, which of the inhabitants is taken a sure signe of rain to follow shortly; whereof grewe this proverbe, "When Percelly weareth a hat, all Penbrokeshire shall weete of that."
Astonishing weather forecasting from 'A History of Pembrokeshire' by George Owen, 1603.
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