Twmbarlwm

Twmbarlwm (ST242926), height 419 metres, is a landmark for miles around and has much legend attached to it. It is rumoured to be the burial site of a giant and at the end of the last century tradition in Newport, claimed the motte was the burial mound of the horse Lord Tredegar rode at the Charge of the Light Brigade. On a clear day the panorama makes the ascent worthwhile. You can see the whole of the Severn Estuary from Devon up to the Severn Bridge, and around through Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire. To the north the Brecon Beacons are prominent.

It was the view from Twmbarlwm which stimulated W.H.Davies, the Newport born poet author of "Autobiography of a Supertramp", He wrote

The top of Twmbarlwm is crowned by a hill fort which may be Iron Age, though the current feeling is that some hill forts have their origin in the Late Bronze Age. This may be true for at Twmbarlwm, there is a small Bronze Age Tumulus, on the outer lip of the ditch around the motte.

Occupation of the area may even predate the Bronze Age. About twenty years ago a flint arrowhead was found "near Twmbarlwm" .It may have come from the hill just to the north. Mynydd Maen, has yielded several worked flint items over many years.

As mentioned earlier, at the eastern end of the hill fort is a motte of possibly the 12^th century. There have been suggestions that the hill fort is a large bailey to the motte. Examination of the bank and ditch indicate a style more common to the Iron Age. It is doubtful if the fort was completed. The location is very exposed and would not have been attractive in the deteriorating climate of the Iron Age. The motte is also open to question. At the time of the Doomsday book Caerleon was under Norman control, but by 1150 the native Welsh had reoccupied the area.

Some authorities suggest that the motte is a 13th century build, dating from the time Gilbert de Clare was in conflict with Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in the 1270's.A motte at this period, and in this location would be anachronistic. The motte can easily be seen from the lowland to the south and east, which would have been Norman controlled and a this suggests that Twmbarlwm is a Welsh motte, which would have been a constant reminder of their presence to the dwellers in the lowland.

Items found at Twmbarlwm ? More info from Gathering the Jewels website - click here

Do you have a memory of Twmbarlwm, the Tump or the Pimple you would like to share? if so click here ..

Shaun McGuire relates: I have spent many a happy hour or I should say days on the top of Twmbarlwm flying radio controlled gliders and practicing for competitions that I used to enter in the 1980’s. In fact I was flying the models from about 1971 until the 1990’s there and on Mynydd Machen and some other hill tops in Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.

The competitions that I entered were usually over at the Mendip Hills or the Malverns and occasionally down to the Bournemouth area.

On one occasion over on Twmbarlwm I watched a thunderstorm working its way towards me and as I did not want to be on top of the mountain during that kind of storm, especially holding a metal transmitter in my hand, I packed up and started to head home. As I got near the downward slope by the pimple, my hair suddenly stood on end and I had a tingling feeling but I wasn’t go hang around and wait to see what happened next, I legged it down that slope as fast as my little pins would take me!

About 18 months ago I took some of grandchildren up there and luckily I managed to reach the top with little difficulty after all these years. Much to my surprise as I walked up the steps in the side of the pimple, I was greeted by a Spanish student moving all around me and taking photographs of myself and my grandchildren.

He told me that he was on some kind of project and myself and my grandchildren on top of mountain was exactly what he wanted. I wonder what happened to those photo’s?

The myth about Lord Tredegar’s horse I have never heard of before, because that horse is buried along with one or two of Lord Tredegar’s dogs in the garden alongside Tredegar House. There used to be a small canon from the Crimea war which was also part of this memorial and that disappeared years ago and was probably melted down by someone.

In the 1950’s and 60’s I was very fortunate enough along with a number of other boys, about 8 of us I think, that had the run of all the grounds on weekends including use of the boats on the lakes. We spent most of the day doing chores like gardening and painting or other similar jobs for the nuns that used to run the house and St. Josephs school and convent but they kept us far away from the girl borders they took in!! They treated us well and during the day kept us well fed with sandwiches and huge pots of tea.