:Preseli Mountains

A peak is spelt Percelye on a 1578 parish map, and more recent maps show the range as Presely or Mynydd Prescelly. The etymology is unknown, but is likely to involve Welsh prys, meaning "wood, bush, copse".{{cite book |last1=Mills |first1=David |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names |date=20 Oct 2011 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199609086 |page=376 |edition=Illustrated, Reprint, Revised |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ |access-date=11 September 2019}} A number of other peaks are shown on the 1578 map, but the only other named peak is Wrennyvaur (now Frenni Fawr). An 1819 Ordnance Survey Map refers to the range as Precelly Mountain (singular).{{cite web|title= Penbrok comitat |publisher= British Library |url= http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/001map00000c7c1u00035000.html |access-date= 4 August 2019 }}OS One inch 7th series map sheet 138/151 Fishguard and Pembroke 1965 An 1833 publication stated: the ancient Welsh name...is Preswylva, signifying "a place of residence",{{cite web|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Wales|publisher=GENUKI|url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Maenclochog/Maenclochog1833|access-date=20 April 2020}} but does not cite any evidence. 21st century maps show the range as Mynydd Preseli.

{{Moresources|section|date=October 2022}}

The hills are formed largely from the Ordovician age marine mudstones and siltstones of the Penmaen Dewi Shales and Aber Mawr Shale formations which have been intruded by microgabbro (otherwise known as dolerite or diabase) of Ordovician age. The former slate quarries at Rosebush on the southern edge of the hills worked the Aber Mawr Formation rocks whilst it is the dolerite tors of Carnmenyn which have been postulated, amongst other localities, as the source of the Stonehenge ‘bluestones’.

In contrast Foel Drygarn towards the eastern end of the range is formed from tuffs and lavas of the Fishguard Volcanic Group. Further east is Frenni Fawr which is formed from mudstones and sandstones of the Nantmel Mudstone Formation of late Ordovician Ashgill age. The sedimentary rocks dip generally northwards and are cut by numerous geological faults.

Cwm Gwaun is a major glacial meltwater channel which divides the northern tops such as Mynydd Carningli from the main mass of the hills.British Geological Survey 2010 Fishguard England and Wales Sheet 210 Bedrock and Superficial deposits 1:50,000 (Keyworth, Nottingham, BGS)

The Preselis, much of which are unenclosed moorland or low-grade grazing with areas of bog, are surrounded by farmland and active or deserted farms. Field boundaries tend to be earth banks topped with fencing and stock-resistant plants such as gorse. Rosebush Reservoir, one of only two reservoirs in Pembrokeshire, supplies water to southern Pembrokeshire and is a brown trout fishery{{cite web|title=Rosebush Reservoir|url=http://www.fisharound.net/location/public/3520/Rosebush-Reservoir|access-date=28 Apr 2014}} on the southern slopes of the range near the village of Rosebush. Further to the south is Llys y Fran reservoir and leisure park. Both reservoirs are sourced by the River Syfynwy. There are no natural lakes in the Preselis, but a number of other rivers, including the Gwaun, Nevern and Tâf have their sources in the range.OS Landranger Series, Map 145 Cardigan & Mynydd Preseli 2007

The principal peak at {{convert|1759|ft|m}} above sea level is Foel Cwmcerwyn. There are 14 other peaks over {{convert|980|ft|m}} of which three exceed {{convert|1300|ft|m}}.

Villages and other settlements within the range include Blaenffos, Brynberian, Crosswell, Crymych, Cwm Gwaun, Dinas Cross, Glandy Cross, Mynachlog-ddu, New Inn, Pentre Galar, Puncheston, Maenclochog, Rosebush and Tafarn-y-Bwlch. The only town in the Preseli area is Newport, at the foot of the Carningli-Dinas upland in the northwest of the range.

The Preselis provide hill grazing for much of the year and there is some forestry. As well as features of interest to geologists and archaeologists, the hills have a wide variety of bird, insect and plant life. There are three sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Carn Ingli and Waun Fawr (biological), and Cwm Dewi (geological). The Preseli transmitting station mast, erected in 1962, stands on Crugiau Dwy near the hamlet of Pentre Galar. To the south of Crugiau Dwy is the extensively quarried hill Carn Wen (Garnwen Quarry) which was still actively extracting igneous rock in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.swrawp-wales.org.uk/Html/quarries.html|title=South Wales Regional Aggregates Working Party|access-date=12 August 2019}}

The Preselis have Special Area of Conservation status; the citation states that the area is "... exceptional in Wales for the combination of upland and lowland features..." Numerous scarce plant and insect species exist in the hills.{{cite web|title=Mynydd Preseli - Countryside Council for Wales|url=http://www.ccgc.gov.uk/landscape--wildlife/protecting-our-landscape/special-landscapes--sites/protected-landscape/sssis/sssi-sites/mynydd-preseli.aspx|access-date=28 Apr 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412193006/http://www.ccgc.gov.uk/landscape--wildlife/protecting-our-landscape/special-landscapes--sites/protected-landscape/sssis/sssi-sites/mynydd-preseli.aspx|archive-date=12 April 2015|url-status=dead}} For example, they are an important UK site for the rare Southern damselfly, Coenagrion mercuriale,{{cite news|publisher= BBC News |title= Wales a haven for wildlife - but for how long? |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51109146|date= 25 January 2020 |author= Matt Lloyd |access-date= 25 January 2020}} where efforts to restore habitat were underway in 2015{{cite news|publisher=Western Telegraph|date=12 April 2015|title=Conservationists restore habitat for endangered species|url=http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/12885135.Conservationists_restore_habitat_for_endangered_species/|access-date=12 April 2015}} and reported in 2020 to have been a success.{{cite news|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54279701|title=Southern damselfly boosted in Pembrokeshire by 'fantastic' conservation|date=24 September 2020|access-date=24 September 2020}}

One major road, the A478, crosses the eastern end of the range, reaching a height of {{convert|248|m|ft}}. Two B-class roads, intersecting at New Inn, cross the hills: the B4313 NW-SE, reaching {{convert|278|m|ft}} and the B4329 NE-SW, reaching {{convert|404|m|ft}} at Bwlch-gwynt (translation: windy gap). The latter was turnpiked in 1790 and designated B4329 in the early 20th century; until then it had been the principal route between Cardigan and Haverfordwest.{{cite web|title=GENUKI: Meline|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Meline/|accessdate=22 April 2015}} These, and a number of other minor roads and lanes, provide scenic routes popular with motoring, cycling and walking tourists. The A487 trunk road skirts the western end of the range, through Newport. Cattle grids prevent egress of grazing stock from unenclosed areas of the mountains.

The Preselis are popular with walkers wishing to follow prehistoric trails,{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeology: Mynydd Carningli - Mynydd Melyn|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/walkerleaflets/mynyddcarningli.pdf|access-date=27 Apr 2014}} with walks varying from easy to long-distance. The larger part of the hills is designated under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 as 'open country' thereby enabling walkers the 'freedom to roam' across unenclosed land, subject to certain restrictions. An east-west bridleway which runs the length of the main massif (known as Flemings' Way or the Golden Road), together with spurs to north and south, gives access to mountain bikers and horseriders.Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale Explorer mapping There are cycle trails.{{cite web|title= pembrokeshire County Council: Preseli Stones Trail|date=4 June 2018 |url=https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/cycle-pembrokeshire/cycle-pembrokeshire-preseli-stones-trail|access-date=25 August 2019}} Paragliding is not permitted without the consent of the land owners, who in 2014 collectively agreed not to allow it.{{cite news|title=Paragliders banned from Preseli Hills|work=BBC News |date=14 March 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-17363496|access-date=1 May 2014}}

File:Castell Henllys - geograph.org.uk - 67364.jpg reconstructed Iron Age fort]]

Castell Henllys, on the A487 between Eglwyswrw and Felindre Farchog is a reconstructed Iron Age settlement, illustrating what life may have been like in those times.{{cite web|url=https://www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/default.asp?PID=261|title=Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: Castell Henllys|access-date=3 August 2019}}

The Preselis are dotted with prehistoric remains, including evidence of Neolithic settlement. More were revealed in an aerial survey during the 2018 heatwave.{{cite news|work=BBC News|title=Heatwave crop marks reveal 200 ancient sites in Wales|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46542523|date=28 December 2018|access-date=29 December 2018}}

Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales published in 1833 said of Maenclochog parish:{{blockquote|Part of the Precelly mountain, which is the highest in South Wales... the ancient Welsh name of this mountain is Preswylva, signifying "a place of residence," and is derived from its having been the resort of the natives, as a place of security, in the intestine [sic] wars by which this part of the principality was agitated during the earlier periods of its history. This mountain was anciently well clothed with forest timber, affording shelter to such as took refuge in its recesses, but now presents a bare and sterile aspect, dreary in its appearance, and exhibiting some small vestiges of ancient encampments, which were probably those constructed by the natives.{{cite book|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Wales|volume=2|page=199|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XwOAAAAQAAJ&q=%22intestine+wars+by+which+this+part+of+the+principality%22|publisher=S. Lewis & Co.|place=London|date=1845}}}}

Pollen analysis suggests that the hills were once forested but the forests had been cleared by the late Bronze Age.

File:Carn Menyn bluestones - geograph.org.uk - 1451509.jpg

In 1923 the petrologist Herbert Henry Thomas proposed that bluestone from the hills corresponded to that used to build the inner circle of Stonehenge,{{cite work|last=Thomas|first=H.H.|date=1923|title=The source of the stones of Stonehenge|publisher=Antiquaries Journal 3, 239-260}} and later geologists suggested that Carn Menyn (formerly called Carn Meini) was one of the bluestone sources.{{cite web|title=Archaeologists Figure Out Mystery of Stonehenge Bluestones|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=15661198&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=archaeologists-figure-out-mystery-of--stonehenge--bluestones-name_page.html|publisher=WalesOnline|year=2005|access-date=20 Nov 2013}} Recent geological work has shown this theory to be incorrect.{{cite work|author=Ixer, R.A. and Bevins, R.E.|date=2013|title=Chips off the old block: the Stonehenge debitage dilemma|publisher=Archaeology in Wales 52 11-22}} It is now thought that the bluestones at Stonehenge and fragments of bluestone found in the Stonehenge "debitage" have come from multiple sources on the northern flanks of the hills,{{cite work|author=Bevins, R.E., Ixer, R.A., Webb, P.C. and Watson, J.S.|date=2012|title=Provenancing the rhyolitic and dacitic components of the stonehenge landscape bluestone lithology: New petrographical and geochemical evidence|publisher=Journal of Archaeological Science, 39 (4)|pages=1005–1019}} such as at Craig Rhos-y-felin.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1215/071215-stonehenge-bluestone-quarries|title=Stonehenge 'bluestone' quarries confirmed 140 miles away in Wales|work=University College London|date=7 December 2015 |access-date=7 June 2018}} Advanced details of a recent contribution to the puzzle of the precise origin of the Stonehenge bluestones were published by the BBC in November 2013.{{cite news|work=BBC News|title=Another piece in Stonehenge rock source puzzle|date=19 November 2013|author=Neil Prior|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-25004282|access-date=7 June 2018}}

Others theorise that bluestone from the area was deposited close to Stonehenge by glaciation.{{cite work|last=Thorpe|first=R.S |display-authors=etal|date=1991|title= The geological sources and transport of the bluestones of Stonehenge, Wiltshire|publisher=Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 57, 103-57}} More detailed discussions on the bluestone topic can be found in the Stonehenge, Theories about Stonehenge and Carn Menyn articles.

Investigations published in 2021 suggested a link between Waun Mawn (see below) and the Stonehenge bluestones,{{cite journal|url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/446585/1/AQY_RE_20_013.R1_Proof_hi.pdf|title=The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales|date=2021 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2020.239 |access-date=12 February 2021 |last1=Pearson |first1=Mike Parker |last2=Pollard |first2=Josh |last3=Richards |first3=Colin |last4=Welham |first4=Kate |last5=Kinnaird |first5=Timothy |last6=Shaw |first6=Dave |last7=Simmons |first7=Ellen |last8=Stanford |first8=Adam |last9=Bevins |first9=Richard |last10=Ixer |first10=Rob |last11=Ruggles |first11=Clive |last12=Rylatt |first12=Jim |last13=Edinborough |first13=Kevan |journal=Antiquity |volume=95 |issue=379 |pages=85–103 }} but this was disputed in a 2024 study.{{cite work |author=John | first=B.S.|date=2024|title= The Stonehenge bluestones did not come from Waun Mawn in West Wales|publisher=The Holocene, published online, pp 1-13}}{{cite news|work=Narberth & Whitland Observer|date=24 March 2024|title=Stonehenge bluestones - the 'giant lost circle' never existed, says new research|url=https://www.narberth-and-whitland-today.co.uk/news/stonehenge-bluestones-the-giant-lost-circle-never-existed-says-new-research-673674|access-date=28 March 2024}}

{{main|List of Scheduled prehistoric Monuments in north Pembrokeshire}}

File:Beddarthur standing stone circle, Preseli Mountains - geograph.org.uk - 258436.jpg

File:Carreg Coetan burial chamber. - geograph.org.uk - 1044642.jpg

File:Cerrog Lladron Standing Stone H3a.jpg

The Preselis are rich in sacred and prehistoric sites,{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Preseli|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/Preseli/preselimap.htm|access-date=4 Apr 2014}} many of which are marked on Ordnance Survey maps. They include burial chambers, tumuli, hill forts, hut circles, stone circles, henges, standing stones and other prehistoric remains. These sites are spread across a number of communities that share parts of the Preseli range. Dyfed Archaeological Trust has produced extensive notes on the mountain range and surrounding features and villages.{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Mynydd Preseli|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/Preseli/area/area281.htm|access-date=16 February 2021}}

Some of the more notable are:

• Bedd Arthur (Neolithic hengiform standing stones){{Watprn|coflein|284}}. {{Watprn|DAT|1021}}. Cadw SAM: PE464: Bedd Arthur
• Mynydd Carningli (hillfort, SSSI){{Watprn|coflein|}}. {{Watprn|DAT|}}. Cadw SAM: PE011: Carn Ingli Camp
• Carn Menyn (chambered cairn)
• Carreg Coetan Arthur (Neolithic dolmen){{Watprn|coflein|304320}}. {{Watprn|DAT|1462}}. Cadw SAM: PE056: Carreg Coetan Burial Chamber
• Temple Druid (standing stone, cromlech)
• Pentre Ifan (burial chamber)

Others include:

• Banc Du (evidence of prehistoric settlement)
• Carn Alw (Neolithic settlement){{cite work|title=Scheduling Enhancement Project 2010: Prehistoric Sites Fieldwork - Pembrokeshire|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/schedulepembroke2010.pdf|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Carn Goedog (bluestones and standing stone){{cite web|title=Carn Goedog standing stone|url=http://www.experiencepembrokeshire.com/home-2-2/hidden-heritage/prehistoric/mynydd-preseli/carn-goedog-standing-stone/|access-date=27 Apr 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427050839/http://www.experiencepembrokeshire.com/home-2-2/hidden-heritage/prehistoric/mynydd-preseli/carn-goedog-standing-stone/|archive-date=27 April 2014|url-status=usurped}}
• Cerrig Lladron (Bronze Age stone row){{Watprn|coflein|403808}}. {{Watprn|DAT|11129}}. Cadw SAM: PE496: Cerrig Lladron stone row
• Foel Drygarn (hillfort){{cite web|title=The Megalithic Portal: Foel Drygarn|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4331|access-date=22 Nov 2013}}{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire Virtual Museum - Foel Drygarn|url=http://www.pembrokeshirevirtualmuseum.co.uk/content.asp?nav=101,3657,3693,3703|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Foel Cwmcerwyn (tumuli)
• Frenni Fach & Frenni Fawr (tumuli - see also Blaenffos)
• Glandy Cross (prehistoric remains)
• Glyn Gath (tumulus)
• Gors Fawr (stone circle){{cite web|title=Gors Fawr Stone Circle|url=http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/gorsfawr.htm|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Mynyedd Melyn (hut circle){{cite web|title=Archaeology in Wales: Mynydd Melyn|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/newportandcarningli/mynyddmelyn.htm|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Parc-y-Meirw (standing stones){{cite web|title=Parc y Meirw Stone Row|url=http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/parcymeirw.htm|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Rhos fach (standing stones){{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Rhos Fach|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/Preseli/area/area267.htm|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Tafarn y Bwlch (mountain pass and standing stones){{cite web|title=Geograph: Tafarn y Bwlch from Eglwyswrw (photograph)|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1435937|access-date=27 Apr 2014}}
• Tre-Fach (standing stone, prehistoric camp)
• Ty-Meini (standing stone, known as "The Lady Stone"{{cite work|last=Lloyd |display-authors=et al |title=Pembrokeshire|publisher=Yale University Press|date=2004|page=184}})
• Waun Mawn (standing stones; dismantled stone circle c.3400-3000 BC),{{cite work|title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire, Vol.VII|publisher=Royal Commission|date=1925|page=260}}{{cite news|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56029203|title=Stonehenge: Did the stone circle originally stand in Wales?|date=12 February 2021|access-date=12 February 2021}} grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|SN08393403}}{{cite web|title=Coflein: Waun Mawn|url=https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/300423/details/waun-mawn-standing-stonepossible-stone-circle|access-date=12 February 2021}}

Slate quarrying was once an important industry in the Preselis; the former quarries, worked for much of the 19th century, can still be seen in a number of locations such as Rosebush.{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire Virtual Museum - Rosebush|url=http://www.pembrokeshirevirtualmuseum.co.uk/content.asp?id=3811&language=|access-date=29 Apr 2014}} Preseli slate was not of roofing quality, but its density made it ideal for machining for building and crafts.{{cite work|last=Richards|first=A.J.|title=The Slate Quarries of Pembrokeshire|publisher=Gwasg Carreg Gwalch|date=1998|isbn=0863814840}} Most quarries had closed by the 1930s{{cite work|title=The Slate Industry in Pembrokeshire|publisher=Pembrokeshire Record Office|date=2004}} but there is a workshop at Llangolman where slate is still used to make a variety of craft items.

During the Second World War, the War Office used the Preselis extensively for training exercises by British and American air and ground forces.{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire Military History Guide|url=http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1qcir/PembrokeshireMilitar/resources/2.htm|access-date=23 June 2014}}{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Twentieth Century Military Sites: Camps and Ranges in Preseli District|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/campsandrangespreseli.pdf|access-date=29 March 2018}} Its proposed continued use after the war was the subject of a two-year ultimately successful protest by local leaders.{{cite work|last=Wyn|first=Hefin|date=2008|title=Battle of the Preselau|publisher=Sacramento Heritage Press |isbn=978-0-9549931-3-9}}(editions in Welsh and English) The success of the protest was commemorated 60 years on, in 2009, with a plaque at each end of the Golden Road: one at the foot of Foel Drygarn near Mynachlog-ddu, and another near the B4329 at Bwlch-gwynt.{{cite news|title=Preseli freedom walk|work=Tivyside Advertiser|url=https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/4349015.preseli-freedom-walk/|date=7 May 2009|access-date=17 August 2019}}

In 2000, Terry Breverton, a lecturer at Cardiff University, in promoting a book he had published, suggested that the rock star Elvis Presley's ancestors came from the Preselis and may have had links to a chapel at St Elvis.{{cite news |last1=Ezard |first1=John |title='Saintly' Elvis Presili hailed as a son of Wales |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jun/02/johnezard |work=The Guardian |date=2 June 2000 |location=London}}{{cite web |title=Elvis the King of Cymru |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/774228.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=25 August 2019 |date=5 June 2000}}

{{reflist |2}}

• Downes, John. Field observations in the geology and geomorphology of the Preseli hills of north Pembrokeshire. Open University Geological Society Journal, Volume 32 (1–2) 2011, pp 17–21 [http://ougs.org/files/ouc/archive/journal/OUGSJ_32_(1-2)_screen_res.pdf]

{{Commons category|Preseli Hills}}

• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2730287 Geograph: photographs of the Preseli Hills and surrounding area]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/localhistory/sw.shtml BBC Wales: local history]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131111115640/http://www.experiencepembrokeshire.com/hidden-heritage/prehistoric/ Experience Pembrokeshire: Mynydd Preseli]}}
• [https://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/preseli-mountains Visit Pembrokeshire: The Preseli Mountains]

{{Coord|51|56|48|N|4|46|25|W|region:GB-PEM_type:mountain|display=title}}

Category:Mountain ranges of Wales

Category:Landforms of Pembrokeshire

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Pembrokeshire

Category:Archaeological sites in Pembrokeshire