The culture and landscape of a forest based community is very different to that of an agricultural based society. Before records began our community had already been established based on sharing the benefits and work of caring for our forest. Throughout the centuries from the establishment of Christianity, Norman Invasion, National politics and more recently technological advances have changed the way our forest supports our community, but have never diminished its central role in the communities identity and existence.
The Maps displayed on this section of the website have been created to help people explore the history of the area. To help prevent the maps from being too cluttered you can select which features you want to display. The default is to display sites on open access land or visible from footpaths, bridleways, byways or roads. Other sites which can only be visited with the permission of the landowner can be displayed by selection of that option.
There are two versions of the maps available:-
The OS Map, this map has the advantage of enabling you to zoom is so you can see how close the site is to any footpath, bridleway, byway or road, or if it is on open access land.
The Google Map defaults to satellite view, so you can zoom in to get an impression of the terrain.
Clicking on the marker of a historical site links to the Historical Environment Record (HER) for the site via the Dyfed Archaeological Trust website. The HER is the most comprehensive source of information on archaeological sites and objects, it covers all periods of human development from traces of the earliest prehistoric activity to Second World War defensive structures and includes information from Cadw on Scheduled Ancient Monuments and Listed Buildings. As well as information on individual sites the HER contains information on past landscapes and information from previous archaeological work undertaken.
Dyfed Archaeological Trust are responsible for maintaining the HER for this area and by linking to their website the latest version of the records will be displayed. Some of the records include photographs of the site. Dyfed Archeology welcome the submission of additional information including photographs of any site by email to f.sage@dyfedarchaeology.org.uk – Currently all sites are just marked with a dot irrespective of the size of the site, volunteers are currently being sought to assist in a trial project in pembrokeshire to change the display to reflect the size of the site.
The HER is the source of information used by the county council for planning strategies and considering the impact of planning applications on historical sites. The HER is only available in English, so we have permission from the grant funders to develop this section of the website in English only. But the section of the website on local history is bilingual.
We strongly recommend that even if you plan to take mobile phones with you on your walk or ride, you also print off and annotate a copy of the OS maps with your planned route.
