Caldey Island Research Articles

Island monasticism in Wales: towards an historical archaeology

Wales has a significant number of islands that have supported monastic life at some time in their histories. These monastic islands do not command quite the same international attention as those from other Celtic nations, for example Skellig Michael (Ireland) or Iona (Scotland), but islands such as Ynys Enlli (Bardsey) and Caldey Island (Ynys Bŷr) have sustained recognition as 'holy islands' in Welsh tradition. Those seeking assessments of the phenomenon of island monasticism in Wales will also find only a modest literature, now requiring some careful recalibration in the light of changing interpretations of Welsh church history. This discussion is an attempt to establish the data and models for a holistic reassessment. This is not necessarily just an academic desideratum. Welsh islands have recently, for example, been identified as assets for the emerging trend of 'faith tourism', with potential economic as well as environmental impact.<br/> In this study I will approach the archaeology of the Welsh islands initially by way of their historical context. There are a number of reasons for this choice of approach. It is arguable that only a multi-disciplinary approach here offers a sustainable body of data for analysis. Island sites are characteristically materially poor and the eremitical ethos of much island monasticism converges with that tendency. The 'island monastery' is also prone to rather singular conception as an 'early Christian' artefact, whereas much of what we think we know concerning the Welsh islands speaks most definitely of later medieval use—and only uncertainly of the early medieval. So a strongly diachronic approach is essential. For one or two of the islands, moreover, there is a requirement simply to resolve their historical identities. Finally, there is a pressing need to uncouple these islands from dated historical models of evangelism via the seaways and other models in which monasticism is conflated with secular Christianity—assumptions that can influence interpretation of archaeological evidence for settlement.

Mesolithic and Neolithic Human Remains from Foxhole Cave, Gower, South Wales

This paper presents an overview of the results of two brief excavation seasons (2008 and 2010) at Foxhole Cave, Gower, south Wales, placing them into the wider context of mid-Holocene Britain. No prehistoric pottery was found and the few pieces of worked flint recovered are diagnostic of the Mesolithic period. Typically for the Carboniferous limestone caves of Gower, bone was well preserved, however, and though much of the material in the heavily disturbed upper metre or so of the deposits was modern sheep and rabbit, scattered fragments representing the remains of at least six humans were also recovered, of which two have been directly radiocarbon-dated using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS 14C) to the Late Mesolithic and two to the earlier Neolithic (the remaining two providing Romano-British and medieval dates). Their associated stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values indicate a significant difference in diet between the two periods (contrary to the results from an earlier excavation in 1997), with marine foods contributing around half of the protein for the Mesolithic individuals and little or none for the Neolithic individuals. The new results are consistent with those from Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, some 30km to the west. The floor of the cave has still not been reached at around 2m depth; limited investigation of the lowermost levels has yielded a Pleistocene fauna (including reindeer, aurochs or bison and collared lemming) with dates back to approx 33,500 cal bc, though with no definite evidence for human activity so far. A small, dark-stained fragment of human cranium was recovered from what may be pre-Holocene levels, but this failed to produce sufficient collagen for dating. In addition to a marked dietary shift, the combined stable isotope and dating programme provides further support for an equally striking temporal gap of some two millennia between the Mesolithic and Neolithic use of caves for burial.

Mesoscale evolution of a headland bay: Beach rotation processes

The morphology change of a headland bay beach: Tenby, West Wales (GR 212200, 198599) has been analysed over a mesoscale timeframe (1830–2009). GIS, cross-shore profiles, off-shore wave climate, have been utilised to assess the role of atmospheric variability on long-term shoreline change. Previous studies have suggested that plan-form change seen in recent times has been caused by closure of Ritec valley estuary circa 1855, and whilst admittedly closure did have an initial effect with northerly dune field migration and reductions in inter-tidal and nearshore estuary flushing, this study suggests that climatic variations also contribute to evolution of this bay. Mesoscale analysis qualitatively highlights two distinct time periods of plan-form evolution characterised by total reversals in trend that take place around 1919. More recent bay rotation about a stable central sector, is shown quantitatively: the southern sector shows progressive retreat ( R 2 = 0.93), whilst the northern sector is shown to advance ( R 2 = 0.56). Points of rotation show steady migration northwards as retreat is encountered within the south sector ( R 2 = 0.79), which confirms that the bay is still evolving. On a decadal level, correlation can be found between positive NAO index values and beach level, and volume reductions based on a visually active beach profile ( R 2 = 0.44 and 0.53 respectively), whilst normalised wave height variability is also closely linked with index change ( t = 0.952, df = 82, p > 0.05) over a similar timeframe. Positive index values result in stormier south-westerly winds (180°–270°), where it is found that 54% of high winds emanate from this quadrant. Further correlation is found between these winds and NAO Index ( R 2 = 0.47). Winds from this direction produce waves that diffract and refract around Giltar headland and off-shore Caldey island, that induce a south to north movement of sediment increasing southerly shoreline retreat and, conversely, northerly advance. Qualitative observations of hind-casts produced using decadal analysis regression equations and mesoscale NAO data suggest that the atmospheric variation is a contributory factor in bay evolution. Similar scenarios are likely to exist at other locations; therefore, assessments should be repeated more widely, to develop appropriate management strategies.

A Mid-Upper Palaeolithic human humerus from Eel Point, South Wales, UK

We report here on a human humerus directly dated to 24,470 ± 110 BP, placing it within the Gravettian, or Mid-Upper Palaeolithic. The partial humerus is an isolated find and can be attributed (with some caution) to the Pleistocene ‘bone cave’ of Eel Point on Caldey Island, Wales (UK). The humerus is probably male, similar in robusticity to other Gravettian right humeri. The apparent absence of stone tools and presence of hyaena bone and coprolites suggest that the element may not derive from an intentional burial. After a maxilla from Kent's Cavern and the Gravettian Paviland 1, Eel Point represents the third oldest anatomically modern human known from Britain. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements do not support certain use of marine foods but highlight the need for more research on contemporary faunal remains in order to better interpret human values from this period.

Finding the coastal Mesolithic in southwest Britain: AMS dates and stable isotope results on human remains from Caldey Island, south Wales

The implications of new evidence are presented for the generally high level of marine diet in the coastal Mesolithic populations of Wales. Within these generally high levels, some variations may point to seasonal movement. These data provide a strong contrast with the mainland terrestrial diet of early Neolithic populations in the same area.

Radiocarbon Dates from the Oxford Ams System: Archaeometry Datelist 31

Radiocarbon Dates from the Oxford Ams System: <i>Archaeometry</i> Datelist 31

Pill Priory, 1996–1999: Recent Work at a Tironian House in Pembrokeshire

Recording, geophysical survey and a watching brief undertaken between 1996 and 1999 at Pill Priory, a Tironian house founded near Milford Haven in the late 12th century, have together considerably increased our knowledge of what was hitherto a little-understood site. With its mother-house, St Dogmaels Abbey, and sister house on Caldey Island, Pill belongs to the best preserved group of the order's British houses. It appears to have been of moderate size and to have exhibited a fully developed conventual plan based around a cruciform church, of which only the chancel arch and part of the south transept now survive. The north wall of the north transept was revealed during sewage-pipe excavation in 1996–7, and the nave and chancel wall-lines were observed as geophysical anomalies in July 1999 as was a detached building, possibly an infirmary. The east and south ranges of the conventual buildings were selectively adapted as domestic accommodation during the 16th–19th centuries but elements of the medieval fabric still survive. A sewage pipe trench cut through the former monastic cemetery, revealing 31 inhumations. All of these apparently relate to the priory, but their identities are unknown — the community itself rarely numbered above five members. Well-preserved skeletal remains in varying degrees of completeness were present, but all had undergone later disturbance; only one exhibited any evidence for a coffin. The high incidence if grave superimposition suggests that space within the cemetery was at a premium, while their arrangement may indicate the approximate extent of the formal monastic precinct.

Abbot Aelred Carlyle, Caldey Island, and the Anglo-Catholic Revival in England by Rene Kollar, O.S.B.

Abbot Aelred Carlyle, Caldey Island, and the Anglo-Catholic Revival in England by Rene Kollar, O.S.B.

The 1913 Caldey Island Property Inquiry. The convert Monks and Question of Ownership

En 1913, A. Carlyle, abbe de Caldey et la majorite de sa communaute benedictine anglicane passerent au catholicisme. Aussitot s'eleva une polemique, qui alla jusqu'au Parlement, a propos des sommes recueillies aupres des fideles anglicans pour la fondation. Sur la proposition de Lord C. L. Halifax, un comite fut constitue, reuni a partir du 17 juillet, qui conclut en laissant aux moines la propriete de l'ile a charge pour eux de rembourser avec un delai raisonnable a l'Eglise d'Angleterre les dons recus des fideles (les moines vendirent plus tard l'ile aux cisterciens et se deplacerent a Prinknash)

Archbishop Davidson, Bishop Gore and Abbot Carlyle: Benedictine monks in the Anglican Church

Aelred Carlyle (1874–1955) believed that his vocation was to re-establish Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church. His early attempts in London and Gloucestershire failed, but in 1902 the future suddenly looked promising. During that year, he attracted the attention of Lord Halifax, who invited the small group of Anglican monks to settle at his estate in Yorkshire. Here, Carlyle’s foundation thrived: the membership grew; he enjoyed the support of influential Anglo-Catholics throughout Britain; and after he obtained the approval of the archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple, for his revival of Benedictine life, Carlyle was ordained a priest in America. In 1906, the Anglican Benedictines moved to Caldey Island, where Carlyle planned to orchestrate the growth and spread of a grand congregation of Anglican monks.

Anglo-Catholicism in the Church of England, 1895–1913: Abbot Aelred Carlyle and the Monks of Caldey Island

From 1906–13, Abbot Aelred Carlyle (1874–1955) enjoyed immense popularity as an Anglo-Catholic, and, according to some, could have easily become the spokesman for this section of the Anglican Church. Through perseverance and diplomacy, he singlehandedly founded the first Benedictine monastery in the Church of England since the Reformation. Unlike others who sought and failed to bring Roman Catholic practices into the Established Church, Abbot Carlyle enjoyed the explicit ecclesiastical sanction of an Archbishop of Canterbury for his work, and with this seal of approval he could dismiss critics and disbelievers. By 1910, Abbot Carlyle and his community on Caldey Island, South Wales, had become a paradise for High Churchmen. The Abbot's charismatic and hypnotic personality attracted many who nostalgically longed for the glories of a medieval and united Christendom. Armed with a High Church theory of Benedictinism, Caldey became an enclave of ritualism, the “naughty underworld” of the Edwardian Anglican Church. Caldey was, at its peak, an exemplar of pre-Reformation Roman Catholic monasticism. In 1913, the experiment was in ruins. Carlyle refused to yield to the reforming zeal of the Bishop of Oxford and his attempts to force Caldey to conform to the comprehension of the Anglican Church. The result was sensational: a group of monks renounced the church of their baptism and sought admission to the Church of Rome.

Total Community. The Monks of Caldey Island. By Roscoe Howells. (Tenby: H. G. Walters. 1975. 224 pp. £3.75.)

Total Community. The Monks of Caldey Island. By Roscoe Howells. (Tenby: H. G. Walters. 1975. 224 pp. £3.75.)

Faunal Remains from Ogof-yr-Ychen, Caldey Island

THE non-human osteological remains excavated at Ogof-yr-Ychen have provided further evidence of the Pleistocene fauna associated with cave deposits along the southern Welsh coastline. The list (Table 1) confirms many of the species found already from the general area1 and introduces two examples of a species not previously recorded, the common vole Microtus arvalis Pallas.

Radiocarbon Dating from Ogof-yr-Ychen, a New Pleistocene Site in West Wales

THERE has recently been renewed discussion concerning the extent of the Weichselian Irish Sea Glacier1–3, and several authors have stressed the difficulty of determining its southern margin in Wales on the basis of geomorphological and stratigraphic criteria alone. Also, in South Wales there is no known reliable interglacial or interstadial palaeobotanical site which can be used for the dating of drift sequences. Archaeological investigations in favourable localities may assist greatly in this debate, as well as extending knowledge of Pleistocene faunas and of human Palaeolithic occupation on the South Wales lowlands4,5. Already it is suggested that substantial parts of Pembrokeshire and the Gower Peninsula were unaffected by ice during the last glaciation3, allowing the possibility of more or less continuous human Palaeolithic occupation of some coastal sites. The radiocarbon age determination for the “Red Lady” of Paviland (18,460 ± 340 yr BP, BM374)6 supports this view, indicating that there was Proto-Solutrean occupation of cave sites in Gower close to the peak of the last glaciation. This was followed by a Creswellian occupation, probably after 15,000 yr BP7,8. In Pembrokeshire the most promising Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic finds have been made during a series of excavations on Caldey Island since 1911 (refs 9 and 10).

Fossil Records of Mendelian Mutants

WITH the help of Prof. A. E. Boycott and others, I have been engaged for the past ten years in collecting data for the study of the distribution of variations in natural populations. The species selected for study were the two common and very variable British landsnails, Helix (Cepaea) nemoralis L. and H. (Cepaea) hortensis, Mull. These snails normally occur in populous and well-defined colonies. In habit they are sedentary and apparently seldom move far from their birthplace. Most of the variations taken into consideration are those that affect the colour and banding of the shell. The classical experiments of Lang, and the wider, but as yet mainly unpublished, work of Mr. A. W. Stelfox, have shown that several of the colour and band forms are inherited on simple Mendelian lines. Both species are recorded fossil from the Red Crag of Butley (Pliocene) and subsequent strata, and C. nemoralis from the Miocene of France (A. E. Ellis, “British Snails”, 1926). Mr. J. W. Taylor in his monograph of the land and freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles gives numerous records of the geological distribution, and says of C. hortensis that in a pleistocene deposit (Ightham, Kent) the five-banded and unbanded forms were about equally numerous. To-day, bandedness is known to be a simple recessive to unbandedness in both species. Mr. W. J. Wintle (Proc. Malac. Soc., 16, 171-8; 1925) reports that on Caldey Island, C. nemoralis is very common as a living snail and as a pleistocene and holocene fossil. He states that among the living snails the unbanded form seems rather more common than the banded forms but that the reverse is true of the pleistocene shells. In neither of these cases, however, are any figures quoted.

THE NON-MARINE MOLLUSCA OF CALDEY ISLAND

Journal Article THE NON-MARINE MOLLUSCA OF CALDEY ISLAND Get access W. J. WINTLE, F.Z.S. W. J. WINTLE, F.Z.S. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Molluscan Studies, Volume 16, Issue 4, April 1925, Pages 171–176, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.mollus.a063856 Published: 01 April 1925 Article history Received: 14 November 1924 Published: 01 April 1925

Alabaster Reliquary Found in Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, with Notices of an Object of the Like Description Existing in Anglesey

Alabaster Reliquary Found in Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, with Notices of an Object of the Like Description Existing in Anglesey