A map discovered within the Bodleian Library exhibits two ‘misplaced’ islands in Cardigan Bay, probably indicating the legendary sunken kingdom from Welsh mythology, Cantre’r Gwaelod.
Cantre’r Gwaelod was a land stated to be west of present-day Wales. Accounts on the legend of Cantre’r Gwaelod differ, however the earliest depiction seems throughout the 13th century within the Black Guide of Carmarthen, describing the land as Maes Gwyddno. On this model, the land was misplaced to floods when a well-maiden named Mererid allowed the properly to overflow.
The extra broadly recognized variation is from the 17th century, the place Cantre’r Gwaelod is described as being a low-lying land, protected against the ocean by a dyke and a collection of sluice gates.
Seithenyn, certainly one of two princes accountable for the ocean defences received drunk one evening, ensuing within the sea overrunning the defences and flooding the dominion.
Professor Simon Haslett, honorary professor of bodily geography at Swansea College, went searching for misplaced islands in Cardigan Bay whereas he was a visiting fellow at Jesus Faculty, Oxford. His search led him to the Bodleian Library, the place he recognized two beforehand unknown islands on the 13-14th century Gough Map, one of many oldest maps of Britain.
The map exhibits an island offshore between Aberystwyth and Aberdyfi, whereas the opposite is positioned additional north close to Barmouth.
In a research printed within the journal Atlantic Geoscience, Professor Haslett has drawn upon earlier surveys of the bay and analysed information on the advance and retreat of glaciers and silt from the final Ice Age.
He believes that the map offers some sway in corroborating up to date accounts of a misplaced land talked about within the Black Guide of Carmarthen, additional supported by information by the Roman cartographer Ptolemy that steered the shoreline was a lot additional west than it’s at the moment.
Supply: www.heritagedaily.com