Qualla: Craig Gwrtheyrn https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Craig Gwrtheyrn https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn Craig Gwrtheyrn: Introduction https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn/ On a high ridge above the south bank of the Teifi, an Iron Age rampart still traces a long oval through the bracken. Inside the perimeter, scattered through the turf at the south-west entrance, lie about thirty sharpened stones set on end, the remains of a chevaux de frise: a defensive obstacle of pointed stones designed to break the legs of attacking warriors and the horses of any chieftain reckless enough to charge up the hill. The fort is small and unspectacular by the standards of British hillforts. What makes it remarkable is its name. Caer Gwrtheyrn. Vortigern's Castle. According to a 9th-century Welsh chronicle, this is where the most reviled British king of the post-Roman period died, struck down by fire from heaven for his sins.

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/b/craig-gwrtheyrn-wp/gckb-craig-gwrtheyrn-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Craig Gwrtheyrn: The Hill and the Bank https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn/ Craig Gwrtheyrn occupies a commanding bluff about 1.2 miles west of the village of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth in Carmarthenshire. The fort itself follows the contours of the hill, enclosing about 1.5 hectares with a defensive line measuring roughly 160 metres north to south and 125 met...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/b/craig-gwrtheyrn-wp/gckb-craig-gwrtheyrn-the-hill-and-the-bank.mp3 0:06 2 full Craig Gwrtheyrn: Chevaux de Frise https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn/ Chevaux de frise is a French term, literally Frisian horses, originally referring to a portable timber and spike barrier developed in the 17th century to stop cavalry. Archaeologists borrowed the name for the much older stone-spike defences found at a handful of British and Irish...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/b/craig-gwrtheyrn-wp/gckb-craig-gwrtheyrn-chevaux-de-frise.mp3 0:06 3 full Craig Gwrtheyrn: Vortigern https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn/ The hillfort's modern name attaches it to one of the most argued-about figures of post-Roman Britain. Vortigern, in Welsh Gwrtheyrn, was a 5th-century British warlord whose name appears in several early medieval sources, including Gildas's 6th-century De Excidio Britanniae and th...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/b/craig-gwrtheyrn-wp/gckb-craig-gwrtheyrn-vortigern.mp3 0:06 4 full Craig Gwrtheyrn: Fire from Heaven https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn/ According to one of the accounts in Historia Brittonum, Vortigern fled persecution by St Germanus of Auxerre, a 5th-century Gaulish bishop who came to Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy. The king, the chronicle claims, built a stronghold on the River Teifi and took refuge ther...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/b/craig-gwrtheyrn-wp/gckb-craig-gwrtheyrn-fire-from-heaven.mp3 0:06 5 full Craig Gwrtheyrn: The View from the Rampart https://qualla.com/craig-gwrtheyrn/ Climb the southern bank of Craig Gwrtheyrn on a clear day and the Teifi valley spreads out below: the river winding eastward toward Llandysul and Newcastle Emlyn, the patchwork of pasture and woodland on both sides, the long Cambrian foothills rising blue in the distance. The for...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/k/b/craig-gwrtheyrn-wp/gckb-craig-gwrtheyrn-the-view-from-the-rampart.mp3 0:06 6 full