© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw
Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement is a medieval rural settlement in Wales, now abandoned and protected by Cadw under reference CN314. The site occupies land underlain by Llanvirn Rocks of the Whiterock formation, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone that formed during the early Ordovician period. This bedrock geology would have shaped both the drainage and the agricultural potential of the land chosen for settlement.
The settlement represents a phase of medieval rural occupation that was eventually deserted, leaving only earthwork traces and archaeological deposits in the landscape. Such settlements were typically organised around field systems and pasture, their inhabitants depending on mixed farming adapted to local conditions. The upland or marginal location suggested by the Welsh toponymy indicates this was frontier farming country, where communities worked challenging terrain.
The site's survival as a recognisable archaeological feature, despite centuries of abandonment, reflects the durability of medieval settlement patterns impressed upon the Welsh landscape. Deserted rural settlements like Cwm Caseg are important witnesses to the medieval expansion and contraction of settlement, demographic change, and shifting patterns of land use across Wales.
Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CN314. View the official record →
Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement is a medieval rural settlement in Wales, now abandoned and protected by Cadw under reference CN314.
Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement dates from the medieval period, and is classified as a deserted rural settlement. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is CN314.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The Holyhead Road: the Ogwen Pass (5.6 km), Nant Ffrancon Anti-invasion Defences (6.1 km), Hut Circle Settlement at Nant Bochllwyd (6.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cwm Caseg Deserted Rural Settlement stands on Llanvirn Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Whiterock. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.