A common misconception

It is a widely held belief that the Romans really knew how to build and that the Native Celts, once they had admitted defeat after the Boudicca revolt, quickly settled into living in towns and villas built from brick and tile. Actually, the Celtic methods of building continued throughout the Roman period and into the medieval. And a very good system of building it was. Here on the same site as the Melin Llynon have been reconstructed two superb examples of these buildings-cob walls and thatch in a roundhouse. They are both very spacious and with great insulation. The guide, Arwyn Owen, is a “Seasonal Assistant” but he has a BA in Archaeology and really knows his stuff. So, if you are up this way walking the lanes and tracks of the Anglesey interior, then call and see him and find out how to build these things.

The Romans were indeed clever and well organised people. They certainly knew how to fight and how to build roads, but you don’t see many of their buildings about do you? Don’t tell Mary Beard I wrote that will you!