AM BENSYCHNANT

Archaeology and Prehistory

At Pensychnant, a prehistoric landscape was used by mediaeval farmers, modified by Victorian whims, and is still farmed today. 

Even the moorland which seems to epitomise naturalness, is a product of the centuries of pasturage since Neolithic and Bronze Age man cleared the primaeval woodlands.

Pensychnant’s Archaeological trail includes Bronze Age, Iron age and mediaeval sites, including the hafotai (summer houses) which are so much part of Welsh history and culture.

Conwy Mountain has examples of Bronze Age burial, the magnificent Iron Age fortress, Caer Seion and Mediaeval feudal field systems, if you know where to look!

Abraham Stott
The original house at Pensychnant dates from about 1690, and In the 1870s Abraham Stott (1822-1904) bought the Pensychnant Estate.
Abraham had founded the firm AH Stott & Sons in Oldham in 1847 which had designed about a fifth of the Oldham cotton mills and many other textile mills besides, many af which can still be found both in Lancashire and further afield.

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The main house was started in 1877 and was completed in 1882. It became the country home of Abraham, many of the features were built in the newly fashionable Arts & Crafts style. The house had central heating from new. 

The woodland on the estate was mostly planted in the 1870s and Abraham continued to plant many more trees (with many nest boxes) in the following years. In 1937, after the mill industry’s decline, Pensychnant was sold, firstly to the Collins family, then to Conwy’s doctor, Dr Tattersall. 

20th Century Developments

In 1967, Brian Stott (1917-1997), great grandson of Abraham, bought back his family's estate. The estate continued to run as a working farm, but Brian Stott maintained it also as a nature reserve.

In 1989 Brian established the Pensychnant Foundation to manage Pensychnant as a conservation centre and nature reserve. 

Today the Pensychnant Foundation is a small charity, and Brian's son Timothy is one of the trustees of the Foundation.

 

The Centre continues to provide guided walks and lectures, and hosts many activities throughout the year, but has resisted making the reserve predominantly a busy tourist attraction or a commercial centre. Its attractiveness is its peaceful and homely atmosphere which is arguably much needed today. 

The Wider Area

Much of the Sychnant Pass is in Snowdonia National Park, and a large area of land within it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). 

Before the coming of the railway to the North Wales coast, the road through Sychnant Pass was the route of choice for mail coaches at high tide, when the faster and safer route along the sands was unusable. 

After leaving Conwy, the route runs westward through the valley on the south side of Mynydd y Dref (Conwy Mountain), which is topped by the hillfort of Castell Caer Seion. 

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There are parallel tracks and footpaths (including the North Wales Path) on Mynydd y Dref for most of the way.

Also Allt-Wen (837 ft, 255 m) and Penmaenbach (804 ft, 245 m) can be climbed from here.

At the western end of the valley, the Sychnant Pass Road runs between the stone walls of the Pensychnant estate and through a narrow gap in the surrounding hills before descending steeply to the valley floor. 

At the bottom of the pass to the West is the village of Capelulo, which leads on to the community of Penmaenmawr.

Capelulo is reputedly the site of an early medieval chapel of Saint Ulo. 

Here in Capelulo there is an inn and in the ravine behind the inn is Nant Ddaear-y-Llwynog (the Fairy Glen), a Victorian nature trail. 

From Capelulo it is an easy walk or short drive to the coast at Penmaenmawr.