This is surreal! The UK storms in 2014 have revealed the remains of these ancient trees on a beach near the village of Borth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales. And this ancient forest is tied to the fable of Cantre’r Gwaelod.
Wow! The latest UK storms that battered southern UK in February 2014 weren’t not only apocalyptic, but also revealed amazing and surreal archeological treasures. One of the most incredible exemple are ancient oaks and pines from 5,000-year-old forest that have been unearthed on a Welsh beach.
The ancient forest was covered in peat before eventually being swallowed by the sea. They were uncovered by the latest set of storms which washed away the peat layer. Conditions inside the peat, devoid of oxygen and slightly alkaline, have meant the stumps survived.
The Folklore behind this forest
Legends say trees and nearby township were flooded after a priestess neglected a magical well. Folklore has it that Cantre’r Gwaelod, or the Sunken Hundred, a once-fertile land and township, was lost beneath the waves in a mythical age (BTW, did you know tahat saturday is the end of the world according to Vikings?) . The land is said to have extended 20 miles west of the present Cardigan Bay, but disaster struck and Cantre’r Gwaelod was lost to floods when Mererid, the priestess of a fairy well, apparently neglected her duties and allowed the well to overflow.
The tree stumps are not the only ancient treasure to be unearthed by the bad weather. In January an ichthyosaur skeleton was discovered on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset after part of the cliff fell away and revealed it.
You can look at other pictures here.
[…] Discover this 5,000-year-old forest on Welsh beach revealed during UK storms in February 2014. […]