North Wales history

Evidence of the existance of early man in North Wales can be seen in burial chambers and standing stones, such as Ty Newydd and Penrhos Feilw on Anglesey, together with the Bronze Age hill fort and Ty Mawr Iron Age stone huts both on Holyhead Mountain. Historians believe that human habitatian of North Wales dates back to around 4000BC. Around 2000BC, the Bronze Age 'Beaker Folk' settled in the area. 

By around 1000BC, the population of North Wales seems to have consisted of settled farmers and miners. The remains of an ancient copper mine can be see on Pen y Gogarth (Great Orme) near Llandudno. This was when the Celtic language and traditions arrived in Wales from Europe, with them came the Druids. The Romans finally conquered North Wales in AD75. They left their mark on the area with their forts at Holyhead and at Segontium, near Caernarfon.

The best known remains of North Wales history are the wealth of medieval castles built by the native Welsh princes and the invading Normans. North Wales was for almost a millennium known as the Kingdom of Gwynedd. The mountainous stronghold of Snowdonia was the last redoubt of independent Wales and only overcome in 1283. It remains a stronghold of the Welsh language and a centre for Welsh national and cultural identity.