NPRN33276
Cyfeirnod MapSH57SW
Cyfeirnod GridSH5449771292
Awdurdod Unedol (Lleol)Ynys Môn
Hen SirAnglesey
CymunedLlanfair Pwllgwyngyll
Math O SafleMAGL BYSGOD
CyfnodÔl-Ganoloesol
DisgrifiadThis fish trap utilises the natural features of Ynys Gorad Goch. Ynys Gorad Goch consists of two islands, each containing a building, linked by a causeway some 20m long. The eastern building is a house, and the eastern one is a small fish curing building with a smoke tower at its west end. The fish trap consists of two stone walls which curve around the east and west sides of Ynys Gorad goch, and enclose most of the area of rocks exposed at low water. The west wall is set with a series of iron-grid outlets and is surmounted with a stone railing which replaced an earlier wooden railing.The walls are reported to have have been set with nets, which were accessed by walkways built out from the island. The angles of the walls are set to catch fish passing through the Menai Straits on the ebb tide, and the fish would be held by the strenth of the tide.
Event and Historical Information:
Local tradition has it that the island supplied fresh and smoked herring to a number of monasteries from the 13th century. The earliest known document referring to this fish trap and fishery dates from 1590 and refers to the Bishop of Bangor leasing the island and fishery to Thomas fletcher of Treborth. The rent was three pounds and one full barell of herrings during herring fishing season. The present fish trap structure is thought to be 19th century. The fish curing building was built after 1811. The island and its fishing rights were sold by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1988. It is now in private ownership.
Sources include:
Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, 2012, Historic Environment record
National Assembly of Wales, 2009, vertical AP
Turner, R. Fish Weirs and Fish Traps, in: Davidson, A. 2002. The Coastal Archaeology of Wales, CBA Research Report 131, pg 96-99.
WWW sources include:
http://www.anglesey-today.com/ynys-gorad-goch.html
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, January 2011.