1. Findspot, in 1852, of the Capel Garmon firedog, found whilst digging a ditch through a turbary (peat cutting). Although the exact findspot is not recorded, the most extensive area of former turbary, now a wetland area drained by streams, lies north-west of the farm centred on SH 820 532. The wetland extends for some 400m. (Toby Driver, RCAHMW).

2. ‘Found in 1852, the firedog was uncovered in a field at Carreg Goedog Farm, Capel Garmon (Conwy). It lay on its side, with a large stone placed at each end, and was deeply buried. Its careful placing and unbroken state suggest that it was deliberately placed as an offering to a god of the pagan Celtic world. This fits into a long-established tradition of depositing metalwork in Wales’s lakes, rivers and bogs during the Bronze and Iron Ages… It has been estimated that the Capel Garmon Firedog may have taken one person over 3 years to make, from the gathering of raw materials, through the smelting of the ore to the finishing of the artefact. This transformation of iron ore into metal was probably viewed as a magical process by the Celts, and blacksmiths would have been given great respect for the powers that they wielded.’ (Museum Wales 2007)

3. ‘The relic…was discovered in May, 1852, by a man cutting a ditch through a turbary on the farm of Carreg Goedog, near Capel Garmon, Llanwrst. It lay on the clay subsoil, flat upon its side, with a large stone at each end, and at considerable depth. The spot is quite unfrequented, nor are there any remains of ancient buildings. It is all of iron, and the execution indicates considerable taste and skill. It is in some parts much corroded, and exposure to their air decomposed the metal considerably.’ (Evans 1856, 93-94)

4. ‘This remarkable example of Kelto-Roman wrought ironwork was found whilst cutting a ditch through a turbary on the farm of Carreg Coedog, lying flat on its side on the clay subsoil, with a stone at each end. (Romilly Allen 1901, 39)

5. The firedog is now on display in the Gweithdy gallery at St Fagans National Museum of History, Amgueddfa Cymru/Museum Wales

T. Driver, RCAHMW, January 2024

References:

Driver, T. 2023. The Hillforts of Iron Age Wales. Logaston Press. (p. 204, Fig 6.21).

Evans, J. 1856. Carnedd and Cromlech at Capel Garmon, Near Llanwrst. Archaeologia Cambrensis, Third Series, No. VI, April 1856. 91-95. https://journals.library.wales/view/2919943/3013266/14#?xywh=-1394%2C2163%2C4234%2C2717

Fox, C. 1939. 'The Capel Garmon Firedog'. The Antiquaries Journal, vol. 19, p446-8.

Green, M. 1996. Celtic art, reading the messages. Weidenfeld & Nicholson.

Museum Wales 2007: https://museum.wales/articles/1340/Stunning-ironwork-firedog-uncovered-in-farmers-field/

Piggott, S. 1971. 'Firedogs in Iron Age Britain and beyond'. In: The European community in later prehistory: studies in honour of C. F. C. Hawkes by J. Boardman, M. A. Brown and T. G. E. Powell, p 245-70. Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Romilly Allen, J. 1901. Two Kelto-Roman finds in Wales. Archaeologia Cambrensis, Vol. 1, Sixth Series, 20-44. https://journals.library.wales/view/4718179/4718621/44#?xywh=-516%2C285%2C3642%2C2337

Site Record

Carreg-Coediog (findspot of Capel Garmon firedog)