Buarthau'r Gyrn sheepfold, Y Gyrn
This multi-cell sheepfold is one of many in the Carneddau area of Eryri (Snowdonia) where sheep from the mountain slopes are sorted three times each year.
It is 507 metres above sea level and sits near the peak of Y Gyrn, from which it derives its name. Corlan is the usual name for a sheepfold in Welsh, but in the Carneddau a sheepfold is called a buarth. Buarthau is the plural.
A large proportion of the Carneddau is unenclosed common grazing land, where sheep from different farms mix together during the spring and summer months. Farmers work collectively to gather all of the sheep three times a year: in July for shearing; in September for separating lambs from the ewes; and in October or November when the sheep are brought down to the lower ground for the winter. In this respect the sheepfolds are very much communal structures, and the sheepfold on Y Gyrn is still in use today.
The aerial photo, courtesy of Nigel Beidas, shows the sheepfold in use in September 2023.
Buarthau'r Gyrn has 20 cells, including a large gathering cell near the entrance. At each gathering, farmers and sheepdogs usher the sheep into the centre of the sheepfold. Farmers use the paint marks on the animals’ backs to identify the sheep for sorting, but if in doubt they can check the clustnodau (cuts in the ears unique to each farm) to see which farm owns a particular sheep. The sheep are directed through creeps – holes in the internal walls – to the smaller cells around the middle set aside for each farm.
Stray sheep that are picked up during each gathering, but don't belong to any of the farms using the folds, are returned to their owners by the chief shepherd, or 'setiwr'. The Welsh name derives from the English 'escheator', an official who handled the property of people who died without inheritors.
The oldest Carneddau sheepfolds date from around the 18th century, when the common land on the mountains began to be enclosed by large estates and wealthy individuals. Sheep replaced cattle as the main grazing animals on the Carneddau as they were more profitable, especially when demand for sheep’s wool and meat increased during the Napoleonic wars in 1800-1815.
Buarthau'r Gyrn is shown on a map dated 1786 and was probably built sometime in the 100 years before this.
With thanks to Nigel Beidas of Cofnodi Corlannau
Grid reference: SH6483268863 View Location Map
Website of Cofnodi Corlannau – details and photos of the Carneddau sheepfolds