Tyddyn Grasod sheepfold, Llangelynnin
This multi-cell sheepfold is one of many in the Carneddau area of Eryri (Snowdonia) where sheep from the mountain slopes are sorted several times each year.
It’s 316 metres above sea level and was named after Tyddyn Grasod, a homestead now in ruins c.50m north of the fold. The photo by Walter Harris, from the Conwy Camera Club archive, was taken c.1966, when the homestead still had a roof.
A large proportion of the Carneddau is unenclosed common grazing land, where sheep from different farms mix together. Farmers work collectively to gather all of the sheep in July for shearing, September for separating lambs, and October/November for bringing the sheep to lower ground for the winter. In this respect the sheepfolds are communal structures.
Tyddyn Grasod sheepfold has 13 small cells, grouped around a wedge-shaped collection cell. It was built using stones that were available nearby. Old maps record a quarry near the sheepfold.
At each gathering, farmers and sheepdogs usher the sheep into the collection cell. 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). The sheep are directed through creeps – holes in the internal walls – to the smaller cell set aside for each farm. Sheep belonging to none of the local farmers are returned to their owners by the chief shepherd, or setiwr. The Welsh name derives from the English escheater.
Sheepfolds are commonly known as corlannau in Welsh, but in the Carneddau they’re generally known as buarthau. The oldest Carneddau sheepfolds date from the 18th century, when large estates and wealthy individuals began to enclose the common land. 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 1800- 1815.
With thanks to Nigel Beidas of Cofnodi Corlannau, and Conwy Camera Club
Grid reference: SH 744746 View Location Map
Website of Cofnodi Corlannau – details and photos of the Carneddau sheepfolds