Din Lligwy

Just for a moment pretend you're living about 1,700 years ago. Your granddad kept you awake when you were little by telling you tales of a strange people who had marched out of the East and conquered your homeland. No matter how often the defenders of the island had tried to stop them, no matter how hard the priests had prayed at the sacred groves or how many sacrifices were made, there was no stopping them. And now, 250 or so years later, it didn't seem so bad after all. If fact, one of them lived just down the road, in a smart new house that was actually warm in winter and where people actually washed! Not a bit like where you live but then again, you like living in the old way, even though your settlement has only just been built. Built in the historic way, round huts to live in, with stone foundation walls, wooden sides and turf roofs. And square huts, where the animals were kept and which were also used as workshops. It's raining, and you're standing in the doorway of one of these huts, getting ready to light the fire in the hearth, for today is a smelting day when the iron will be made.
It's 2003, it's still raining, and you're standing in the same doorway! Not much has changed, although the wooden walls and the turf roofs have gone. The huts are still here however, along with the defensive perimeter wall. A few more trees perhaps, but basically just the same. Around you are the nine huts of the 4th century Romano-British settlement of Din Lligwy. The whole site covers about .2 of a hectare, not very big by our standards but home to perhaps 50 or so people at the time. Two of the square huts have been found to have 6 smelting hearths in them, so ironworkers obviously lived here. Built towards the end of the Roman occupation of Britain it probably didn't last for all that long, maybe a couple of hundred years, but it is in remarkable condition considering the length of time it has stood. Not much of the stone has been robbed out; in fact some of the walls are up to 6 feet high in places.
Worth a visit, as you get a real sense of how people lived in those days. Come through the wall at the northeast gateway and the village opens up in front of you. Wander around the open space in the middle and go inside the huts. Imagine what it was like to live in such a confined space, with all your animals herded inside at night. Imagine defending the walls against raiders, once the Romans had left and other invaders came. Then go down to Moelfre and have a pint in the Kimnel Arms!

To get to Din Lligwy follow the A 5025 through Benllech until you get to the Moelfre roundabout. Instead of turning right to Moelfre or left to Amlwch go straight across towards Lligwy. Pass the Lligwy burial chamber on your left (where the remains of 30 Neolithic skeletons were found) and look for the parking place on the left. Go over the style and across the fields keeping to the left to come to the outer wall of the settlement. You can also see the remains of the Hen Capel, a 7th century church on the right.