The Mystery of the Missing Medieval Sea

The mystery of the missing sea is one that has personally intrigued me recently. Through all of the Welsh history I have covered on this channel, I have never encountered a phenomenon as mysterious as what I've dubbed as the "islands that aren't islands".
Throughout a small valley in Wales, near the towns of Porthmadog and Tremadog, there are 10 hills that aren't called hills at all, but "islands", despite being completely away from the ocean, a phenomenon that is completely unique throughout the history of Wales.
Wales' history is full of mysteries, and these islands that aren't islands, surrounded by a missing medieval sea, is another one of them.
Chapters:
0:00 - Islands that Aren't Islands
0:45 - Ynys, Ynys, Ynys
2:52 - Traeth Mawr
5:10 - How to Remove 13 Miles of Coastline (100% Effective!)
7:35 - William Madocks
Sources (turn on captions):
Hislop, M. (2024). A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England. Pen & Sword History,
[1] pp. 175,
[2] 176.
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales. Cambriae Typus.
[3] www.library.wales/discover-le....
Rhind, P.M. and Jones, A. (1994). Brackish saltmarsh communities in the Glaslyn marsh trust reserve. Field Studies, 8,
[4] p. 373.
Robinson, G. and King, T.J. (2019). At Home on the Waves: Human Habitation of the Sea from the Mesolithic to Today. Berghahn Books,
[5] pp. 145-146,
[6] 146,
[7] 146-148,
[8] 147.
Thomas, D., (1959). MADOCKS, WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1773 - 1828), industrialist and philanthropist. Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
[9] biography.wales/article/s-MAD...
Tweet by @KeithAPettit:
[10] / 1742951095784071278
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Maps:
© OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA: www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
www.floodmap.net/
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Music courtesy of the KZbin Audio Library:
Rain Cloud Music - Emily A. Sprague
Sunrise Over Big Data Country - Dan Bodan
A Slow Dream - Emily A. Sprague
Stuck In The Air - The Tower of Light
Ammil - The Tides
--------------------
Images of, and from:
Afon Glaslyn and Traeth Mawr by Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
A sea of grass, south-west of Tremadog by Christine Johnstone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cnicht From the Cob, Porthmadog, Gwynedd by Peter Trimming, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
"Island" near Farmyard by Dewi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Y Cob, Porthmadog o'r awyr, Gwynedd, Cymru (Wales) by Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
all other images are public domain, via the Yale Center for British Art, the British Library, and the National Library of Wales
#wales

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thanks for watching, everyone, and here’s to more Welsh history in 2024. If you know of any other islands that aren’t islands in Wales, feel free to let me know! I didn’t want to derail the pacing by listing every single one I could find, and I already indulged myself by going over the 10 in the Glaslyn valley. Bonus info I didn’t include: Ynys can also refer to river-meadows, an example that was in the Welsh dictionary I looked at, but was very minor and figurative, and was something that I didn’t know a single occurrence of. However, this seems to actually be way more frequent in South Wales! I’m not from South Wales, so I hadn’t ever seen this before, sorry to those who wished I’d included this example Diolch! edit: just realised I never pressed 'publish' on the subtitles, sorry to those of you that prefer to use them, like myself. They should be up now!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Wallasey...I know it is across the Dee , but the Welsh influence is everywhere....😅😅😅

[@siarhian10]

wi dal moyn fideo hollol yn y Gymraeg :*

[@DIREWOLFx75]

Cool stuff. If you haven't already done it, make sure to drop a link to this video to the locals in the area, i bet lots of them doesn't have a clue about this. And thanks for mentioning the floodmap, i've been trying to find that site again for a long time and just kept looking for the wrong names.

[@kimberblue13]

Wow, this is no small thing you've found. This Mr. Madocks was a dreamer. He single-handedly, and quite literally, changed the geographic coastline of Wales. And he did this in 'fairly' recent history - without the aid of any modern industrialization. That's quite a feat. It's really quite a shame that he died broke and never saw his plans come to fruition. I'm sure there are other places like this in the world, the difference being that, Wales has remained unique by still calling the hills "islands'. I have to say that, as small a country as Wales is, it's got huge character. ☺Nice work you did on this. You made a great, and fascinating catch. Thank you for sharing this little piece of history with us. Best wishes for a wonderful 2024.

[@stephenjones1380]

Just south of Llanelli is the area known as Machynys (Pig Island). Low-lying land on the coast, but has long lost its island status.

[@DreadBirate]

so we have 4-6 missing kingdoms in wales, and a missing sea, the density of missing stuff in this country is amazing to think about

[@joannabaparileszczynska]

Starting to be a little suspicious 🤨 😂

[@CambrianChronicles]

Honestly at this point it think there'll be a lot of survivorship bias, because every country has things lost from historical record, but those topics aren't super popular on KZbin! So if I'm one of the few channels covering such topics, and I talk about Wales, it gives the impression that Wales in unique in this regard

[@mrAMMW]

@@CambrianChronicles very true, i know personally about some "lost islands/places" from ancient japan and from the roman empire, it's hard however to find original documents in an accessible form.

[@loke6664]

@@CambrianChronicles True. I do think Wales tradition of oral stories makes it a bit easier for these things to be preserved but Wales is a small place, just imagine channels doing this subject for huge countries like Poland, Germany or France. I'm from Sweden that isn't huge (larger then Wales though) and we also have a bunch of lost kingdoms that few people ever heard of outside historians and in many cases not even them. We are not sure if a lot of the kings on our king list even existed (sounds familiar, right) and we have strange myth and legends and forgotten mysterious archaeological sites like Sandby borg (everyone there got murdered and their bodies and even their valuables were just left in place, the locals say the place is cursed). I am pretty sure these things are everywhere, particularly in places with limited or no writing. In Sweden's case we did have writing from maybe 250 CE but it was mostly on wood, bone, antlers and other perishable things and most of that is gone, leaving on short rune inscriptions in stone. It is probably far more common in places that lies in the middle of things instead of the edge of civilization like Wales and Sweden. Few of those are being discussed though, mostly Greece and even there we still have a multitude of mystery and myths muddling the history. It is super interesting and it is a shame there isn't more channels looking on these things. Great work here. :)

[@deleted-something]

@@CambrianChroniclesyea

[@yesterdaysrose5446]

I've been fascinated by "islands that aren't islands anymore" for a long time. That's probably because I live on the shore of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is very very slowly shrinking. Long time ago, there was a massive sheet of ice covering the Scandinavian peninsula. It's no longer there. (Source: I looked out of the window.) The rock was pushed down during the ice age, and it's still rebounding. I live in Oulu, Finland, and our airport is located in the peninsula south of the city, called Oulunsalo. "Salo" usually just means "forestland" in modern usage, but it used to specifically mean "forested island". Because Oulunsalo used to be a forested island centuries ago. Now it's a peninsula. There's plenty of place names like that in the coast here.

[@CambrianChronicles]

That's really interesting, good to know that there are islands-that-aren't-islands all over the world!

[@glenchapman3899]

The exact same thing is occurring around the Great Lakes in North America. The Northern Shore is encroaching as the land continues to rebound from the last ice age

[@hedgehog3180]

The opposite has also happened. Northern Jutland is by all accounts an island but no one considers it an island because it was connected to the mainland until the 1850s where a flood disconnected it. This also leads to the Limfjord being wrongly named since it is no longer a fjord but a strait now.

[@HidingAllTheWay]

​@@hedgehog3180 though interestingly enough Northern Jutland was am island during Viking age as well, since there was a channel through Jutland back then as well (though it took different course than the current one), but it closed around year 1200.

[@hanszickerman8051]

I grew up on the other side of the shrinking Bothnic gulf and can observe the change that has happened since my childhood when I visit. The rock where I used to step into the water is now a few steps from the sea, about 40 cm lifted.

[@Michaelonyoutub]

Another thing to remember, all of this happened during a period where mining in Wales and the rest of the UK was huge, and mining operations create a lot of extra sediment near the sources of rivers in hills, which gets washed out by the rivers and deposited at their mouths where they meet the sea. If the mouth of the river is wide and shallow, and a lot of sediment is being deposited, then land can start getting built up real quick.

[@stevie-ray2020]

That's what I was thinking. Once Madocks in effect dammed the mouth of the estuary apart from a small outlet for the river, those sediments would've washed down from the hills and built up very quickly! Wonder whether anyone has taken bore-samples across the valley to determine what the layers of sediment show?

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

On the other hand, surface operation will cause the land to go down. Taking peat out of the ground is partially to blame for large swaths of the Netherlands to be below sea level. And the IJsselmeer used to be connected to the Rhine in the south.

[@johnscanlon8467]

Not only mining, but also upland clearing for sheep pasture would have increased erosion.

[@stevie-ray2020]

@@johnscanlon8467 True!

[@devinsmith4790]

It's interesting how some place names can give you clues to what that area was like in the past.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Indeed, and there are plenty of those in Wales!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@CambrianChronicles...yes the ancient saint placenames are fascinating...then there are the wells, springs, woods...goodness knows what Port Talbot will be called in days to come...😮😮

[@maurogonzalez4098]

I was thinking the same thing, & remembered how a few years ago I did a project on the history of my hometown, a 1960s-70s suburban development on the US East Coast. So many familiar names (my street, my high school, etc.) were ultimately a few centuries' old. My favorite example: the name of a a man-made lake (inverse of Maddocks!) nearby is ultimate derived from a location where knives were sharpened.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@maurogonzalez4098...Birkenhead...the Birch headland....the Wirral = old Angle/English ...the corner/peninsula where the myrtle grows , Irby = Norse ,place of the Irish, Wallasey ,Norse ,Welsh Island....cheers....😅😅😅

[@channelantoneon]

Long Island is like that. Oyster Bay, Valley Stream, Flushing Meadows, Forest Hills, all sound like pleasant places to live. Now are just suburbs. No oysters in Oyster Bay. No more stream in Valley Stream. Flushing and Forest Hills are just, well, Queens. But parks give a good glimpse into what the island used to look like. It’s fascinating

[@fallforasong]

I don't want to say that it's sad that a whole sea that existed only 200 years ago disappeared because the world changes all the time, but it's still emotional to learn how radically things can change. As always, great video

[@CambrianChronicles]

That's true, things can change very quickly, this is the most major example in Wales (except for possibly the building of some of the docks in south Wales, especially Cardiff), I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@brutusthebear9050]

Why would it be sad? It made life better for a lot of people by creating a port to better allow trade.

[@fallforasong]

​@@brutusthebear9050i agree it's not sad, at least for me, but there are people who might feel that way towards similar changes and transformations in the world.

[@brutusthebear9050]

@fallforasong I think that anyone who values human life that little should at the very least buy the land they want to preserve on their own. Dude owned the area and spent the effort to create the land. I think its beautiful.

[@andrewjennings7306]

​@@CambrianChronicles did the building of docks in South Wales radically change the coastline?

[@Fearthedietcoke]

As a clueless American, learning about Welsh history on your channel sometimes gets me lost, but you explain everything so well that just rewatching makes it click. You compile and share history in a very nice and educational way.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Haha thank you, I'm always a little worried that all the names will be confusing to anyone from outside of Wales, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@Hedgehogz856]

@@CambrianChroniclesbro because of you the word “Gwynedd” has been stuck in my head for like a month 💀

[@Creadeyh]

@@CambrianChronicles They can be sometimes, especially when you have to list a lot of names, but here all you have to understand is ynys = island so it's fine. Maybe you could make a video on welsh pronunciation ? I'd understand if you wish to stick only with history and not linguistic though

[@cjab__]

Gotta second this

[@EEEdoman]

​@@CambrianChronicles Seeing the names in the wild makes them seem truly bizarre, but with the context you provide in your videos (such as defining and contextualizing Ynys here) it becomes not just easier to understand but also starts to paint a larger picture that all the pieces can fit into. I will say, prior to seeing your channel I had zero interest in Welsh history, but now I'm fascinated. Keep it up, your channel has been a true delight with each upload!

[@Zebred2001]

There needs to be a thorough archaeological survey in those fields to find ancient water craft as well as other artifacts!

[@CambrianChronicles]

That's true, looking at the Coflein map there doesn't seem to have been much archaeological excavation in the area, except for a post acknowledging the existence of a hillfort on Ynys Fawr coflein.gov.uk/en/site/302733/images

[@javiersaugar376]

I have just finished a six hour long exam. This dropped as soon as I finished. Lord bless you Magic Welsh man 🎉

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I hope your exam went well!

[@javiersaugar376]

@@CambrianChronicles thank you! it's a midterm assessment. Practice for my exam next month. Aiming to get my law license.

[@CambrianChronicles]

@@javiersaugar376 best of luck to you!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@javiersaugar376....as a law graduate...I wish you well...Brian May ( of Queen fame was our Chancellor at Liverpool John Moores University..) ...good luck...😊😊😊😊

[@javiersaugar376]

@@eamonnclabby7067 Thank you! I appreciate it, I'm getting my license on the other side of the pond 👋🏻

[@deleted-something]

I always get thrown off when people get shocked at how much stuff and history is there to everything, like even the tiniest towns in somewhere Somaliland probably have some crazy ass legends and stories that will fill you for over a lifetime, let’s not say in the whole world. Amazing video as always :)

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, and that's very true! There aren't many specific-history channels out there, but I hope someday there will be other creators showing how much history has occurred in their corner of the world

[@hedgehog3180]

It's surprising but then again it really shouldn't be because history is just people doing stuff and where ever people live for a long time you'll have lots of people that have done lots of things. You just never really think about this in the same way that you never think much of how the internet works or why the sun shines, but then suddenly you're reminded.

[@davestrider9900]

Even the tiniest settlements, barring brand new ones or outliers like working towns, have people who have spent years or even decades there, creating their own histories and crafting their own stories within that area over that entire timespan. I'd be more surprised if a settlement *didn't* have at least some fascinating piece of lore, to be honest.

[@namae6637]

@@CambrianChroniclesthese videos have inspired me to set about doing exactly that for my own locality. Here in Connacht, we have a very rich ancient history that seems to get glossed over in favour of getting through our history so we can learn world history in schools. Like, my little village in the middle of nowhere is responsible for the duplex radio, Alcock and Brown landed nearby, Balfour based his two state solutions on Connemara estates, the pirate queen Grainne Mhaoil bombarded the castle over the hill from where I grew up, the first ever lynch mob was formed in Galway, the place I work looks across a lake at a Neolithic tomb complex… There is so much history that we could be talking about that nobody has thought to yet, and so when I saw your channel making well researched videos on topics I’m interested in at a scale I want to explore history at, I decided there and then to start researching my first script.

[@riverAmazonNZ]

I wonder what the impact was on local fish stocks. These sorts of inlets and salt marshes often are nursery areas for baby fish. And breeding areas for birds.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Likely very bad on the local wildlife, especially any saltwater fish

[@tsm688]

I'm pretty sure all the fish in that dried up sea died or left

[@Ealsante]

Must have been devastating. Idiots doing idiotic things for their ego are the worst.

[@hypsyzygy506]

Look at the 20th century history of the Aral Sea, or that of the Salton Sea.

[@kesorangutan6170]

You know this reminds me of my own town. I live in Tarsus, Turkey. When I was a kid I always used to hear how Cleopatra came to this city in a boat and i was like "dude the sea is kilometers aways how can she do that?". Then I learned the history of my city. In the ancient times, the Cydnus river used to go through the city and create a bay/lake called Rhegma. This made Tarsus a very important port city. During the reign of Justinian, Cydnus was always flooding and wrecking havoc on Tarsus. So Justinian was like "f*ck it, change the course of the river" and he ordered just that. The romans diverted the river by digging a new river bed. They also created a waterfall during the construction. Now the waterfall is a fine picnic place. Since the Cydnus river was not able to feed the Rhegma bay, it turned into a mosquito infested swamp and Tarsus lost its port city status over time. The swamp got drained during the early days of the turkish republic. They planted eucalyptus trees and now we have the only eucalyptus forest in Turkey. It's a good place to go for a picnic. So yeah Tarsus lost its importance as a city due to Justinian's orders but we got two places to go for a picnic :D That's a W right? Right? Who am I kidding...

[@CambrianChronicles]

That's really interesting, thanks for telling me! It's an interesting dichotomy of the city being able to survive more easily without the floods, but to also lose it's status due to the same reasons

[@kesorangutan6170]

@@CambrianChronicles Yeah I often think what would Tarsus look like if the romans built better water management systems instead :D Like, they had the means, technology, and engineering know-how. If only Justinian was little bit more wise and knew the river fed the Rhegma bay. That's why we need to listen to the experts and not dictators lmao. btw I would love to see you make videos about welsh towns and how they changed throughout the history. You can start with Cardiff, maybe?

[@originolbunnyman]

I very rarely comment on KZbin, but I just wanted to say how impressed I am with the consistent quality of your videos. You have a way of telling stories, accompanied by well chosen music and visuals that is both simple but works so well. I'm glad you've managed to take the history of Wales beyond our borders to a wider audience!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!

[@bromisovalum8417]

We have a similar situation on the Flemish coastline. The city of Ostend and the villages of Middelkerke and Westende were respectively the eastern outer limit, center and western outer limit of what used to be an island called Testerip on ancient maps, which is local dialect for "it's up there". Apparently between the 3rd and 11th century AD, there was a rise in sea levels called Second Dunkirk Transgression. Hence likely where the name Flanders comes from, it is land that gets flooded by the sea once or twice a year. Suddenly what was land in Roman days became sea and the native population had to move southwards to settle in higher grounds. While the northern flooded lands and now islands got populated by Ingvaeonic pirates (which left their names in some of the local toponymy: Koksijde, small harbour of the Chauci ; Lombardsijde, small harbour of the Longobardi).

[@CambrianChronicles]

That’s fascinating, thank you for sharing! I can’t lie, places named after pirates is much cooler than “big island”

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

And when the Great War battles around Ypres wrecked the drainage and containment infrastructure, the entire region around Ypres turned into a sea of deep mud which swallowed men alive.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

The villages Fedderwarden, Eckwarden, Golzwarden, Hammelwarden, Langwarden, Sengwarden and Einswarden used to be on small islands called warften, but became part of the mainland over the centuries. Nordstrand used to be an island before it was properly connected to the mainland in 1987. And before it became an island it was part of the bigger island Strand (which broke up and was reconnected over the centuries, but most of it sank in the 17th century, another remaining part is the island Pellworm), and before that it used to be part of the mainland until a flood in 1362

[@simonh6371]

@@ladymacbethofmtensk896 Ieper is it's proper name, since it's in Flanders.

[@ladymacbethofmtensk896]

@@simonh6371 Would you prefer I call it Wipers?

[@jonathanburton5838]

As a aged climber, the cliffs of porthmadog were obviously sea cliffs not too long ago, I originally thought they were sea cliffs, grounded by the uplift of land following the end of the last ice age and uplift of ground following the glaciers surrounding Snowdonia . Now I'm not so sure!

[@CambrianChronicles]

That's very interesting, out of curiosity what gave them away as sea cliffs?

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

It could be all of that, erosian, uplift, man-made intervention

[@andyfirth5931]

There was definitely uplift, but much more than you're thinking about. Meters down from the summit of Yr Wyddfa, you can actually find sea fossils in the rocks! As the summit was once under sea water!

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@@andyfirth5931 would be interesting to calculate if the cliffs align with meltwater pulse 1A

[@cassidyjones2730]

I absolutely love how you walk through not just what you think happened, but how you arrive to your conclusions! Such a great step apart from a bunch of broader, more “pop” history style KZbin channels that might as well be parroting Wikipedia.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much, I really appreciate that! Having grown up watching a lot of those Wikipedia-reading vids, I've always aimed to try my best to do actual research

[@syystomu]

I was born in a coastal town in Finland and I'm very familiar with places called islands that are no longer islands due to tectonic uplift, some of them are even ones that my dad still remembers as islands from his childhood! I wasn't expecting a fully manmade cause haha

[@jupiter--system]

This video is a great example of what I love about your work. It's so well put together, the flow of information is logical and easy to follow. You start with a strong hook, build the necessary groundwork for the story and then walk us through that story. Even when you throw lots of names at us, it never feels meaningless. Everything has it's place and I really appreciate the quality of the writing and presentation. The way you play with maps, especially the 3D ones, for the visuals has a very Jon Bois style about it and it's just wonderful. You deserve so many more subscribers than you have because the work you do is absolutely amazing. Sorry. Just needed to gush.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you so much, that's very kind, and is extremely appreciated! I'm really glad you're enjoying the videos

[@peterjeremymckenzie8444]

Porthmadoc and the Cob are well worth a visit, Cob Records a cave of delights and the Ffestiniog Railway for steam engineering and trips up into the mountains. Cambrian Chronicles will find it harder to pin down Ynysybwl, Ynysddu, or Ynyswen. My own feeling is that at some time some areas might have had some spiritual meaning in a sort of sanctuary cut-off from the surrounding land or more boringly a simple river or stream with a island in the middle. 🙂

[@CambrianChronicles]

I definitely want to go to Porthmadog now, I went once as a kid although I remember none of it. Your theories sound good, I'd wondered if some, particularly church grounds, had been built on the high water marks in flood plains, making them temporary islands. Apparently Ynys was also rarely used for river-side places as well

[@peterjeremymckenzie8444]

Definetly worth a visit, forgot to mention Purple Moose Brewery shop and William Clough Ellis village at Portmerion. Llanynys in the Clwyd Valley probably matches that profile, slightly raised ground in valley that can easily flood especially pre-drainage of the agricultural revolution.@@CambrianChronicles

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@CambrianChronicles...a great place to visit for whatever reason....😊😊😊

[@peterjeremymckenzie8444]

While I agree with you in the sense that at times, especially in summer they may well have been meadow areas, in the early medieval back to pre-roman period, many rivers were likely braided and not as channelised as they have been for several hundred years now due to man's fiddling with land management. So islands and meadows may have been winter and summer aspects so to speak.@@Knappa22

[@malcolmmacgregor8837]

Mr. Chronicles, your channel has been an immense insight into all things Welsh and Wales for the last year. I know this isn't a particularly popular topic, so I wanted to let you know that I appreciate it immensely. Thank you for all you do!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[@drewzero1]

I'm a huge fan of the Welsh narrow gauge railways and the Ffestiniog in particular... so the place names started to sound familiar, and as soon as you mentioned Porthmadog I had a pretty good idea of the area. I've seen so many pictures and videos of trains crossing along the Cob, and had never realized its significance to the landscape!

[@CambrianChronicles]

I hadn't even heard of it before so you're not alone!

[@haze-the-alt]

I've been loving these dives into historical document mysteries!

[@CambrianChronicles]

I'm glad!

[@_unkown8652]

I find it amazing to be able to discover the intricate complexity of Wales. Never thought I’d say that one day, but your videos have made we want to travel there and discover this beautiful land! Sad thing you didn’t get you 4.7 billion subscriber goal 😔but don’t worry you can try again tomorrow

[@CambrianChronicles]

I hope you get to go there sometime soon!

[@epicsouththeoduskiangamer]

It always amazes me to think of how many stories like this exist for places that we might think never twice about in passing

[@SumeriyaYaxlaka]

These kinds of stories are my favouraite in history.. It's a human example of how, Nature and humans are DEEPLY connected.. Its awesome🤗

[@kernelklustrrfukk152]

Thank You for *all* your Work! My mother came from Cardiff and my father, from a near-by town of Llanharan. (both in southern Wales, naturally . . .). Again, Thank You for spotlighting Wales and the Welsh!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Oh wow, thank you so much, that's very kind of you! Thank you for watching, it wouldn't be possible without the viewers!

[@adenkyramud5005]

Dude i randomly found your channel one day while browsing youtube and now I'm addicted to welsh history. Also learning more about the language which is absolutely fascinating.

[@CambrianChronicles]

I’m glad you found it!

[@FlamingoSoda]

I love your channel. With all of my heart. Thank you for always following the ball in a world full of distractions and thank you for the small nuggets of sarcasm you sprinkle in from time to time. You are appreciated CC.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much, I appreciate that

[@KSharpei]

This was a lot of fun- watching the islands appear on the flood map was amazing and a genius step! Incidentally, seeing Mawr on the map made me look up and translate the name of the nearby town called Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania, to big hill, which of course the town lies on a pretty high mountain/hill for the area. Once again you both taught me and made me learn something awesome. Thanks as always. Also Brycheniog didn’t show up in this video in sad.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, making the maps was really fun, and I hadn't done one in about a year so it was nice to go back to it! I'm told there's quite a few Welsh names in Pennsylvania, perhaps a topic for a future video. Bryn Mawr is indeed big hill, or you could go for great/grand hill if you wanted it to sound a little more, well, grand.

[@barbiedahl]

Thank you, once again, for a fascinating story. I love your channel because I learn so much from it. Thanks for all the in-depth research you do to present this information for our edification.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, the research is the most fun part, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@barbiedahl]

@@CambrianChronicles I kinda figured that you enjoy researching topics as much as I do. It shows in your comprehensive delivery... well sourced and well supported.

[@gabem3593]

This is such a great, well-made video. Loved it! Perfectly timed.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you!

[@yulumero3520]

I am blessed, this is the channel ive been looking for. Thank you

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I'm glad!

[@Game_Hero]

It's really the subject matter, the visuals, the choice of music (especially that last one so much fitting for these impossible to describe feelings, Cymru and that notion of people long long ago wishing to be remembered, please use it more often!), that makes these videos so wonderful among other things. There is something wonderful about little forgotten traces of ages past and forgotten people past that makes me so happy to watch these. Also, kudos to that deeply professional attitude regarding the showing and proper quoting of sources, as a fellow historian, it is pleasing to see this sort of rigour becoming more common on KZbin these days.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much, that's very kind of you to say! Choosing the music is one of my favourite parts of making these videos

[@evandonovan9239]

Your videos are so beautiful and relaxing. I love the music at the end as you lingered over the painting of the sands.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much!

[@thefisherking78]

Who doesn't love a good mystery? Thanks for wrapping it up so succinctly

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[@garethalwyn]

Porthmadog mentioned! One of my favourite places in the world and a place I don't get back to enough.

[@Tiberius126]

Wow, this was fantastic! So glad to have found the channel.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, glad you liked it!

[@wuthxringheights]

My favourite channel has uploaded, and the video is pretty interesting.. again. I really do appreciate your work as a history student and a history lover.. ❤

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it

[@geesehoward700]

glad to see the channel doing so well! heres to 200000!!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you! I'm hoping to reach that this year

[@TheDartFrog]

honestly I cannot overstate how interesting those videos are :) absolutely amazing top tier content

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much!

[@georgelaiacona111]

I love all Cambrian Chronicles videos! History is a favourite, and I have learned so much and am entertained greatly by your work. Thank you for this!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you!

[@oliverhunt9362]

Visited Porthmadog a lot over my childhood as my mother was one of the lead Civil engineers involved with the new Bypass. I think I’ll have take another visit. This is fascinating.

[@PhilipStorry]

Thank you very much for this. Interesting and informative, and also somewhat inspiring in the scale of the endeavour. And all superbly researched and presented as always. 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, that's very kind!

[@teenagestacker6063]

Absolutely phenomenal video, I love the feeling of mystery and, somehow deep nostalgia? Anyways amazing video as always, it's so cool to see changes in a map and what happened, the stories behind these things that would otherwise go unnoticed and obscure! Thank you!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thanks for watching! I definitely felt nostalgic towards a sea I never knew existed in this video, and it was fun to go through a whole load of maps

[@wsmpify]

Love your channel mate, the really true story of King Arthur was fascinating and I definitely will go on a trip around Wales but first off is Ireland & Dublin in may!

[@RedDeadImmersion]

I worked on the Welsh Highland Railway last year and the history of The Cob was a really interesting story that I learnt because of the job and a fact I liked to tell travellers. There are even old boating huts that would’ve been located on the old shoreline that are still visible there today.

[@alecity4877]

It is interesting seein modern history of Wales as well, I loved this video, great work once again.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I've only ever covered modern Welsh history about 3 times haha

[@alecity4877]

​@@CambrianChroniclesno, don't thank me, I thank you for giving us your great content!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@alecity4877..seconded...😊😊

[@AdventurerSmithy]

Honestly, it's pretty amazing how much what looks at first glance to be just a raised, rural railroad can impact the environment. Thanks for the video! I also just want to say that I really love this kind of history. I can't exactly call this "lost" history, as proven by the fact that there are existing records showing how this happened and why, but this is the kind of thing that you probably wouldn't find in a history textbook. To an extent, this is... forgotten history, almost? Where the records exist, but until someone has the impetus to start looking, it's not exactly known about. It's the stuff that you find in the margins, so to speak, and it's really cool to learn about.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, and I agree, it's always cool to find forgotten or unknown (at least to me) pieces of history!

[@taradenaway5081]

YES! i love to know more about historic coasts. A fine story with such a sad end. Keep them coming!.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, there's more to come!

[@gwynedd4023]

YES! i love to know more about historic coasts

[@CambrianChronicles]

I'm glad!

[@alanparker3130]

A fine story with such a sad end. Keep them coming!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you!

[@JesseP.Watson]

Thank you, well written and very interesting as always. [And better luck next time on the 4.6bn subs.]

[@Justin-TPG]

Really high quality of research, production and presentation, and something I knew nothing about despite having had some involvement in coastal projects in Wales. The only thing I will ask is that, while animations are nice, keeping maps static and fading from one to the other would far better help the view to see the differences.

[@RockyRailroadProductions_B0SS]

I've been to Porthmadog to ride the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways and this subject is sort of related to one of the coolest features of the Ffestiniog, a land-bridge called the "cob". There was enough sea breeze for Mr. Spooner to mount a sail on a custom-made "rail sailboat" and go for a ride.

[@josephlehman6437]

Thank you for this amazing content. Keep it up! :3

[@user-nq3ss9mi1h]

Thank you very much for this extremely interesting video about this topic !!! ❤😊💎

[@DarthMetool]

William Madocks, you have made your mark. The internet knows your name, your dream, and what you accomplished. Cheers.

[@d.k.4628]

Awesome video! Keep up the great work.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I hope you enjoyed it!

[@greekandbulgariangamertv8633]

after you say “i don’t know,though,still wish I could see those sands” and the next 10 seconds gave me goosebumps they were majestic as the screen is only the painting of the old sea idk it was honestly majestic and gave me goosebumps and the music idk it was great the I still wish I could’ve seen those sands is totally on point “wish the sea was here”(if you got the reference)

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I thought of it whilst writing the video so I'm glad I executed it well!

[@bakomusha]

You're videos always compel me to ask, "What more have we lost?" Not just in Wales, but anywhere. How far in the future will people look at a resource like this in their time, and ask of our age, "What was there?" In our lifetimes we will see whole nations vanish beneath the waves. This video in particular strike a cord with me, because by where I grew up is a massive man made reservoir that was created in my life time. I watched the dams be built, and the valley filled with water. Gone under water was roads we used to drive as a short cut, the farms, the woods in the middle of the valley. Now the only hint that something was there is a road that suddenly ends on one side of the reservoir, and picks up again far to the west.

[@siffatdoesstuff]

This is one of the most intruiging videos I have ever watched, great job!

[@CambrianChronicles]

I'm very glad to hear it!

[@Goodsdogs]

Amazing video , amazing information in all your videos , a true standard others should follow.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much!

[@markpalmer9844]

Great stuff. Well worth the wait.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I'm glad you think so!

[@environseize2692]

That's so intresting and unintuitevly inspiring! Your content is a gem, thank you so much

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, that's very kind!

[@krisfinley6706]

Interesting as always and pretty cool too. I appreciate and got a chuckle out of your use of the term "Loraxian" 😄

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I was gutted to find out it was already a term, I thought I invented it!

[@RileyJSW]

Excellent video! Deserves more views!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Ironically I've been recently listening to your videos as I was falling asleep and I was worrying I was going to run out of content then this drops

[@CambrianChronicles]

Haha I'm glad to have brought more content to you, sorry this one's shorter!

[@LazarusUnwrapped]

Wonderful research again. Thank you for your presentations which further stir my passion for ancient and folk history of those parts. I know its not in Wales, but I would love to see you do a presentation on the ancient history of Glastonbury and its etymology and myth. Minus any newage spin surrounding it of course.👍🍺🍺🍺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@CambrianChronicles]

The Brythonic history of Glastonbury is really interesting, and I'd love to cover it in the future

[@Lartayy]

Yessss, time to settle into bed with a cup of tea and this video. Love your content!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I hope you enjoy the video!

[@cadestrathern1260]

This is excellent. Makes me think about my own area in Scotland, how it was in the past, and how it may change in the future.

[@rodpaget9796]

From Ontario Canada I was deeply impressed how the shores of north and west coast areas seemed to be coming up out of the sea or shifting on a grand scale. And man has been able to assist and guide this natural, post-glacial uplifting-trend in earths north lands , like Hudson bay that shows similiar uplifting coasts.

[@dinolil1474]

Really fascinating! The coastline has been constantly shifting and changing for centuries, whether by man or nature.

[@robinhodgkinson]

Another factor to consider is siltation. I know of one small river here in New Zealand that could carry cargo sailboats of considerable size inland until they cut the forests down around them to create farms. With the removal of the forests silt run off increased dramatically. To see the 150 year old photos of boats docked at the town riverbank it’s very hard to reconcile with a weed filled drainage ditch that now meanders across a field.

[@kiwiandrew]

Is that on the Kaipara?

[@robinhodgkinson]

I cant remember the place. My recollection was further north. Maybe upper reaches of the Hokianga somewhere. Just a whistlestop at a road junction with a cafe/general store and a couple of other old shops. There were photos around the shop of smallish sailing ships (coastal carriers in those days before viable roads) docked at the town edge. When you leave you drive over a very short bridge(more a culvert). That was the same river. Now looking like a drainage ditch that would have trouble accommodating a row boat!

[@simonh6371]

Just looked up the Cambriae Typus and looked at it in detail...as I was born in the old Bridgnorth hospital in High Town, which overlooks the River Severn from the West, it appears that I was born around 100metres inside the old Wales. It's interesting that the town straddled the border, as it extends both sides of the Severn. These videos are sources of a lot of information and I keep pausing them to look things up. Diolch & keep up the good work.

[@darthmalgus9039]

First! And I love the geography focus. Never going to get tired of hearing you talk about the beautiful landscapes in Wales. This kind of history is just as cool as big battles or famous kings. Looking forward to more videos like this!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I'd love to cover more geography in the future

[@darthmalgus9039]

@@CambrianChronicles Have you thought about deeper dives into linguistics as well?

[@CambrianChronicles]

@@darthmalgus9039 definitely someday, linguistics is topic that has always fascinated me

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@CambrianChronicles...indeed ..if one can master the tides between Menai to Morecambe bay ,you can master the tides anywhere ...no wonder the RNLI are busy....

[@IosuamacaMhadaidh]

Congrats on reaching over 100k subs! Slàinte/Diolch!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Diolch!

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

I like the new "shower thoughts" aka "long youtube shorts" genre. You can't criticize it because you don't have any slight clue about what to even think about, just pure "communication of attitudes". This video is good though, which makes it an even better example

[@macinnes800ad]

Really fascinating! Reminds me about how my mother's homeland of Grimsby was once a swamp and ocean, and wasn't useful at all, until man dredged the Haven and made it the largest fishing port in the world. It'd be good to do a video on the history of Cymraeg though, on the history of the language (and provide a pronunciation guide - because as a lover of all things Cymru I strive for perfection in pronunciation 😂)

[@triplebog]

He just can't miss. This videos are so fascinating

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[@seflame8786]

Excelent content!, it's mesmerizing!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much!

[@reiltin.]

woahh, this is so cool! i just found your channel and its awesome :D

[@CambrianChronicles]

Glad to hear, hope you enjoy the channel!

[@joshuabell5580]

Port Mad Dog I used to call it when I was about 6, always thought that valley was odd and looked like it should be under water. You can still see the sands today as there are a lot of water channels that cut into them and they are strangly spooky on a hot summer day. I always knew it had something to do with Y Cob and silting up but never looked into it so thank you for the extra info! It has left a strange landscape that certainly sticks in your memory.

[@profeseurchemical]

reminds me of the cob in flintshire. flint library has a model of flint castle with the estuary reaching the castle. and back in roman times the river dee was navigable up to chester. most of the silting up is natural, but in around the 1800s or so, a bunch of land was reclaimed in the estuary, creating a bunch of farms near flint along 'the cob' (hmm seen that name somewhere else...), deeside industrial estate, the town of garden city, and a very straitened river.

[@CambrianChronicles]

That's super interesting! I've always been curious about the reclamation around the Dee, I didn't realise it was so recent!

[@profeseurchemical]

@@CambrianChronicles yeah, 14 or 15 hundred, liverpool was built up as an alternative to chester for royal power projection into the irish sea due to the silting. maybe some centuries earlier. dont fully remember

[@eamonnclabby7067]

​@@profeseurchemical....Parkgate was a medieval port as was Hoylake ( with Kings Gap commemorating King King William departing for Ireland ) ...Meols was a bronze age / viking age port too....they are still debating whether to excavate the Longship underneath the Railway pub in Meols....cheers...E....😊😊

[@Yokar_mova1212]

I can't wait for your vido on the missing welsh continent. I love your work.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you!

[@jdsonical]

I love the Jon Boisian/BobbyBroccolian Google Earth aesthetic. so rare yet so satisfying to watch, especially on a topic you're interested in

[@Jaykooooo]

Grest video absolutely loved it - these videos have made me want to travel to Wales so bad its only a 4 hour train!!

[@CambrianChronicles]

It's definitely worth it, just make sure the weather is good!

[@darragho6358]

Love your use of google earth to make the video. Looks fantastic. Great work!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, Bobbybroccoli has an excellent tutorial on it if you're ever interested in making something similar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5ewaJanhNGamtUsi=2006BoVx8mGS2tvQ

[@darragho6358]

@@CambrianChronicles I was actually wondering to myself if that was where you got the idea. I'd come across the video before as a longtime Jon Bois fan

[@patarsplays7292]

You make amazing content, so please continue. I am from America but my family is an older house in UK so I am loving these videos!

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, there's more to come!

[@nickthenoodle9206]

Love this channel.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you!

[@nickthenoodle9206]

It's why I watch every episode.@@CambrianChronicles

[@TheDavidfallon]

Truly fascinating.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, glad you think so!

[@chrish9698]

There’s something quite haunting about the notion of a “Lost and forgotten Sea”. Wonderful video and great work researching this subject.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!

[@Megatonwhale]

A'ight, 1st video of yours I've seen, completely at random and it turns out to be a video about the founding of my hometown :P

[@DanDavisHistory]

Fascinating, thank you.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much!

[@chavaughan7912]

this channel makes me so excited to visit wales one day (and continue my welsh on duolingo)

[@CambrianChronicles]

I hope you get to go soon, definitely aim for a time when it's not raining, it's pretty relentless once it starts

[@johnnicholas1488]

Very nice work. Thank you.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Croeso!

[@dayalasingh5853]

All these landscape paintings are so beautiful

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I couldn't agree more!

[@StephanieElizabethMann]

I subscribed so there you are. One more. I found your video informative and entertaining. My wife is Welsh so I thought I'd look in. 😊

[@joeblow9657]

This was really interesting and easy to follow

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you, I'm glad to hear!

[@elliottprehn6342]

Loved the video, super interesting

[@CambrianChronicles]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Ardabor-GyB]

What a fascinating story. Regardless of William Madocks' motivations and objectives, I find it incredible that they have modified the terrain so much at such a time. Thanks for sharing this research, I also find it fascinating that the initial clue to all of this was a name. Excellent work.

[@CambrianChronicles]

Thank you very much!