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Vandals damage medieval castle

Yobs in Wales have pried historic stones from the top of Bronllys Castle and chucked them from the top of a tower.

The late 11th or early 12th Century motte with an 80ft tall round masonry keep has had a number of ancient stones prized from the top and thrown down both inside and outside the structure.

As a short-term measure, the access door to the top of the motte is to be closed for a time to enable repairs to be undertaken and the stones replaced.

A recent works programme included improvements to the castle’s main entrance and a new “robust” metal access stairs to the tower.

The castle was built by anglo-Norman lord Richard Fitz Pons and in the 13th Century, a garrison defended the fortress against Llywelyn the Great.

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4th century Roman villa found in Wales

The discovery of a Roman villa in northwest Wales is forcing experts to reconsider Roman settlement in the country.

The villa is likely to have belonged to a wealthy landowner, with pottery and coin finds on the site indicating occupation in the late 3rd and early 4th Centuries AD.

It was roofed with local slates, which were cut for a pentagonal roof. The walls were built of local stone and there was a cobbled yard.

The confirmation of the villa comes after Royal Commission aerial photography during the drought of 2006 suggested marks of a building and a ditch which could be an important historical monument.

Dr Driver and Dr Davies, while filming for BBC2 Wales’ Hidden Histories programme in 2009 conducted a geophysical survey of the field. It revealed a vast ditched enclosure and annex, as well the buried footings of a winged stone building.

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Crashed WWII airplane in Wales to be recovered

A crashed WWII fighter which has emerged from the sands just off a Welsh beach are set to be recovered. The photos in this article are amazing.

It has been hidden under the the sands and waves since it crashed off the coast of Wales in 1942. But now this wreckage of a rare World War fighter plane may soon be back on dry land.

Described as ‘one of the most important WWII finds in recent history’, the location of the Lockheed P38 Lightning has been kept a secret to keep the amazing find safe.

Known as the Maid of Harlech the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) fighter crashed on the Gwynedd coast when it was taking part in training exercises and its engines cut out.

Amazingly pilot Lt Robert Elliott walked away from the incident without a scratch but tragically went missing in action just three months later serving in the American’s Tunisia campaign in North Africa.

These incredible pictures show how the previously undetected Lightning suddenly appeared on a Wales beach in 2007. Shifting water displaced sand which had hidden it for 60 years and revealed a gem find for aviation buffs.

But now a charity has announced plans to next year retrieve the wreckage. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery are looking for support and a British museum who will accept the fascinating American machine as a gift to display at their venue for history lovers

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13th Century castle up for sale

Have you ever dreamed of owning a castle? Now you can, for as low as $130,000.

Ewloe Castle, built by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, is to to be auctioned with four other lots which are expected to fetch more than £500,000 in total.

Although privately owned, the castle is under the custodianship of Welsh historic monuments agency Cadw, and its character “must be preserved”.

Estimates as to the castle’s origins vary, but it is thought to have been built around 1257, as a hunting lodge for the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.

It stands close to the site where 200 Welshmen, led by the king of north Wales Owain Gwynedd, ambushed – and nearly killed – King Henry II in 1157.

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Tens of thousands of historic wills put online

190,000 wills, some dating back to the 14th century, have been put online on the National Library of Wales’ website.

Among the wills available at the click of a button are Twm Sion Cati’s, known as the Welsh Robin Hood, and hymn writer William Williams, Pantycelyn.

Officials said it had taken more than five years to digitise the documents.

The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth said the wills dated from the 14th Century until 1858, when civil probate was introduced, and 1,000 of them were written in Welsh.

It said the project was “good news for family historians, social historians…and the inquisitive”.

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