Gwynedd Archaeological
Trust Regional Historic Environment Record
Fish Trap, Newlands
Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 7193 Trust : Gwynedd Community : Valley Unitary authority : Ynys Mon NGR : SH29058071 Site Type (preferred type first) : UNKNOWN FISH WEIR Status : Scheduled Monument
Description : The remains of a large fish trap, 'L'-shape in plan, its longest side running parallel to the coast and attached to exposed bedrock at the southern end. The possible remains of walling were recorded from aerial photographs at the N end. The site is at least half a mile long consisting of linear stone lengths of walling. Documentary references to fishing activities in the area in the fourteenth/fifteenth centuries is noted by Carr. The trap is recorded on the 1925 12 inch OS map, as is a small structure called 'the weir' and the road which leads down to the beach is called 'Gored Road' to the present day. The fishweir at Newlands has been identified within a recent archaeological assessment as being of national importance (Hopewell 2000). The trap consists of a 1.6m wide wall standing to a height of 1.0m. The wall initially runs perpendicular to the shore before turning to run parallel to it for some 200m prior to turning back in towards the shore for another 100m. The weir almost certainly dates back to the 18th century, and may well have an earlier origin, though no records have been found to confirm this (Barnes 1988). (Davidson 2002).
Large and well preserved trap. The arm running from the shore is somewhat fragmentary but incorporates a large outcrop of rock and length of single skin boulder walling. The trap then runs from the outcrop as a 1.6m wide double faced wall with rubble core standing to a height of about 1m. The wall continues out to the edge of the river channel before turning through 90 degrees. A breach in the wall at this point may be the remains of a sluice but the water backed up in the trap was too deep to allow this feature to be examined. The long arm of the trap runs parallel to the shore for 200m before turning in a few degrees and running in a straight line for a further 100m. The line of the wall meanders somewhat and there are a few minor breaches in the upper part of the wall. The outer wall stands to a height of between 0.8 and 1.4m and is sub trapezoidal in section i.e. with both faces battered but the outer more upright than the inner. The wall is 1.4m wide at the base narrowing to 1.2m at the top. The end of the trap appears to have been modified at least once. A rough line of stones continues from the end of the wall towards the shore and another line of stones continues from the same point back towards the interior of the trap in a similar style to many of the Menai Straits weirs. Jones (1983) states that the trap extends for over half a mile, this must be seen as an exaggeration as the outer wall does not continue for more than 350m. (Hopewell, 2000).
