How to Find Camlan - King Arthur's Final Battlefield

The first (surviving) written evidence for the Battle of Camlan comes in the Annales Cambraie (Annals of Wales). This was penned some centuries after the events that it records. Our oldest version dates from the 12th century. It copied a 10th century manuscript - now lost - though there is some debate about which elements were undoubtedly inserted during the transcription.

537. XCIII. Annus. Gueith Camlann, in qua Arthur et Medraut corruere; et mortalitas in Brittania et in Hibernia fuit.

Dated for the year 537 (sometimes altered to 539, as the ancient British calendar may be two years awry from our modern Gregorian calender, or 542, the year later given in Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicles of the Princes)), that full entry reads,

537. 93. Year. Strife Camlan, in which Arthur and Medraut fell; and there was mortality in Britain and Ireland.

That latter is usually viewed as a reference to an epidemic, perhaps plague, which devastated the British Isles. 'Corruere' translates from Latin as 'came to grief', 'was ruined', 'was broken' or 'fell to the ground', it's only tradition which chooses 'fell' or 'perished' as the intended meaning here.

• In the vast slaughter that ensued, tens of thousands of people lost their lives. It weakened the British forces for a generation, thus allowing the Saxons to gain a strong foothold in Britain.
• Modred was killed outright in the fighting.
• Arthur was mortally wounded, but survived for a short while.
• Sir Bedivere (Bedwyr) was instructed by Arthur to take the latter's sword Excalibur (Caledfwlch) to a nearby lake and cast it into the center.
• After some faffing, Bedivere does as he's told. He witnesses the Lady of the Lake's arm reach out and catch the sword, then take it down into the depths.
• Arthur is carried on a barge, accompanied by Morgan Le Fey (and three or nine Ladies) to the island of Avalon.
• One day Arthur will return, whole and well, from Avalon to save Britain (Welsh/Cornish).

These are all parts of the legend added centuries (sometimes over a millennium) after the true events of Camlan. Some are undoubtedly romantic, spiritual or political insertions, matching the times in which they were penned, rather than a truly accurate historical telling.

But one thing in which all sources are agreed - it happened at Camlan, and Camlan is still there.

Traveling to Arthur's Camlan battlefield is most easily done by road.  Two major highways meet right at its foot - the A458 and the A470.

Directions to Camlan from the West:

• Take a boat to Barmouth.
• Follow directions to Dolgellau.
• Take the A470 towards Dinas Mawddwy and Mallwyd. (You will have driven through much of the Camlan battlefields en route, all the mountains on either side of the road have their stories.)
• Stop at Meirion Mill and look up to your right. The fold in the mountainside is Nant-y-Gamell (Camlan stream), the slope to its east is Maes Camlan.

Directions to Camlan from the North:

• Take the A487 from Caernafon/Porthmadog/Harlech, or the A470 from Llandudno/Llanrwst/Betws-y-Coed/Blaenau Festinog, or the A494 from Buckley/Ruthin (nip west on the A5 near Corwen to pick up the A494 again)/Bala.
• Go to Dolgellau and follow directions given above.

Alternative directions to Camlan from Bala: (Only for the more adventurous car drivers.)

• Take either the A494 or the B4403, alongside Llyn Tegid, towards Llanuwchllyn. (If the latter road, don't follow it down into Llanuwchllyn, take the left-hand fork up into the mountains instead.)
• Take the southern mountain lane, east of the River Twrch (down in the valley below). This will lead you (and be variously sign-posted) towards y Bryn, Talardd, Pont Ty-Nant, Bwlch-y-Groes, Pennant, Llanmawddwy and Dinas Mawddwy. (Biggies in bold.)
• Follow it all the way to an eventual T-junction after Dinas Mawddwy. This is the A470 and Maes Camlan will be over the road, to your left, as you idle at either of the two T-junctions.

This is suitable only for confident drivers in appropriate vehicles, as the lane becomes really narrow in places. You may have to reverse back into a tiny passing place, if another car approaches from the opposite direction, or else inch past it, after its driver does the same.

Also the descent into Pennant/Llanmawddwy is 17% with the occasional hair-pin bend. However, the scenery has to be seen to be believed. It will take your breath away.

Directions to Camlan from the East:

• Take the A458 from Shrewsbury/Welshpool.
• At Mallwyd, you will reach a roundabout connecting with the A470 on your left and right, and a small lane into Aberangell straight ahead. The Brigands Inn will be on your left.
• Look up. The mountain slope facing you is Maes Camlan. You have just driven up the modern version of an ancient road, along which the Saxon army probably marched towards Camlan. Understand - more than any of those taking another route - just how brilliantly this mountain side was utilized from a strategic standpoint. Imagine the ridge and upper slopes teeming with British warriors, poised and ready to hurtle down towards you. 

Directions to Camlan from the South-West:

• Take the A487 from Fishguard/Cardigan/Aberaeron/Aberystwyth towards Machynlleth.
• At (from) Machynlleth, take the A489 (Newtown Road) towards Cemaes.
• Take the A470, at the roundabout just south of Cemaes (Cemaes Road), sign-posted Dolgellau and Welshpool.

Directions to Camlan from the South-East:

• Take the A470 from Cardiff/Junction 34 of the M4/Pontypridd/Merthyr Tydfil/Brecon (briefly following the A40 east before picking up the A470 at the roundabout)/Builth Wells/Rhayader/Llanidoes/Llanbrynmair.
• Arrive at the same Cemaes Road roundabout as above.

Directions to Camlan from the South:

• Follow the A470 through Cemaes into Mallwyd.
• When you see the Brigands Inn to your right, and a roundabout straight ahead, look up to your left. Maes Camlan is right there on the mountainside.

Park up wherever presents itself in Minllyn or Dinas Mawddwy. There is a large car-park at Meirion Mill - where a meal or nice cuppa might also be acquired before 4.30pm - but beware if you're likely to hang around into the evening. Meirion Mill locks its big gates at 5pm. There appeared to me to be plenty of roadside parking outside said gates though.

For those wishing to stay overnight, here are a few options (though not an exhaustive list):

• The Brigands Inn was built in 1310 and boasts of its own legends involving bandits and/or fey (the Gwylliad Cochion Mawddwy reputedly met there).  Back in the days of Camlan, the inn didn't exist. But if it had, then it would have been smack bang on the front line between the on-coming Saxons and the assembled British hordes.
• Ty Derw Country House is on Camlan! At least it's positioned on the lower slopes immediately below and slightly west of Maes Camlan. Back in the 6th century, warriors were probably encamped and/or fighting right where this B&B now stands.
• Ditto Dolbrodmaeth Riverside Hotel. Its position, right on the banks of Afon Dyfi, would not have been so peacefully accommodating back then. The three star hotel is nestled in a direct line between Maes Camlan (above and behind Dolbrodmaeth, mountainside to the east) and the modern day memorial stone to Arthur in the field next door.
• The Buckley Arms Hotel is a 19th century tavern on the A470 in Minllyn, on the eastern junction into Dinas Mawddwy.  From its front door, you would be looking up onto Camlan and the crease where Nant-y-Gamell (Camlan stream) rushes down to give the battle site its name. If the hotel had been there in 537, patrons would have witnessed the whole battle begin, then continue past onto the mountains and valley to the west.
• Gwesty'r Llew Coch (The Red Lion Hotel) in Dinas Mawddwy would have seen the Battle of Camlan on the higher peak to the south-east, if it had been around then. Y Llew Coch is older than the Brigands Inn, but not quite that old. It was built in the 12th century, six centuries after Camlan. A 6th century time traveler stepping out at this spot would be more startled by the huge lake, which suddenly appeared right behind the pub. Now dried up, this is one of the two major local contenders for where Bedwyr threw Arthur's sword to Argante, Lady of the Lake.
• The same could be said for the location of Bryndyfi, a holiday cottage to rent, just down the road in Dinas Mawddwy. Its terrace at the back would once have been overlooking that lake. From the front, Camlan can be viewed to the south-east.

Personally, I took a tent. Celyn Brithion Caravan and Camping Site is a campsite by Camlan, at Minllyn, on the A470 between Mallwyd and Dinas Mawddwy.

At the time of writing, this campsite close to Camlan will knock you back a very reasonable £6.50. The views in every direction are astounding. We weren't even looking at Maes Camlan. Our tent's main entrance opened towards the even more majestic mountains overlooking Dinas Mawddwy.

From Celyn Brithion, the route up onto Maes Camlan begins from just over the road.

In 537, we would have had a ring-side seat from our camping chairs. But then we would probably be shifting out of them, in order to make way for the injured being brought for comfort and treatment all along the hillsides on this side of the A470.

Incidentally, Minllyn (where Celyn Brithion is situated) translates as 'edge of the lake'. We would possibly have also witnessed Bedwyr's progress, back and forth, as he tried to work out what to do with Excalibur.

If, of course, that wasn't a much later legend, and probably didn't happen anything like that, assuming something similar did occur. Nevertheless, swords were broken and thrown into the now defunct lake at Dinas Mawddwy. They've been found in archaeological digs there. Therefore below could constitute scenes viewed from that campsite during the battle of Camlan.

Mr Street was very well aware of the history surrounding his home and business. In 1974, he organized the digging out of an old railway track bed, which had been initially laid as part of the mining concerns a century before. Laying rails again allowed for a short-lived enterprise involving the Arthurian battlefield.

Passengers could board a carriage, pulled by an old steam engine named Trixie, which took them a third of a mile up into the mountainside, where they disembarked at Maes Camlan. Unfortunately, the venture didn't survive the 1970s. The tracks have all been lifted again and sold on to Corris Centre for Alternative Technology.

Twenty years later, Raymond Street dreamed about the battle of Camlan. He awoke startled enough to know that he had to do something to commemorate such carnage.

He ended up erecting a memorial stone in a field on his land. Created out of hewn slate, it reads 'Er cof am Arthur' ('In memory of Arthur') with the landscape behind including the slopes of Maes Camlan. King Arthur Pendragon himself - the modern incarnation - performed the dedication ceremony.

Directions to the Arthur Memorial at Camlan:

• Enter through the main gates of Meirion Mill (before 4.30pm Nov-Mar, or 5pm Apr-Oct).
• Walk straight ahead, with the river - Afon Dyfi - on your left and Station House/mill buildings on your right.
• Follow the road into the car-park and continue on until you reach the north-eastern corner.
• Pass through a gateway sign-posted Arthur Memorial Stone.
• Continue along the short trail, until you reach a sign headed 'Camlan'.
• Enter the small field through the gateway to its right.
• The Arthur Stone memorial is facing you.

It's totally free to visit this monument, though it is only accessible to the public during Meirion Mill opening hours.

• Leave Meirion Mill and walk west - on the same side of the road - in the direction of Dinas Mawddwy and Dolgellau.
• Take the next turning to the left, sign-posted Ty Derw B&B.

• Continue right back on yourself, up the hill, passing the Old School on your right. It will be sign-posted Aberangell.
• This is the Old Road, which will take you onto Camlan.  It's a gentle walk along a quiet lane, though you could drive along it too.

As you stroll along, watch out for the second potential site of the famous lake, where Bedwyr threw Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.  This one pales into insignificance compared to the size of the waters which would have been behind Dinas Mawddwy, but there was patently once some water here.

It's gone now, however a large depression in the ground demonstrates plainly where it might once have been found. Could Minllyn (edge of the lake) refer as much to this location, as the other big lake that the area once bordered down below?

Further along, you will pass by the old stone archways, now bricked up, which used to house slate mined from the mountainside quarries above. You'll also wander alongside two sets of old Quarry Cottages - all very much still homes - which were built for slate miners.

But those on an Arthurian quest will be looking across the valley.

So what he tends to do is take the public footpath signs down, then tie up the fourth and final gate. (Once over it, you'll find a right of way mark on the inner gatepost.)  This means that anyone silly enough to attempt to traverse it feels like they've gone wrong and goes away. As we nearly did.

You are quite within your rights to untie the gate or climb over it. It's the one to the left, accessed by crossing over Nant-y-Gamell, with what looks like some kind of quarry or timber-cutting hollow beyond. Trust me that there is a footpath (albeit a muddy one after bad weather) leading to the left, concealed behind a line of large conifers.

You are now on the main Camlan battlefield - Maes Camlan - where legend tells us Arthur and Medraut fell.

After wandering around Maes Camlan, taking in the views and imagining what it was like on that dark day there in the year 537, you may wish to retrace your steps back to the beginning. With time constraints binding us, that's what my friend and I did.

Alternatively, you could follow the public footpath along the bottom of Camlan battle site, in order to view the whole mountainside.

• Cross a stile into an open field.
• Follow the well-worn 'desire path' straight to a ladder stile.
• Cross a small stream.
• Head left along the public footpath through the woods.
• Pass through a gate.
• Follow the track down to another gate.
• Turn left along the lane.

You now have further choices.  You could follow this lane all the way back to the bottom of the farmyard, just below Maes Camlan, then continue on past the Quarry Cottages to return along the earlier route.

Or you could turn right, across Pont Mallwyd bridge, pausing to admire the lovely waterfall not long afterwards, then follow that lane all the way to the Brigands Inn, in Mallwyd. After a quick refreshing brew, you could then walk alongside the A470 until you reach your start point, at Meirion Mill, a mere 0.8 miles later.

The most obvious direction then is to continue on up the A470 towards Dolgellau, if only to gaze again upon the breath-taking scenery. But you'd also be following the route taken by the fighting during the Battle of Camlan. Some of those mountainsides have related names, translating into things like 'graves of the Saxons'.

Pay particular attention to the right hand side of the road, at the point where the wooded mountainside to the north gives way to bare rock and grass again, and the Afon Cerist (river), hitherto running alongside you, suddenly ducks under the A470 to appear on the left-hand side instead. Just beyond there is a huge mountain, creased twice, folding around twin waterfalls. This is a second Camlan, though very much related to the first.

A third area known as Camlan is a short distance away, near Ganllwyd just north of Dolgellau. There the Afon Gamlan (River Camlan) tumbles into the Rhaedr Ddu (Black Falls), then away through the Cwn Gamlan (Camlan Valley). Local tradition states that Maelgwn Gwynedd's army waited here, ready to ambush any enemy forces foolish enough to enter that natural bottleneck site - where the river would have forded the pass - in order to invade Gwynedd itself.

Maelgwn did survive, and he became Pendragon once Arthur was gone.