The Bells of the Drowned Kingdom
Welsh legend says a kingdom lies drowned beneath Cardigan Bay, and its church bells can still be heard under the waves. Then storms uncovered an ancient forest.
What was reported
Welsh legend tells of Cantre'r Gwaelod, a fertile kingdom protected from the sea by dykes and gates, which was drowned when a watchman failed to close the floodgates. It is said that the bells of its churches still ring beneath the waters of Cardigan Bay in times of danger, a legend that inspired the folk song 'The Bells of Aberdovey'.
In 2014, winter storms stripped sand from the beach at Borth and exposed the stumps of an ancient forest of oak, pine and birch, along with a wooden walkway.
Explanations offered
Scientists date the drowned forest to between about 4,500 and 6,000 years ago, when rising seas after the last Ice Age flooded low-lying land. There was no medieval kingdom, but the legend may preserve a very old memory of real land lost to the sea. The bells are folklore.
- When
- Legend for centuries; sunken forest exposed in 2014
- Where
- Borth, Ceredigion, Wales
- Witnesses
- Local people and archaeologists
- Status
- Partly confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.