The diversity and imprint of human activity on Snowdonia’s landscape is everywhere to be seen. From the enigmatic stone monuments of the prehistoric period and the magnificent castles and abbeys of the medieval period, to vernacular representations and  commonplace features like field boundaries that can often be of great age.

But our landscape is more than just attractive scenery or a record of the past; it also provides a place for us to live, work and sustain ourselves, through farming, forestry, tourism and so on, processes which shape, and will continue to shape, the landscape.

The landscapes and townscapes of Snowdonia have been crafted by centuries of human activity from Neolithic times to the present day. Our vernacular architecture distinguishes us. Historical events, ways of life, traditions and beliefs are captured in monuments, sites and buildings, in the patterns of settlements and of fields, and in place names. Living links with our heritage are maintained in present-day land management practices, traditional building skills and language. 

Some of the most enduring and cherished places are those built as an expression of belief such as the great burial chambers of the Neolithic in Ardudwy, the enigmatic barrows, cairns, circles and standing stones of the Bronze Age scattered across the outer rim of the mountains, the medieval churches of the countryside, and the chapels of the nineteenth century in our towns and villages.