Mynydd Carningli
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| Mynydd Carningli | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 347 m (1,138 ft) |
| Location | Pembrokeshire,  Wales |
| Range | Preseli Hills |
| Prominence | 233 m |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 145 |
| Last eruption | 450 million years ago |
| OS grid reference | SN062371 |
| Listing | Marilyn |
| Translation | Angel–rock mountain (Welsh) |
| Pronunciation | [ˈmɐnɪð ka:ˈnɑŋli] |
Mynydd Carningli is a small mountain near the town of Newport in Pembrokeshire, UK. It is less than 400 m high, but it is close to the coast and dominates the surrounding countryside. It is easy to climb but has a rocky summit and a steep scree slope on its southern and eastern flanks. It is all that is left of an ancient volcano which erupted around 450 million years ago — from some directions the "volcanic profile" is still marked. The mountain has always had sacred associations — it was probably called Mons Angelorum in the Middle Ages, and according to legend St Brynach (the local saint) used to climb to the summit to find serenity, to pray and to "commune with the angels" in the 5th century.
The mountain is still used for sacred ceremonies by people of many faiths and none. People from far and wide ask that when they die their ashes should be scattered on Carningli, and in a sense it is a "spiritual cathedral" and place of pilgrimage.
It nowadays attracts many new visitors because of the popularity of Brian John's "Angel Mountain Saga" of five volumes, recounting the life of Mistress Martha Morgan of Plas Ingli. These books were published at the rate of one per year, 2001–2005. The mountain is the heroine's personal sanctuary, and is almost a character in the stories.
If you look at the mountain skyline from the south, you can see the profile of a reclining female — head, breast, rib cage, stomach and raised knees. So there are some who believe that this is the Earth Goddess, fast asleep.
There was once a little "mountain railway" on Carningli, carrying broken stone from a small quarry down to a crushing plant on the Cilgwyn Road. Some railway sleepers can still be found in the turf, but otherwise the only traces remaining are the two stone pillars that supported a cable drum — a cable was used to control the descent of the loaded wagons as they rolled downhill, and then to pull the empty ones back up again. This little industry was abandoned before 1930.
