Call for history of Wales to be taught to every school pupil in Wales

Mr Isherwood spoke in this week’s Senedd debate on teaching the history of Wales.

He stated that many of the myths and legends that have shaped the heritage and culture of Wales refer back to the common past of the ancient Britons who lived across Britain, named ‘Waelisc’/ ‘Welsh’ or foreigner by the invader, but who instead referred to each other as fellow countrymen and women, as 'Cymry’.

Mr Isherwood explained: “We sometimes hear about the Roman era, the conquest of the Isle of Druids, Caernarfon's Segontium Roman fort and, more recently, the Roman villas discovered in a settlement on the western shores of modern-day Wales.

"We hear about the Norman conquest of Wales and the castles they refurbished or built.

“We need to hear more about that dark bit of history in between, to which so much wonderful heritage relates, and where the true origins of the Arthurian legends lie.

"The rebellions in 1070 by Hereward the Wake in England, in 1294 by Madog ap Llywelyn in Wales and in 1297 by William Wallace in Scotland were all rebellions by Britons against Norman rule.

“Robert the Bruce’s father and uncle fought for Norman King Edward I, ‘Hammer of the Scots’, in the 1282-84 conquest of Wales, owing military service for their English lands.

"Robert himself is thought to have spent some time at Edward’s court during this period and may himself have been involved.

“In the service of a Knight from Flintshire, Sir Gregory Sais, Owain Glyndwr and his brother, Tudur, spent a period guarding Berwick-on-Tweed on the Anglo-Scottish border – and in 1385, Owain and three other family members joined the army which the last Norman King, Richard II, led against Scotland. Having dutifully served this last Plantagenet King, he then plotted with the Percies and the Mortimers to divide the Kingdom in three."

He added: “Flooding of the North Wales village of Capel Celyn in 1965 to create a reservoir to provide water to Liverpool echoed events in Lancashire a Century earlier, when the chain of Rivington Reservoirs were constructed to supply water to Liverpool, with the flooding of many dwellings in local communities, an inn, mill and farmland.

“The economic causes and social impact of modern industrial history are also border-blind.

“After 1970, coal mining practically disappeared in North and Social Wales, as well as Northumberland and Durham, Yorkshire, the Scottish Central Belt, Lancashire, Cumbria, the East and West Midlands and Kent. Steel work closures in 1980 involved Shotton, Consett and Corby.

“Past myths and present truths such as these combine to provide the foundational legends of our land.

“The history of Wales and the history of the Britons are therefore intertwined and inseparable - and should be taught to every school pupil in Wales on this basis.”