the "Meini Gwynedd" near the summit of Carnedd Llywelyn were lifted there bodily in 1542 from the banks of one of these lakes. Henry VIII is said to have ordered the investigation of this claim and later proclaimed that it was true. Geography The Carneddau are the largest continuous stretch of mountain land over 2,500 feet in the country. They are not as rugged as the Snowdon massif or the Glyderau but are impressive nevertheless. Much of the higher ground is covered with rough grass and heather, with patches of shattered rocks. Pen-yr-Ole-Wen lies on the western edge of the range and dominates the Nant Ffrancon pass. To the northeast along the main Carneddau ridge is Carnedd Dafydd, then Carnedd Llewellyn and beyond are other lower summits. To the north and west of the ridge are mostly grassy slopes, while to the east there are some high cliffs, deep valleys and small lakes. The Carneddau range is home to the only population of wild horses in the United Kingdom. The peaks in the central Carnedd ridge are: Pen yr Ole Wen (978 m) Carnedd Dafydd (1044 m) Carnedd Llewelyn (1064 m) Yr Elen (962 m) Foel Grach (976 m) Carnedd Gwenllian (926 m) Foel-fras (942 m) In September 2009 the peak referred to as Garnedd Uchaf was renamed Carnedd Gwenllian following a campaign by the Gwenllian Society to honour Princess Gwenllian, the daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. Flora and fauna The plants growing on the Carneddau need to be extremely hardy to withstand the snow, frosts, and gales they will encounter during the year and those found by sheltered streams in the valleys are very different from those clinging to crevices on windswept rocks. Sheep graze the mountains and impact the composition of the sward, nibbling out the most succulent young growth. Where the sheep are fenced out globe flowers, wood avens, angelica, red campion and roseroot can be found at lower elevations, along with ash, alder, hawthorn, holly and rowan. Higher up on scree there are Welsh poppies and in damp crevices under rocks the rare Wilson's filmy fern. Boggy areas support cotton grass, marsh orchid, sundew and bog asphodel. The better-drained rocky slopes have bilberry, ling, bell heather and cross-leaved heath and the summit ridge has prostrate dwarf willows, sedges, mosses and lichens. Until five hundred years ago, wolves and deer would have roamed the