Former python Terry Jones has helped uncover a plot to land a French invasion force in Wales. While working on a new television programme, the historian stumbled upon plans to land Louis XIV's forces on the Mid Wales coast at Aberystwyth. The 17th century conspiracy – apparently hatched after Charles II had signed the Treaty of Dover in which he plotted with the French King to restore Britain to Catholicism – came as a shock to Colwyn Bay-born Terry and programme makers. They had thought they were just going to follow an ancient map to see if a roadway depicted still exists today. Programme producer Alan Ereira said he thought they were in for a gentle, but fascinating trek across Wales using the world's first road atlas, created by John Ogilby. Ogilby, born in Scotland in 1600, is best known for his Britannia Atlas, which set the standard for those that followed. But they found something far more sinister – no less than a plot for revolution, which could have plunged England and Wales into a bitter civil war. “It was a fascinating find,” said Ereira. “And what was going to be a travel programme has become something much more.” Jones and the programme team had planned to follow the map – a luxurious item that in today's money would cost a staggering £40m to produce – from the English border to Aberystwyth or Aberistwith, as Ogilby describes it. Laid out in strips, the map was very literal in the way it depicts crossing streams, going over boggy ground and marking the few towns and villages which were on the way.Ogilby did not walk the whole way himself, but employed an army of surveyors to do the work, with remarkable accuracy even by today's GPS standards. But one thing bothered Terry and the team. Why did this map depict the way to Aberystwyth of all places. In 1672, when the map was being made, the town was hardly the “capital of Mid Wales” that it is today. It was not even regarded as the most important port on that stretch of coast and it only had just over 100 houses.
View: Full Article | Source: ICWales
