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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868


National Gazetteer (1868)

>"LLANBEDR, a parish in the hundred of Ardudwy, county Merioneth, 2 miles S.E. of Harlech, its post town, and 10 N.W. of Dolgelly. It is situated on the banks of the river Artro, and is a favourite resort of fishing parties, being considered, next to Tal-y-Llyn, the best fishing station in Merionethshire. The parish includes the township of Gwyn Fryn. Manganese is obtained in the hills. Llanbedr is a little wood-embosomed village, containing a roadside inn called the Victoria, much frequented by tourists. The living is a curacy annexed to the rectory of Llandanwg, in the diocese of Bangor. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. The parochial endowments produce about £46 per annum, the principal of which is for Parry's school. There are remains of two cromlechs."

"GWYNFRYN, a hamlet in the parish of Llanbedr, county Merioneth, 8 miles N. of Barmouth."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

A Topographical Dictionary of Wales Samuel Lewis, 1833

>LLANBEDR (LLAN-BEDR), a parish in the hundred of ARDUDWY, county of MERIONETH, NORTH WALES, 3 miles (S. S. E.) from Harlech, on the road to Barmouth, containing 403 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the river Artro, which has its source near Cwm Bychan, a spot remarkable for the wildness and sublimity of its scenery, and for the stately magnificence of the rocks and precipices by which it is encircled. At the mouth of this river, according to some accounts, was anciently situated a weir, granted by Gwyddno Garanir, a petty prince of Cantre'r Gwaelod, to his son Elphin, by whom was discovered, in a coracle hanging from one of the poles of the weir, the infant Taliesin, who afterwards became the celebrated British bard of that name, and who had been exposed in that situation soon after his birth. Elphin, taking compassion on the infant, had him carefully brought up and properly educated ; and among the compositions of the bard is an ode to his preserver, of which an elegant translation was published in 1780. The approach to Cwm Bychan is through a richly wooded glen watered by the river Artro : the view in ascending this picturesque vale comprehends a rock of conical form, embosomed in a beautiful grove, beyond which rises in majestic elevation a series of rugged and sterile mountains, which form the back ground. After passing through the woods, and ascending Dinas Porchellyn, the view expands into a wider field, of which the horizon is bounded by rude masses of barren rocks and lofty mountains. The sterility of these crags is relieved by some stately oaks, which have taken deep root in the fissures, and of which some are from eight to nine feet in girth. Near these is a rapid torrent, beyond which the view embraces a small mill of romantic appearance, and an ancient arch flung from rock to rock over the river, of which the water is darkened by the foliage of trees. At a little distance beyond this point, after following a winding and nearly precipitous ascent formed in the rocks, Cwm Bychan appears in sight, deeply embosomed in rocks of magnificent grandeur, and enlivened with the waters of its beautiful lake, above which is the sequestered house of the Lloyds, whose ancestors have been possessors of these wilds since the year 1100, and of whom David Llwyd, a celebrated warrior, and a firm adherent of the Earl of Richmond, was present at the battle of Bosworth Field. At no great distance is the fortified pass called Drws Ardudwy, which is described in the article on Llanddwywau, and which, as well as this place, was most probably occupied by the sons of Cadwgan, in their contests with the sons of Uchtryd ab Edwyn, whom they succeeded in expelling from the country. Among the mountains which surround Cwm Bychan is Carreg y Saeth, on the summit of which are a maen hir and a carnedd. The parish is extensive, being seven miles in length and four in breadth, and having a mountainous and, in some parts, uncultivated surface. An act of parliament was obtained, in 1810, for enclosing the waste lands in this and the adjoining parish, under the provisions of which nine hundred and forty acres were enclosed within the limits of the former. The manufacture of flannel is carried on upon a moderate scale; and in the parish is found manganese, the procuring of which also affords employment to a portion of the inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the rectory of Llandanwg, in the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and diocese of Bangor. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure. According to an absurd local tradition it was originally intended to erect it at a place about forty yards to the right of the road, where there are four or five broad stones, eight feet high, standing upright ; but the workmen found that what they executed by day was removed at night, and therefore commenced the building on its present site. There are places of worship for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A parochial school, for the gratuitous instruction of poor children, was founded by Mrs. Mary Parry, of Ruabon, in the county of Denbigh, daughter of the late Rev. J. Hughes, rector of this parish, who, in 1817, bequeathed £ 1000 for its support. Mr. Theodore Roberts left £20, and there are some smaller charitable donations and bequests, the interest of which is annually distributed among the poor. In one of the rocks here several Roman coins are said to have been found. Maes y Garnedd, in this parish, was the birth-place of the regicide Colonel Jones. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £ 102. 10.

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