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Trawsfynydd

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"TRAWSFYNYDD, a parish in the hundred of Ardudwy, county Merioneth, 12 miles N. of Dolgelly, and 9 from Harlech. Carnarvon is its post town. It is situated on the Sarn Helen Way, and on the river Maw, which here forms several cascades, called Pistylt-y-Cain and Mawddach falls, the former 150 feet and the latter 60 feet descent. There are several lakes, the largest of which is Rathlyn lake, abounding in trout. The parish comprises near 100 square miles. The land is chiefly in barren sheep-walks. Copper and lead exist. In the vicinity numerous relics of antiquity have been discovered, including Castel Prysor, a British or Roman fort, and an inscribed stone at Bedd Porus bearing date 1275. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bangor, value £179, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Madryn. Bishop Lloyd was born here in 1600. There are schools for both sexes, one of which has a small endowment. The Calvinistic Methodists have a chapel." [From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

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Bibliography

Canmlwyddiant Bethel (E.F.) Trawsfynydd, 1879-1979 : rhaglen y dathlu. Trawsfynydd : Eglwys Bethel, 1979. 8p

Davies, D. Notes about Trawsfynydd. Lampeter : Welsh Church Press, 1903. 8p

Davies, J Norman. Dubbin, sawdust and lace : village football in Wales [Trawsfynydd]. Country Life 185/35 (29.8.91), p. 86

John, Brian S. Nuclear power and jobs : the Trawsfynydd experience. Newport : Cilgwyn Publications, 1986. 36p

Lloyd, Lewis. The Australian adventure of Evan Roberts, Junior, of Bryn-y-gath, Trawsfynydd. Journal of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society 13/1 (1998), p. 43-52

O'Brien, Keith T. St John Roberts, 1577-1610 : a brief history of the Saint and martyr from Trawsfynydd. 2001

The economic and social circumstances of young people living in rural Wales : Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd : final report. Newtown : Development Board for Rural Wales, [1992]. 75 leaves

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Biography

Saint John Roberts - on Wikipedia " ..... one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Born in Trawsfynydd, ...... ordained a priest in 1602....."

Hedd Wyn - on Wikipedia "Born Ellis Humphrey Evans..... Bardic name Hedd Wyn,...... spent most of his life on a hill farm near Trawsfynydd......"

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Business & Commerce Records

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Jarrett, J. R., collection of Jarrett Jarrett and Sons (chemists) papers 1815-1921 "Jarrett Jarrett and Sons, of Glasfryn House, were dispensing chemists in Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire; they were also drapers and grocers......"
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Census

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Church History

Church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 11, North Wales. Ed. by Ieuan Gwynedd Jones, UWP, 1981. The names given towardsthe end of each entry are those of the informants.

Parish statistics; Area 21950 acres; Population 734 males, 764 females, total 1498

  • The return for this parish is missing

Places of worship for Independents and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists ( Lewis 1849)

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of

  • Trawsfynydd Capel Salem - Baptist

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Essay : History of Congregationalism in Trawsfynydd Post 1863 "For details regarding the history of congregationalism in the parish of Trawsfynydd in Merioneth, Wales, consult this document or Hanes eglwysi annibynol Cymru , Vol. 2.

Rees, Thomas & John Thomas. Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). Here is the entry from this book for Jerusalemchapel (in Welsh ) - with translation Also Penystryd chapel (No translation) Also Trawsfynydd (with translation by Eleri Rowlands  October 2024)

Various items   - on the People's Collection Wales  site

  • Church, Trawsfynydd
  • Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, Trawsfynydd
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Church Records

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Description & Travel

Trawsfynydd - on Wikipedia

Aerial photograph of Trawsfynydd village, lake and nuclear power station, 1996 - on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see pictures of Trawsfynydd which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

TRAWSVYNYDD (TRAWS-VYNYDD), a parish in the hundred of ARDUDWY, county of MERIONETH, NORTH WALES, 12 miles (N. by W.) from Dolgelley, containing 1450 inhabitants. This parish, the village of which is situated on an eminence in an exposed and open mountainous district, on the turnpike road from Tan y bwlch to Dolgelley, is more than ten miles in length and eight in breadth, and more than one-half, consisting of barren hills, is uncultivated, affording only scanty pasturage for sheep and young cattle. The surrounding country is strikingly varied, presenting in some parts the dreary wildness of rugged mountain scenery, in others the softer features of rural beauty, combined with objects of picturesque and romantic grandeur. The lake called Llyn Rathlyn is a fine sheet of water, noted for a peculiar species of perch, having the lower extremity of the back bone strangely distorted: the interesting waterfalls of Pistyll Cain and Pistyll Mawddach, in this parish, have been described in the article on DOLGELLEY. Fairs, which are in general well attended, are held here on April 23rd and September 29th, for horses, cattle; and pedlery; and at Penystryd, in this parish, others are held on August 17th and September 21st. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and diocese of Bangor, rated in the king's books at £ 8. 12. 1., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Bangor. The church, dedicated to St. Madryn, is an ancient structure, in the early style of English architecture. There are places of worship for Independents and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists, with Sunday schools attached to each. David Lloyd, in 1686, bequeathed £20 to the poor; Robert Roberts, in 1756, gave £ 12 to be distributed in bread ; and Mrs. Jones, near Corwen, and her daughter-in-law, bequeathed £ 180, directing that the interest should be appropriated to the annual distribution of £4, in sums of five shillings each, to sixteen poor women, and the remaining £ 4. 10. to the apprenticing of a poor boy once in two years. There are some remains of an ancient fortress called Castell Prysor, the name of which implies its hasty erection : it is of small extent, and occupied a situation in a pass between the hills on the left of the road from Trawsvynydd to Bala. The origin of this fortress, which is built of stone without any cement, is not precisely known; but, from the discovery of several urns and coins near the site, it is supposed to have been either built or occupied by the Romans ; and part of a Roman road, now called " the Sarn Helen," which is still visible at no great distance, in some degree corroborates this opinion. On a farm in this parish, called Llech Idris, is Bedd Porus, or " the grave of Porus," over which is a flat stone with the inscription " Porus hic in tumulo jacit, homo -pianus fuit." The word pianus has been thought to have been originally Christianus ; but although the letter p has by some been considered an r, it does not appear ever to have been read t, and the interval between it and homo is insufficient for the five preceding letters. Near this spot is an upright stone, called Llech Idris, from which the farm takes its name, and concerning which there is a legend stating it to have derived that appellation from a giant named Idris ; but it appears to be simply one of those monumental stones so frequently found in this country. Near the Sarn Helen are several tumuli, in one of which were found five urns, and several fragments of bricks, which had been placed round them to protect them from injury : there is also a tumulus on a farm called Gwynionydd. Humphrey Lloyd, Bishop of Bangor, was born at Bodyvudda, in this parish, about the year 1600; and Sion and Rhys Cain, both eminent bards, were also natives of this parish. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £552. ( A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, 1833)

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Genealogy

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Rev. J. Mostyn, Friog, Trawsfynydd Archives 1881-1958 "The Rev. John Mostyn, of Friog, Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, was born on 2nd June 1881........"
  • Owens, Owen, Trawsfynydd, papurau 1864-1925 "Notebooks, 1864-1925, of Owen Owens, containing notes on sermons heard by him in Trawsfynydd, Bala and Llangywer, Merionethshire, and elsewhere, 1864-1916, together with records of Moriah Chapel (MC), and schools in the Trawsfynydd area, particularly Ysgoldy Caeadda, 1896-1925, and a diary, 1894."
  • Hedd Wyn Manuscripts 1906 - 1963 "Ellis Humphrey Evans, poet, better known as Hedd Wyn , his bardic name, was born in Trawsfynydd on 13 January 1887............"
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History

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station, 1965  "Landscape view of Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station with cows in foreground taken in 1965. Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station was constructed between 1959 and 1963 to architectural specifications by Sir Basil Spence. It started service in 1965 and its twin Magnox reactors generated electricity for 26 years before it reached the end of its service life in 1991. The first inland civil nuclear power station in the UK, it used fresh water for cooling drawn from Trawsfynydd lake, originally created in the 1920s as part of a hydro-electric project at Maentwrog..........."
  • Penygarreg Street, Trawsfynydd c1905
  • Picket line, Trawsfynydd power station nd.
  • The first 'page' of a Roman will found near Trawsfynydd in the 19th century. The tablet was already broken in two.
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Land & Property

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Coed-y-Rhygen Estate Map 1813 "Coed-y-Rhygen Estate, situated in the parish of Trawsfynydd, Merioneth was owned by Hugh Davies in the early 19th century..."
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Maps

Gwynedd Family History Society have a diagram of the ecclesiastical parishes of Merionethshire (under Parishes) - with some links to photographs of parish churches

A map of Trawsfynydd parish in the County of Merioneth  - on the People's Collection Wales  site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SH731330 (Lat/Lon: 52.879219, -3.8868), Trawsfynydd which are provided by:

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Newspapers

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Occupations

The manganese mines of Merionethshire

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Goppa Diaries 1872-1919 "A collection of 40 diaries written by David Tegid Jones [farmer at Goppa Farm, Trawsfynydd]. They represent his observations on the vagaries of the weather, on buying and selling, on the movements of farm-servants, on books (occasionally), and on religious matters. Nos. 37-40 reflect the effects of the Great War upon the countryside - upon prices, the gathering of harvests, the economic constriction. There are also frequent references to attendances at meetings and committees."

Various items  - on the People's Collection Wales  site

  • Harvesting corn at Trawsfynydd, north Wales, July 1909. 
  • Shoemakers, Trawsfynydd c1885
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Social Life & Customs

Group at the railway station, Trawsfynydd (1888)  - on the People's Collection Wales  site