Glyndyfrdwy
Encyclopedia
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is situated on the A5 road half way between Corwen
Corwen
Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales; it was previously part of the county of Meirionnydd). Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llangollen and south of Ruthin...
and Llangollen
Llangollen
Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.-History:...
in the Dee Valley (Afon Dyfrdwy).
Owain Glyndwr
Historically, it is renowned for its association with Owain GlyndŵrOwain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
. Near this village, at his manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Glyndyfrdwy, Owain Glyndŵr (the Baron of Glyndyfrdwy) proclaimed himself Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
on 16 September 1400, so beginning his fourteen year rebellion against English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rule.
The eroded remains of a 12th century castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
motte
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
, known locally at Owain Glyndŵr's Mount, was built to command the route through the Dee Valley. Owain's manor is likely to have been in the square moated area across a nearby field. This would have been defended by a water-filled moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
, a palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
and gate.
The site was devastated by Harry of Monmouth, English Prince of Wales, and later to become King Henry V and his forces in 1403.
In the Owain Glyndwr Memorial Hall are artifacts associated with the man himself; a copy of the Pennal Letter to King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
Charles VI of France
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
, a document ratifying the terms of a 1404 Treaty agreed between Owain and the French in 1405, a letter confirming the appointments of Owain's Chancellor, Gruffydd Young
Gruffydd Young
Gruffydd Young was a cleric and a close supporter of Owain Glyndwr during his Welsh rebellion against the English King Henry IV between 1400 and 1412.- Winning favour :...
and Owain's brother-in-law, John Hanmer as Ambassadors to the French Court, pictures of the Parliament house in Dolgellau
Dolgellau
Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
, a portrait drawn from Owain's seal, and a replica of this seal.
The Parish
The parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Glyndyfrdwy was created in 1866, from the former Corwen
Corwen
Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales; it was previously part of the county of Meirionnydd). Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llangollen and south of Ruthin...
townships of Carrog, Mwstwr, and Tir Llanerch along with portions of Bonwm and Rhagat. The parish was in the traditional county of Merionethshire
Merionethshire
Merionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, a vice county and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...
until 1974 when it became part of the short-lived county of Clwyd
Clwyd
Clwyd is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east, bordering England with Cheshire to its east, Shropshire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Gwynedd to its immediate west and Powys to the south. It additionally shares a maritime border with the metropolitan county of...
. Following further local government re-organisation in 1996 it became part of the "new" county of Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
.
The Railways
The Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
line from Ruabon
Ruabon
Ruabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....
to Llangollen was extended via Corwen, Llanuwchllyn and Dolgellau
Dolgellau
Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
to Barmouth
Barmouth
Barmouth ; Y Bermo ) is a town in the county of Gwynedd, north-western Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay.The town is served by Barmouth railway station.- History :...
. Glyndyfrdwy railway station
Glyndyfrdwy railway station
Glyndyfrdwy railway station in Denbighshire, Wales, was formerly a station on the Ruabon to Barmouth line. It was to have closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965 but closed prematurely due to flood damage on 14 Dec 1964. It was reopened in 1993 by the preserved Llangollen Railway...
was opened in 1866 and, later, a passing loop and second platform were added there. The line was closed in the 1960s under the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
and Glyndyfrdwy station was eventually demolished. In 1977 a group of railway enthusiasts came together to form the Llangollen Railway
Llangollen Railway
The Llangollen Railway is a volunteer-run preserved railway in Denbighshire, Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Carrog; at long, it is the longest preserved standard gauge line in Wales and operates daily in Summer as well as weekends throughout the Winter months using a wide variety of...
, with the intention to restore and rebuild a large section of the line. The work was undertaken in stages and by 1991 the track had been replaced as far as Glyndyfrdwy. On 17 April 1992 the first Llangollen Railway passenger train arrived at Glyndyfrdwy.
Glyndyfrdwy was also the terminus of the Deeside Tramway
Deeside Tramway
The Deeside Tramway was a gravity and horse worked narrow gauge industrial railway connecting the slate workings on the Dee valley with the main road at Glyndyfrdwy and later the Great Western Railway's Ruabon-Dolgellau railway...
, a narrow gauge railway built to serve the local slate quarries
Slate industry
The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a slate quarry or reached by tunneling in a slate mine. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring material, gravestones and memorial tablets, and for electrical...
. The tramway was one of the last operating industrial railway
Industrial railway
An industrial railway is a type of railway that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics or military site...
s in Britain that used wooden rails.