Grey Mare's Tail, Llanrwst
Encyclopedia
Gwydir Castle
Gwydir Castle is situated in the Conwy valley, North Wales, a mile to the west of the ancient market town of Llanrwst and to the south of the large village of Trefriw...
in the county of Conwy
Conwy (county borough)
Conwy County Borough is a unitary authority area in North Wales.-Geography:It contains the major settlements of Llandudno, Llandudno Junction, Llanrwst, Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, Colwyn Bay, Abergele, Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan, and has a total population of about 110,000.The River Conwy, after...
, north 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 lies just off the B5106 road between the town of Llanrwst
Llanrwst
Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....
and the large village of Trefriw
Trefriw
Trefriw is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the river Conwy in North Wales, a few miles south of the site of the Roman fort of Canovium, sited at Caerhun. The parish population in 2001 was 924....
. The origins of the name are unknown, other than being descriptive, and its Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
name, "Rhaeadr y Parc Mawr" (Parc Mawr waterfall) is rarely used. This Welsh name derives from the fact that the falls are fed by a large stream which has its source in the Gwydir Forest
Gwydir Forest
Gwydir Forest, also spelled Gwydyr, is located in Conwy county borough and the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. It takes its name from the ancient Gwydir Estate, established by the John Wynn family of Gwydir Castle, which owned this area....
, and flows through the old Parc Mine, about a mile to the south-east.
In all there are some ten types of waterfall, a horsetail being described as a fall where the descending water maintains some contact with bedrock.
Despite its name, this waterfall actually comprises two cascades, the water flowing around both sides of a large rock at the top. However this was possibly not always the case - In 1895 Francis Frith
Francis Frith
Francis Frith was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom....
published a postcard showing the "White Mare's Tail Cascade, Llanrwst" (see here). Although only showing a single waterfall - as opposed to today's twin cascades - it is probable from the woodland setting that this is indeed the same location.
Below the falls is a shallow plunge pool
Plunge pool
A plunge pool can be a natural hydrologic fluvial landform feature or a constructed recreational garden feature...
, and on leaving the wood the waters flow under the road to join eventually the river Conwy
River Conwy
The River Conwy is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is a little over long. "Conwy" is sometimes Anglicized as "Conway."...
.
The woodland area in which the falls lie is known as Coed Felin Blwm (Lead Mill Wood), and the remains of mill buildings can be seen near the falls. Felin Blwm lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
mill (a name now taken by the adjacent house) was originally erected by the Gwydir Estate
Gwydir Castle
Gwydir Castle is situated in the Conwy valley, North Wales, a mile to the west of the ancient market town of Llanrwst and to the south of the large village of Trefriw...
to crush ore from Parc Mine in the Gwydir Forest and it is possible that this is the mill listed in surviving 18th century Estate accounts. A later decline in lead mining saw the mill converted to a sawmill.
Both lead and wood from this site was transported down the river Conwy from Trefriw.
The waters of the falls are not especially pure because of the minerals (not just lead) which are in the rocks of the Gwydir Forest.
When Sir John Wynn
Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet
Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet , Welsh baronet, Member of Parliament and antiquary, was the son of Morys Wynn ap John. He claimed to be directly descended from the princes of Gwynedd through Rhodri ab Owain son of Owain Gwynedd. However, this claim is disputed in a publication of 1884 entitled...
was laying out the ornamental gardens at Gwydir Castle in the 1590s, he took a spur of water from above the falls, channelling it along the hillside in a leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
. Collected in a header tank, from here the water was of sufficient pressure to feed the fountain in the gardens.
In her book "Castles in the Air", the current owner of Gwydir Castle describes the waterfall thus -
The area around the falls is now a nature reserve, owned by the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
, as is much of the adjacent Gwydir Forest. There is a tiny signed car park at the gate, but otherwise the existence of the falls is not signed at all, and remains unknown to many who pass by. The falls can also be reached from above, from the lane which leads up to the hamlet of Llanrhychwyn
Llanrhychwyn
LlanrhychwynConwyLlanrhychwyn is a hamlet in Conwy county borough, Wales. It lies in the Conwy valley in North Wales, less than a mile south of Trefriw, and a mile north-west of Llanrwst...
.