Tregynon
Encyclopedia
Tregynon is a small village and community
in Powys
, Wales
. It rests on the B4389 road which runs from Bettws Cedewain
to New Mills. The country house Gregynog
is nearby.
The village is named from the eponymous 6th century saint Cynon and the Parish Church [basically pre-Reformation but heavily "restored" in the 19th century] built on an oval shaped hillock of pre-historic significance, is named in his honour; there is also a Calvinistic Methodist [Presbyterian Church of Wales] Chapel called Bethany. The nearby country house is Gregynog Hall, which probably dates from the 15th century; in the 19th century it was the seat of the Blayney [Blaenau, originally] Hanbury-Tracy families and became the centre of Welsh cultural life in the 20th century under Miss Margaret and Miss Gwendoline Davies, who had inherited their grandfather's fortune [David Davies of Llandinam]. Although it is commonly thought that they made the village alcohol-free and made the local pub into the Temperance Hotel, it is a fact that the Temperance Hotel existed from at least the 1880s. They used their money and influence to promote their faith by regular Chapel attendance and encouraging this among their tenants and employees and paying for the erection of the Manse near to the Bethany Chapel and installing its organ. They gave refuge to wounded soldiers in both World Wars and established a printing press and local choir. They left their home to the university of Wales and a cultural, educational and retreat centre.
Tregynon boasted a number of prolific local families in the agricultural and local industrial 19th and 20th centuries, including the Williams, Stephens, Thomas and Corfield "clans" - some branches of them had over a dozen children apiece! The use of the Welsh language, which had declined during the 19th century, has increased over recent decades due to the position of the local Primary School for the surrounding area in the village of Tregynon and the policy of the local authority to make bilingualism its aim. The village was touched by the last Welsh Revival of 1904-05 and many of the children converted at the time kept the memory alive until the end of the century. The Bethany Chapel was predominantly English in worship and instruction but there were some Welsh classes and the lively singing [in both languages] echoed out to the neighbouring Boncyn y Beddau hill ["The Bonkin" in English]. The Brook, known as the Bechan in Welsh, is an eventual tributary of the Severn and provided power for the local Sawmill, now owned by Coed Cymru.
The latter decades of the twentieth century saw an expansion of the population of the village with many houses and bungalows being built in the low lying fields and being given Welsh names [e.g."Tan-yr-Eglyws"]. The presence of the local primary school, Ysgol Rhiw Bechan, for the area as well as the Village Community Hall are attractions to outsiders to settle. The centre of the village retains its old charm with the Rectory, Church House, old School displaying traditional mid Wales half timber framed black and white dwellings and innovative early use of concrete - the latter also found on the outskirts of the village in a pair of cottages. One of oldest buildings is the Old School House, also known as "Tithe Barn", now divided into two homes, located alongside the remains of a medieval fort with earthworks near the Bechan brook. Some of the straighter local roads are likely to be of Roman origin - leading to Llanfair Caereinion in particular.
Further from the centre of the village are a number of Farms including Ty'n y Bryn, Neuadd Llwyd, Cefn Llydan, etc.
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
in Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, 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 rests on the B4389 road which runs from Bettws Cedewain
Bettws Cedewain
Bettws Cedewain , also known as Bettws Cedewen, is a small village and community in Powys, Wales. It lies in a sheltered valley on the banks of the Bechan Brook, some 3 miles north of Newtown....
to New Mills. The country house Gregynog
Gregynog
Gregynog is a large country hall in the village of Tregynon, 4 miles northwest of Newtown in Powys, mid-Wales. Various halls have occupied the site since the twelfth century and it was the ancestral home of the Blayneys and the Traceys from the fifteenth century...
is nearby.
The village is named from the eponymous 6th century saint Cynon and the Parish Church [basically pre-Reformation but heavily "restored" in the 19th century] built on an oval shaped hillock of pre-historic significance, is named in his honour; there is also a Calvinistic Methodist [Presbyterian Church of Wales] Chapel called Bethany. The nearby country house is Gregynog Hall, which probably dates from the 15th century; in the 19th century it was the seat of the Blayney [Blaenau, originally] Hanbury-Tracy families and became the centre of Welsh cultural life in the 20th century under Miss Margaret and Miss Gwendoline Davies, who had inherited their grandfather's fortune [David Davies of Llandinam]. Although it is commonly thought that they made the village alcohol-free and made the local pub into the Temperance Hotel, it is a fact that the Temperance Hotel existed from at least the 1880s. They used their money and influence to promote their faith by regular Chapel attendance and encouraging this among their tenants and employees and paying for the erection of the Manse near to the Bethany Chapel and installing its organ. They gave refuge to wounded soldiers in both World Wars and established a printing press and local choir. They left their home to the university of Wales and a cultural, educational and retreat centre.
Tregynon boasted a number of prolific local families in the agricultural and local industrial 19th and 20th centuries, including the Williams, Stephens, Thomas and Corfield "clans" - some branches of them had over a dozen children apiece! The use of the Welsh language, which had declined during the 19th century, has increased over recent decades due to the position of the local Primary School for the surrounding area in the village of Tregynon and the policy of the local authority to make bilingualism its aim. The village was touched by the last Welsh Revival of 1904-05 and many of the children converted at the time kept the memory alive until the end of the century. The Bethany Chapel was predominantly English in worship and instruction but there were some Welsh classes and the lively singing [in both languages] echoed out to the neighbouring Boncyn y Beddau hill ["The Bonkin" in English]. The Brook, known as the Bechan in Welsh, is an eventual tributary of the Severn and provided power for the local Sawmill, now owned by Coed Cymru.
The latter decades of the twentieth century saw an expansion of the population of the village with many houses and bungalows being built in the low lying fields and being given Welsh names [e.g."Tan-yr-Eglyws"]. The presence of the local primary school, Ysgol Rhiw Bechan, for the area as well as the Village Community Hall are attractions to outsiders to settle. The centre of the village retains its old charm with the Rectory, Church House, old School displaying traditional mid Wales half timber framed black and white dwellings and innovative early use of concrete - the latter also found on the outskirts of the village in a pair of cottages. One of oldest buildings is the Old School House, also known as "Tithe Barn", now divided into two homes, located alongside the remains of a medieval fort with earthworks near the Bechan brook. Some of the straighter local roads are likely to be of Roman origin - leading to Llanfair Caereinion in particular.
Further from the centre of the village are a number of Farms including Ty'n y Bryn, Neuadd Llwyd, Cefn Llydan, etc.