Cefn Meiriadog (sometimes Cefnmeriadog) is a rural

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Wales, just south-west of the city of

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

. The boundary of the community on three sides is the

river Elwy The River Elwy (''Afon Elwy'' in Welsh) is a river in Wales forming a tributary to the River Clwyd. The source of the river is sometimes said to be on the northern flank of Moel Seisiog, south-east of Llanrwst, at Ordnance Survey grid referenc ...

, which here forms the county boundary with Conwy County Borough. Arguably the largest settlement in the community is the hamlet of Bontnewydd. Also in the community are the hamlets of Groesffordd Marli where Ysgol Cefn Meiriadog is situated, and Cefn. Wigfair - geograph

The community is named for a small ridge of the same name (''cefn'' in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

means "ridge"). It is said that the place was named for St Meiriadog, a 4th or 5th century Breton saint.

Cefn Caves Cefn Caves are a group of four interlinked caves in the limestone cliffs of the Elwy valley, north of Denbigh, in Denbighshire, North Wales. Early excavations found both human and animal remains dating back to the Paleolithic period. The cave n ...

are nearby, where human and early

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

remains dating back 250,000 years have been discovered. Visitors to the site have included

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

, in 1831. The site is known as

Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site The Bontnewydd palaeolithic site (), also known in its unmutated form as Pontnewydd (Welsh language: 'New bridge'), is an archaeological site near St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales. It is one of only three sites in Britain to have produced fossils ...

. There is a local spring, ''Ffynnon Fair'' ("St Mary's spring"), and it was once believed to have healing properties. The poet

Siôn Tudur Siôn Tudur (also ''John Tudur'', c. 1522–1602) was a 16th century Welsh language poet. After serving as a yeoman in the courts of Edward VI and Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people ...

(1522 – 1602) lived at Plas Wigfair (GR028712) nearby.

St Mary's Church, Cefn

About 300 metres SE of the fort ''Bryn y Cawr'' ("Giant's Hill", at the SE end of the ridge) stands the small St Mary's church (Grade II listed).Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust; accessed 16.9.2014
/ref> The stone was quarried at the site of the church; the church was opened and consecrated on 3.9.1864 by Bishop Short of St Asaph, and the new ecclesiastical parish of "Cefn" was created on 7. 2. 1865, made up of two "townships": Wigfair and Meiriadog (both in Denbighshire), previously part of St Asaph parish.

Population

In 2011 the population of Cefnmeiriadog was 389, with 30.4% able to speak

References

{{authority control Villages in Denbighshire Communities in Denbighshire