Llanbedr () is a village and

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, t ...

south of

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 19 ...

. Administratively, it lies in the

Ardudwy Ardudwy is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (cantref) of Dunoding and later a commote in its o ...

area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, an ...

, Wales.

History

Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

s; the Stones of Llanbedr and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

hut circles. The village originally grew around the

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

ing industry. Glyn Pedr is a Victorian Grade II listed residence on Maes Ffynnon. During the first world war Marian Antonia Gamwell who was a widow (became Mrs Owen) created a British Red Cross auxiliary hospital at her new home, the country house called Aber Artro, at Llanbedr.

Climate

Church and chapel

The church of St Peter, after whom the village is named (Pedr being the Welsh for Peter), is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. In 2019 approval was given to convert Capel Moriah in Llanbedr, which had gone out of use, into a Mosque. About east of the village centre is the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Pentre Gwynfryn Pentre Gwynfryn is a village in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd, Wales about east of Llanbedr and the community of the same name. The village is at the confluence of the River Artro and the River Cwmnantcol. The inside of Capel Salem at Pentre Gwy ...

whose chapel, Capel Salem, was the subject of a painting by the artist

Sydney Curnow Vosper Sydney Curnow Vosper RWS, RWA (29 October 1866 – 10 July 1942) was an English painter and etcher of landscapes and figure subjects. His later work has a close association with Wales and Brittany. His most famous work is '' Salem'' (1908), w ...

. The painting, entitled '' Salem'', showed a member of the congregation, Siân Owen, in traditional Welsh costume and became famous throughout Britain in the mid-20th century.

Airport

The village is home to

Llanbedr Airport Llanbedr Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Llanbedr), formerly RAE Llanbedr (ICAO: EGOD), is an operational general aviation airport located in the Snowdonia National Park near the village of Llanbedr, Gwynedd, northwest Wales. History It opened in 19 ...

, a general aviation aerodrome. Until 2004, the site was operated as a military airfield by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) and QinetiQ as a launch site for remotely piloted

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

'aircraft' for use as aerial targets by the RAF and other UK forces. The airfield was included in the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone by the Welsh Government in January 2013. In 2018, the airport became home to a flying school offering pleasure flights and flying lessons. After the UK passed 2021 enabling legislation, in 2022, the Welsh Government announced plans to develop

space launch Space launch is the earliest part of a flight that reaches space. Space launch involves liftoff, when a rocket or other space launch vehicle leaves the ground, floating ship or midair aircraft at the start of a flight. Liftoff is of two main ...

capability at the site, to be named Spaceport Snowdonia.

Amenities

The

Morfa Dyffryn Morfa Dyffryn beach is on the west coast of Wales, between Barmouth and Harlech in Gwynedd. This sandy beach is several miles long and is chiefly known for having an officially recognised naturist area, in length. The beach is very clean and is ...

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s and Mochras (Shell Island) lie nearby. It has two public houses; Ty Mawr Hotel and The Victoria Inn. To the north of the village is the smaller village of

Pensarn Pensarn is a suburb of Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales, the name Pensarn means 'end of the causeway' in English. The crossing of Morfa Rhuddlan was facilitated by a causeway near the sea, located at this point. This causeway was later d ...

, situated at the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

of the

river Artro The River Artro ( cy, Afon Artro) is a river in Gwynedd, Wales. It is about long and has its source at Llyn Cwm Bychan below Rhinog Fawr and Moel Ysgyfarnogod. It flows westwards from its source and is joined by the Afon Cwmnantcol at Pe ...

. This is the location of Llanbedr & Pensarn Yacht Club and the Christian Mountain Centre, a residential adventure activity centre.

Railways

Llanbedr railway station, formerly known as Talwrn Bach Halt, is a little out of the village itself and is served by the

Cambrian Line The Cambrian Line ( cy, Llinell y Cambrian), also known as the Cambrian Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell y Cambrian) and Cambrian Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir y Cambrian), is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury, England, westwards to Abe ...

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

in the same name exists. This ward also covers the Community of Llanfair. The total ward population at the 2011 Census was 1,098.

Twinning

In 2008 Llanbedr was twinned with Huchenfeld, Germany, following many years of exchanges between schools, churches, musicians and community leaders, in remembrance of the occurrences at Pforzheim and Huchenfeld during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Notable people

* Henry Lloyd (ca.1718 – 1783), a Welsh army officer and military writer. * Katherine Mudge (1881–1975), a British archer. competed at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were o ...

in London. * Sir Philip Pullman CBE FRSL (born 1946), an English writer, his formative years were spent in Llanbedr in

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanbedr and surrounding areaLlanbedr Community Council Website
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