Nefyn (, archaically anglicised as Nevin) is both a small town and a

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, ...

on the northwest coast of the

Llŷn Peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( cy, Penrhyn Llŷn or , ) extends into the Irish Sea from North West Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the historic county of Caernarfonshire, and historic region and local authority area of Gwynedd. Mu ...

, Gwynedd,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Nefyn is popular with visitors for its sandy beach, and has one substantial hotel. The

A497 road List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European isla ...

terminates in the town centre. The community includes Edern and Morfa Nefyn. In 2011, the population was 2,602, with Nefyn itself having 1,373 people.

History

The history of the area can be traced back to 300 BC with the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

of Garn Boduan overlooking Nefyn. The remains of 170 round stone huts and ramparts are still visible on top of the hill. The earliest known reference to Nefyn in documents dates from the latter part of the 11th century, when it is mentioned as a landing place of the Welsh prince,

Gruffudd ap Cynan Gruffudd ap Cynan ( 1137), sometimes written as Gruffydd ap Cynan, was King of Gwynedd from 1081 until his death in 1137. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule, and was rememb ...

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

, writing in his account of a journey around Wales in 1188, says that he slept at Nefyn on the eve of

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

. Nefyn was the location of the court of the

commote A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...

of Dinlaen: part of the cantref of Llŷn.

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

held a

jousting Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...

tournament in the town in 1284 to celebrate his victory over the Welsh, emphasising its importance at that time as a trading town. In 1355, it became a free

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

and remained an important centre of commerce. The sea was always an important part of the economy of Nefyn; and fishing, particularly for herring, became the prime trade for most of the 18th and 19th centuries: so much so that the town's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

bears three herrings. Herring were locally referred to as "Nefyn beef". In 1910, Nefyn had 40 herring fishing boats, but herring fishing ceased around the time of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The area nurtured many ships' captains in the age of sail, and shipbuilding was also an important local industry. About 3 miles to the south-west is Madryn Castle, home of Sir Love Jones-Parry, one of the founders of the settlement of

Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010. Puer ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Parish church and origin of the name Nefyn

The foundations of the old St Mary's

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

date from the 6th century, although the present building was erected in 1827. It would have been an important staging post for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

s to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island). The old church is no longer a place of worship but houses a museum dedicated to the maritime history of Nefyn. Since 2013, archaeologists have been investigating the area under the church and have uncovered a 13th–14th century brooch and the remains of a lady buried sometime between 1180 and 1250 in an older form of entombment called a

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...

grave. The place name is of uncertain origin. It is recorded as ''Newin'' in 1291, and as ''Nefyn'' in 1291. It may represent a personal name. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

recorded a tribe occupying the peninsula called the 'Gangani', who are also recorded as a tribe in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

20th century and after

Nefyn & District Golf Club was formed in 1907. The course added a further 9 holes in 1912 and a third set of 9 holes in 1933. The current course is made up of a front ten with a choice of two back eights. It is set high on the sea cliffs of the narrow peninsula overlooking

Porthdinllaen Porthdinllaen (''in English'' sometimes Porth Dinllaen) is a small coastal village on the Llŷn Peninsula in the Dwyfor area of Gwynedd, Wales, built on a small promontory, and historically in Caernarfonshire. It is near the larger village of ...

bay. Since 1929, Nefyn has played host to a

Beach Mission Children's Special Service Mission was the original name, from 1867, of the organisation now called Scripture Union. Begun by Thomas 'Pious' Hughes and Josiah Spiers in Islington, London, this evangelical Christian movement was less formal than the ...

, which runs for two weeks at the beginning of August each year. Nefyn football club, Nefyn United F.C., was formed in 1932 and has enjoyed some success over the years, winning numerous league titles. At present, the senior team competes in the Welsh Alliance League: it was promoted from the Gwynedd League in 2005–06. 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 ...

, the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

built a Chain Home

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

station to the south-west of Nefyn. In 1977, the Llŷn Maritime Museum was opened in the Church of St Mary by a group of volunteers. It closed in 2000 on grounds of health and safety, but was redeveloped from 2007 and reopened in 2014. The area has a history of earth tremors and landslides. A tremor in the area on 12 December 1940 was reported by the ''

Cambrian News The ''Cambrian News'' is a weekly newspaper distributed in Wales. It was founded in 1860 and is based in Cefn Llan Science Park, Aberystwyth. Cambrian News Ltd was bought by media entrepreneur Sir Ray Tindle in 1998. History The paper was fi ...

'' as having caused two fatalities including John Thomas of Nefyn who died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. On 19 July 1984, an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale had an

epicentre The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

near Nefyn. This was one of the strongest tremors recorded in Britain in recent times but caused little structural damage. A fatal landslide occurred at Y Lôn Gam on 2 January 2001. On 19 April 2021, a landslide resulted in a cliff collapse, which affected gardens in Rhodfa'r Môr, but there were no casualties. A further landslide on 29 October 2021 blocked vehicular access to the beach at Y Lôn Gam and the adjacent cliff path was closed. Nefyn is twinned with

, a town in

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes rang ...

(see Welsh settlement in Argentina).

Demographics

Welsh language

According to the 2011 Census, Nefyn is the community with the 28th highest percentage of Welsh speakers in Wales. 74.2% of residents aged three and over reported being able to speak Welsh in the 2011 Census, as compared to 77.9% reporting being able to do so in the 2001 Census.

Governance

There are two Nefyn electoral wards (Nefyn and Morfa Nefyn). The population of Nefyn Ward at the 2011 census was 1,373.

Nefyn landslide, April 2021

Nefyn marine landslide - coastal erosion as a result of Climate Change - Wales 19 April 2021 09.jpg Nefyn marine landslide - coastal erosion as a result of Climate Change - Wales 19 April 2021 07.jpg Nefyn marine landslide -Nefyn, Gwynedd, Wales - looking towards yr Eifl - May 2021 03.jpg Nefyn marine landslide - coastal erosion as a result of Climate Change - Wales 19 April 2021 31.jpg Nefyn marine landslide - coastal erosion as a result of Climate Change - Wales 19 April 2021 23.jpg

Notable people

* Harpist John Parry (ca. 1710–1782), known as Parry Ddall Rhiwabon (Blind Parry of Rhiwabon). * Sir Thomas Duncombe Love Jones-Parry (1832–1891), 1st

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP and one of the founders of the Welsh settlement in Argentina, inherited the Madryn estate near Nefyn in 1853. *

Elizabeth Watkin-Jones Elizabeth Watkin-Jones (13 July 1887 – 9 June 1966) was a Welsh children's book author, who wrote in the Welsh language. Life history Watkin-Jones was born in Nefyn, Caernarfonshire as Elizabeth Parry, the only daughter of Jane and Henry Pa ...

(1887–1966), author of children's books in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

, was born in Nefyn on 13 July 1887. * Singer Duffy was born in Nefyn.

References

Office for National Statistics – Neighbourhood Statistics – Welsh Language – 2011 Census

Office for National Statistics – Neighbourhood Statistics – Full List – Parish of Nefyn – 2011 Censu

External links

Former Nefyn resident's relatives in America

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Nefyn and surrounding area
{{authority control Nefyn, Towns in Gwynedd