Y Fron, also known locally as Cesarea, after the chapel, is a country village on the south-west side of Moel Tryfan, overlooking the

Nantlle Valley The Nantlle Valley ( cy, Dyffryn Nantlle, ) is an area in Gwynedd, North Wales, characterised by its numerous small settlements. The area is also historically important geologically, and featured in one of the most contentious disputes of the 1 ...

, in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

, near Rhosgadfan and Carmel, on the tail of

Mynydd Mawr Mynydd Mawr ( Welsh for ''big mountain'') is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, approximately west of Snowdon itself, overlooking Llyn Cwellyn and being the northern outlier of the Moel Hebog group. A popular ascent starts from Rhyd Ddu. ...

, with epic views of Trum Y Ddysgl and Craig Cwm Silyn. It is in the

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 ...

of Llandwrog. During the 19th century (1890s) the nearby Moel Tryfan

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 ...

was a significant local employer along with a few other quarries in the local area. During this time, Y Fron was home to a bustling community and had several commercial outlets;

Butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

Abattoir A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

, General store,

Shoe shop Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as ''cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen an ...

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

, Bakers,

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

Chip shop Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific geno ...

, furniture store. Although Moel Tryfan quarry is closer to Rhosgadfan, the railway track which carried slate to Slate Quay in the

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

town of

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor ...

passed through Y Fron and around to the area called "Drumhead" near Bryn; (the road between Y Fron and Rhosgadfan). Some of the slate waste heaps or Slag heaps that were left behind from hundreds of years of mining are now being put to use as materials for roads. In 2002 the Moel Tryfan quarry was used to film '' Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life''. The village school, Ysgol Bronyfoel,"Ysgol Bronyfoel"
''Gwynedd Schools UK'', Wales, 23 May 2013. Retrieved on 23 May 2013. was established in 1844 as the first school in the Nantlle Valley. It has a sloping football pitch and a small play park attached. The school closed its door for the last time in July 2015 after being open for a 171 Years. Supported by money from the Big Lottery and the Welsh Government, the local community has converted the former school into a Community Centre calle
Canolfan Y Fron
complete with café, shop and bunk house. The historic 'Cesarea' Chapel was demolished in 2009. Capel Bwlch-Llyn is now the only surviving religious building left standing in the village. (There may have been 3-4 chapels here in the past) The village attracts many walkers throughout the year, who begin their venture towards

and eventually around

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

and onto Trum Y Ddysgl and Craig Cwm Silyn. Annually, during the spring (April), Y Fron plays host to a small endurance race called Ras Mynydd Mawr; Big Mountain Race. The race begins, with registration at the local school, Ysgol Bronyfoel and continues to the peak of

, which is approximately 3.75 miles, raising 1500'.

References

{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd