Abergynolwyn () is a village in southern

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni. The population of the community which is named after the village of

Llanfihangel-y-Pennant Llanfihangel-y-Pennant is a hamlet and wider, very sparsely populated community (which includes Abergynolwyn and Tal-y-llyn) in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. It is located in the foothills of Cadair Idris, and has a population of ...

was 339 at the 2011 census.

History

Historically, the village was part of

Merionethshire Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is a ...

and its main industry was

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 ro ...

quarrying 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 manage their s ...

. The village was founded in the 1860s to house workers at the nearby

Bryn Eglwys Bryn Eglwys quarry was a Slate industry in Wales, slate quarry and mine near Abergynolwyn, in Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), Wales. More than 300 men worked at the site, making it the principal employer in the area. Two veins of slate, k ...

quarry. The quarry brought in migrant workers from other areas of Wales and at one time the village had an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church and three nonconformist chapels. The slate was shipped to the coast on the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway () is a narrow-gauge railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol railway station, Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 to carr ...

. A decline in the demand for Welsh slate caused reductions in the workforce, and the quarry finally closed in 1948. Today

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

ing,

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

are the major local industries.

Transportation

Talyllyn Railway

The village pub, the Railway Inn, is named after the Talyllyn Railway whose narrow gauge

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

once reached into the heart of the village down an incline from a ledge on the hillside above. The railway now terminates at Nant Gwernol station above the village, although for many years the terminus was at Abergynolwyn station outside the village.

Road transport

The village is situated on the B4405 road, which passes through the centre, and is served by the G24 bus route. In 2024, there are 5 buses per day to Tywyn and Machynlleth/Dolgellau on weekdays and 3 on Saturdays.

Local attractions

Llyn Mwyngil (Tal-y-llyn Lake), just upstream from Abergynolwyn is an unspoilt lake created when a massive landslide blocked the valley long ago. Hiking trails to the summit of

Cadair Idris Cadair Idris or Cader Idris is a mountain in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies at the southern end of the Snowdonia National Park near the town of Dolgellau. The peak, which is one of the most popular in Wales for walkers and hikin ...

start from here. The

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

fort on Craig yr Aderyn shows that the area was strategically important in prehistoric times. In 1221, the mediaeval Welsh castle of

Castell y Bere Castell y Bere is a Wales, Welsh castle near Llanfihangel-y-pennant, Abergynolwyn, Llanfihangel-y-pennant in Gwynedd, Wales. Constructed by Llywelyn the Great in the 1220s, the stone castle was intended to maintain his authority over the local ...

near

Llanfihangel-y-pennant Llanfihangel-y-Pennant is a hamlet and wider, very sparsely populated community (which includes Abergynolwyn and Tal-y-llyn) in the Meirionnydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. It is located in the foothills of Cadair Idris, and has a population of ...

was built by

Llewellyn the Great Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominated ...

, occupied by the Welsh and later besieged by forces under

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

in 1282.

References

External links

Village website

Community Electric Car Club
{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Villages in Snowdonia Mining communities in Wales Llanfihangel-y-Pennant The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales