Derwenlas is a

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

in northern

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, Wales. It is part of the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Cadfarch Cadfarch is a Community (Wales), community a few miles to the south and southeast of Machynlleth in Powys (previously Montgomeryshire) in Wales. The community's western and southern border is with the neighbouring county of Ceredigion, while the ...

. Part of the historic county of

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

(Sir Drefaldwyn) from 1536 to 1974, it lies on the

River Dyfi The River Dyfi (; ), also known as the River Dovey ( ), is an approximately long river in Wales. Its large estuary forms the boundary between the counties of Gwynedd and Ceredigion, and its lower reaches have historically been considered the b ...

and was once a port serving the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a po ...

. Derwenlas lies on the

A487 The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north. Route The road starts at a junction with the A40 in H ...

trunk road from Machynlleth to

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

History

Between 1797 and 1812 a road was built from Machynlleth to Garreg near

Glandyfi Glandyfi (formerly anglicised as Glandovey) is a small hamlet in the county of Ceredigion in Wales on the A487 trunk road from Machynlleth to Aberystwyth . Glandyfi Castle was built in the Regency Gothic style in 1810 for George Jeffreys. T ...

, passing through Derwenlas. This new transportation route enabled Derwenlas to develop as a port as it was the highest point on the Dyfi that was navigable by coastal ships - boats of up to 70 tons could reach there at high tide. A wide variety of goods were shipped into and out of the port. Incoming goods included gunpowder to be stored in

Morben Quarry Morben is a hamlet in northern Powys, Wales. Part of the historic county of Montgomeryshire ( Sir Drefaldwyn) from 1536 to 1974, it lies on the Afon Dyfi and was once the home of a number of riverside quays, including Cei Ward and Y Bwtri. The s ...

, lime and coal for the limekilns at Pentre Cilyn, rye, wheat and hides. Outgoing goods included slate and lead from local mines, timber, bark and corn. From 1830, traffic at the port increased substantially. With ever increasing demand for water transport,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

began at Derwenlas, with three separate builders established by the quays. In 1859, the narrow-gauge

Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad The Corris Railway () is a narrow-gauge railway, narrow gauge railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Mid-Wales. The line opened in 1859 as a horse tramway, running from quay ...

was opened to bring

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 ...

from the quarries around

Corris Corris is a village in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, about north of the town of Machynlleth. The village lies on the west bank of the Afon Dulas (which here forms the boundary with Powys), around that river's confluence with the Afon Deri. ...

and

Aberllefenni Aberllefenni is a village in the south of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies in the historic county of Merionethshire, in the valley of the Afon Dulas, and in the community of Corris. History Aberllefenni was built around the Aberllefenni quarries, wh ...

to the riverside quays at Derwenlas and Morben. The principal quays at Derwenlas were Cei Ellis and Cei Tafarn Isa, where the slate was loaded onto coastal ships and taken to

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larger ...

where it was reloaded into larger vessels for distribution around Great Britain and Ireland. In 1863, the

Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway The Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway was a standard gauge railway company, running a line along the west coast of Wales. The railway was planned to run between Anglicised place name spellings were used during most of the history of the line ...

extended the standard-gauge rails west of Machynlleth and, on reaching Derwenlas, built the new line across the bend of the river by filling in the channel and creating a new course for the Dyfi, in the process cutting off Derwenlas' quays from the river channel and killing off the port. The tramroad continued to Cei Ward at

Morben Morben is a hamlet in northern Powys, Wales. Part of the historic county of Montgomeryshire ( Sir Drefaldwyn) from 1536 to 1974, it lies on the Afon Dyfi and was once the home of a number of riverside quays, including Cei Ward and Y Bwtri. The s ...

where further quays gave access to the river. The last of these was abandoned in 1869 when Braich Goch quarry moved to its newly built wharf at station. The tramroad between station and Cei Ward was then abandoned and the track was lifted.

References

External links

Photos of Derwenlas and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
Villages in Powys Corris Railway {{Powys-geo-stub