Frongoch is a village located in

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 Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It lies close to 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 ...

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

, on the A4212 road. It was the home of the

Frongoch internment camp Frongoch is a village located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, on the A4212 road. It was the home of the Frongoch internment camp, used to hold German prisoners-of-war during First World War, and then Irish ...

, used to hold

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

prisoners-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

during

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and then

Irish Republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

prisoners from the

1916 Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an i ...

History

Whisky

By the late 1800s, Frongoch was the main centre for

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

production in Wales. The distillery was bought by Scottish whisky companies and closed in 1910.

Prison camp

The former distillery buildings (see above) were requisitioned by the UK government and used as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp for German prisoners during

World War One World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

. After the 1916

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

in Ireland it was used to imprison 500 of the Irish Volunteer Army rank and file. Among them were Michael Collins and

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith (; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Trea ...

Railway station

Frongoch railway station Frongoch railway station served the village of Frongoch on the Great Western Railway's Bala Ffestiniog Line in Gwynedd, Wales. The station closed to passengers in January 1960, and to freight a year later, with the last revenue-earning train ...

was on the Bala Ffestiniog Line. It closed to passenger services on 2 January 1960 and freight services on 27 January 1961. The station building and signal box are now a private residence.

Cwmtirmynach Chapel

The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist chapel at Cwmtirmynach, lies on the B4501, north of Fron-goch. It was built in 1826 and rebuilt in 1880 in what the

RCAHMW The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. ...

describes as a "Lombardic/Italian style". The folk singer Robert Roberts (Bob Tai'r Felin) was precentor at the chapel for nearly 50 years. There is weekly worship and the current minister is Hywel Edwards.

Education

There is a Welsh-medium

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, Ysgol Bro Tryweryn, in the village. There were 58 pupils aged between 3 and 11 years on roll in 2017. As of January 2018, the school had the highest percentage of pupils (aged 5 and over) who spoke Welsh fluently at home in Wales, at 97.4%.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Fron-goch and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Llandderfel Villages in Snowdonia