Llanbedr () is a village and

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, villag ...

south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County B ...

, Wales.

History

Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

s; the Stones of Llanbedr and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

hut circles. The village originally grew around the

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 industry. Glyn Pedr is a Victorian Grade II listed residence on Maes Ffynnon. During the first world war Marian Antonia Gamwell who was a widow (became Mrs Owen) created a British Red Cross auxiliary hospital at her new home, the country house called Aber Artro, at Llanbedr.

Climate

Church and chapel

The church of St Peter, after whom the village is named (Pedr being the Welsh for Peter), is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. In 2019 approval was given to convert Capel Moriah in Llanbedr, which had gone out of use, into a Mosque. About east of the village centre is the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

of Pentre Gwynfryn whose chapel, Capel Salem, was the subject of a painting by the artist

Sydney Curnow Vosper Sydney Curnow Vosper RWS, RWA (29 October 1866 – 10 July 1942) was an English painter and etcher of landscapes and figure subjects. His later work has a close association with Wales and Brittany. His most famous work is '' Salem'' (1908), w ...

. The painting, entitled ''

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

'', showed a member of the congregation, Siân Owen, in traditional Welsh costume and became famous throughout Britain in the mid-20th century.

Airport

The village is home to Llanbedr Airport, a general aviation aerodrome. Until 2004, the site was operated as a military airfield by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) and QinetiQ as a launch site for remotely piloted

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

'aircraft' for use as aerial targets by the RAF and other UK forces. The airfield was included in the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone by the Welsh Government in January 2013. In 2018, the airport became home to a flying school offering pleasure flights and flying lessons. After the UK passed 2021 enabling legislation, in 2022, the Welsh Government announced plans to develop space launch capability at the site, to be named Spaceport Snowdonia.

Amenities

The Morfa Dyffryn

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s and Mochras (Shell Island) lie nearby. It has two public houses; Ty Mawr Hotel and The Victoria Inn. To the north of the village is the smaller village of Pensarn, situated at the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

of the river Artro. This is the location of Llanbedr & Pensarn Yacht Club and the Christian Mountain Centre, a residential adventure activity centre.

Railways

Llanbedr railway station, formerly known as Talwrn Bach Halt, is a little out of the village itself and is served by the Cambrian Line.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward also covers the Community of Llanfair. The total ward population at the 2011 Census was 1,098.

Twinning

In 2008 Llanbedr was twinned with Huchenfeld, Germany, following many years of exchanges between schools, churches, musicians and community leaders, in remembrance of the occurrences at Pforzheim and Huchenfeld 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Notable people

* Henry Lloyd (ca.1718 – 1783), a Welsh army officer and military writer. *

Katherine Mudge Katherine Gwen Mudge (16 August 1881 – 26 July 1975) was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British archery, archer. She competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. She was born in Llanbedr, Gwynedd in Wales and was a membe ...

(1881–1975), a British archer. competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. * Sir Philip Pullman CBE FRSL (born 1946), an English writer, his formative years were spent in Llanbedr in Ardudwy

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanbedr and surrounding areaLlanbedr Community Council Website
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