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

Moel Tryfan Moel Tryfan (429 m / 1407 ft) is a small mountain near the villages of Rhosgadfan, Y Fron and Betws Garmon, in northern Gwynedd. The higher and more famous peak of Tryfan above Dyffryn Ogwen has also sometimes been referred to as "Moel ...

, overlooking the Nantlle Valley, in

North Wales North Wales ( ) 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, with Snowdon ...

, near

Rhosgadfan Rhosgadfan is a Welsh village in the county of Gwynedd, formerly in the historic county of Caernarfonshire, and in the community of Llanwnda. It is notable as the birthplace of Kate Roberts, one of the greatest Welsh-language writers of the 2 ...

and Carmel, on the tail of

Mynydd Mawr 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. On its western flank are the remains of a ...

, with epic views of

Trum Y Ddysgl Trum y Ddysgl is a mountain in Snowdonia, north Wales and is the second highest summit on the Nantlle Ridge. It is also one half of the two Marilyns that make up the ridge, the other being Craig Cwm Silyn.Nuttall, John & Anne (1999). The Moun ...

and

Craig Cwm Silyn Craig Cwm Silyn is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales which forms the highest point on the celebrated Nantlle Ridge. The steep northern face is popular with climbers. To the west the Nantlle Ridge continues over Garnedd Goch and ends at Mynyd ...

. It is in 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 ...

Llandwrog Llandwrog (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain (record label), Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has a population ...

. During the 19th century (1890s) the nearby

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 ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

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 Animal slaughter, 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 ...

Abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat ...

General store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

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 '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

Bakers A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

, Chip shop and a furniture store. Although Moel Tryfan quarry is closer to

, 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 or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

town of

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

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 doors for the last time in July 2015 after being open for 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 and Capel Bwlch-Llyn is now the only surviving religious building left standing in the village. (There may have been 3 or 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 and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

and onto

and

. 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, rising 1500'.

References

{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd