The Afon Gyffin ("River Gyffin") is a river in
Conwy County Borough
Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy ...
.
Geography
The river runs into the
River Conwy
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, image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy
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, pus ...
close to
Conwy Castle
Conwy Castle ( cy, Castell Conwy; ) is a fortification in Conwy, located in North Wales. It was built by Edward I, during his conquest of Wales, between 1283 and 1287. Constructed as part of a wider project to create the walled town of Conw ...
.
An area of ancient semi-natural woodland exists close to the Afon Gyffin, called Coed Merchlyn.
The geology of the surrounding ground is SE-dipping
Lower Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...
mudstone-dominated succession draped by boulder clay.
History
The first stage of the construction of
Conwy town walls
Conwy's town walls are a medieval defensive structure around the town of Conwy in Wales. The walls were constructed between 1283 and 1287 after the foundation of Conwy by Edward I, and were designed to form an integrated system of defence along ...
included digging ditches and erecting a palisade before the town was built, securing the area. This allowed a half-timbered mill on the Gyffin River to be built. The town walls were also connected to the walls of the castle, which were located on a rocky ground at the mouth of the Gyffin River to the Conwy riverbed. Conwy town access was also protected from the south by the river Gyffin which flowed into Conwy near the castle.
In 1896 there was concern that the river was polluted, caused by the Tre-castell Mining Company which was alleged to have caused the death of animals in close proximity. Testing of the stream produced lead in solution and suspension.
[{{Cite web , title=THE PURITY OF RIVER GYFFIN QUESTIONED.{{!1896-03-13{{!The Weekly News and Visitors' Chronicle for Colwyn Bay Colwyn Llandrillo Conway Deganwy and Neighbourhood - Welsh Newspapers , url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3615266/3615268/4/mochdre , access-date=2022-08-11 , website=newspapers.library.wales , language=en]
References
Rivers of Conwy County Borough