Dyffryn Ardudwy () is a village,

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, village, ...

and electoral ward in the

Ardudwy Ardudwy is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (cantref) of Dunoding and later a commote in its own ...

area of Gwynedd, Wales consisting of several small, almost conjoined, villages including Coed Ystumgwern, Llanenddwyn (), Llanddwywe, Talybont and Dyffryn Ardudwy. It is situated on the main A496 coast road between

Harlech Harlech () is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, north Wales and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 19 ...

and

Barmouth Barmouth ( cy, Abermaw (formal); ''Y Bermo'' (colloquial)) is a seaside town and community in the county of Gwynedd, northwestern Wales, lying on the estuary of the Afon Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. Located in the historic county of Merioneths ...

. The ward had a population of 1,540 according to the 2011 census.

Geography

The village of Dyffryn Ardudwy is situated on the A496 coastal road between the towns of

and

and at the foot of Moelfre, part of the

Rhinogydd The Rhinogydd (a Welsh plural form, often anglicised as Rhinogs and also known by the alternative Welsh plural Rhinogau) are a range of mountains located east of Harlech in North Wales. The name ''Rhinogydd'' derives from the names of two of the ...

range. The village has a railway station and a long sandy beach backed by sand dunes. A small river, Afon Ysgethin, flows through the area of the community, crossed by two very old bridges: Pont Scethin and Pont Fadog.

History

There are a number of prehistoric cromlechs in and around the village, and they are some of the earliest

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

s erected on these islands. Dating from around 4000 BC, the cairn at Dyffryn Ardudwy has two separate burial chambers. One of these is a type known as a portal dolmen. A flat slab on the mountainside was used as a base, this was flanked by several other slabs, side-stones and back-stones. A capstone was placed on top and a small ovoid cairn of stones built around three sides. The fourth side was the portal and had a small forecourt. Here a pit was dug and in it were formally arranged several flat stones, various shards of pottery from at least four pots, charcoal and soil. The pit was then filled with the cairn material and the mound completed. Near Dyffryn Ardudwy is an avenue which was built by the powerful Vaughan dynasty, (who were instrumental in placing

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...

on the throne in 1485), to connect their family mansion, Cors-y-gedol (The Bog of Hospitality), with the family

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

. The existing mansion was built in 1576. Nearby, the Cors-y-gedol burial chamber stands amidst the site of ancient fields and settlements and the area affords glorious views of

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geo ...

. St Dwywe's Church at Llanddwywe, within the community of Dyffryn Ardudwy, was built on an ancient mound which is at the end of the straight line followed by the road to Cors-y-gedol Hall. This line runs straight and true to a cairn on the side of Moelfre, and it is suggested that this is a prehistoric man-made creation relating to the summer solstice rather than a more recent addition. The church 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 Irel ...

Facilities

The village has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

served by the Cambrian Line. The village had a golf club during the early to mid-1900s. The village is home to The Boys Brigade West Midland District Camping Centre. This provides canvas holidays for young people from all over the UK.

Gallery

File:Dyffryn Burial chamber outskirts, nr. Barmouth, Wales.JPG, Burial chamber outskirts File:Dyffryn Burial chamber west side, nr. Barmouth, Wales.JPG, Burial chamber view File:Cors y Gedol 02360.jpg, Cors-y-gedol Mansion around 1780 File:Cors-y-Gedol Gatehouse - geograph.org.uk - 220369.jpg, Cors-y-gedol gatehouse File:Cors-y-gedol burial chamber.jpg, Cors-y-gedol burial chamber

References

{{European Standing Stones

Geography

History

Facilities

Gallery

See also

References