Garneddwen (also known as Garnedd-Wen; en, white
cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
) is a
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 depicts ...
in the south of the county of
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
, Wales. It lies in the
historic county of
Merionethshire
, HQ= Dolgellau
, Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start= 1284
, End=
, Code= MER
, CodeName= ...
/
Sir Feirionnydd, in the valley of the
Afon Dulas
The Afon Dulas, or North Dulas, is a river forming the border between Merionethshire/Gwynedd and Montgomeryshire/Powys in Wales. Another river called Afon Dulas joins the Dyfi from the south, upstream of its confluence with the North Dulas: loca ...
.
It consists primarily of a single row of terraced houses, built for the workers at
Aberllefenni Slate Quarry
Aberllefenni quarry is the collective name of three slate quarries, Foel Grochan, Hen Gloddfa (also known as Hen Chwarel) and Ceunant Ddu, located in Cwm Hengae, just to the west of Aberllefenni, Gwynedd, North Wales. It was the longest continu ...
. The hamlet was named after a large cairn ("carnedd" in Welsh) that was to be found in a field below the farm of the same name up to Victorian times.
History
Sarn Helen
Sarn Helen refers to several stretches of Roman road in Wales. The route, which follows a meandering course through central Wales, connects Aberconwy in the north with Carmarthen in the west. Despite its length, academic debate continues as t ...
, a
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
which connected the north and south parts of
Roman Wales
The Roman era in the area of modern Wales began in 48 AD, with a military invasion by the imperial governor of Roman Britain. The conquest was completed by 78 AD, and Roman rule endured until the region was abandoned in 383 AD.
The Roman Emp ...
, probably ran through the hamlet.
Nearby is Fronwen, built as a family home by the quarry manager Robert Hughes (1813–1882) and his wife Jane née Deakin (1822–1906). They had four sons who were born in this house :
* Llewelyn Robert (born 1856)
* Arthur Edward (1857–1918), who married future author
Molly Thomas in 1897
* Charles Ernest (born 1859)
* Alfred William (1861–1900) Professor of Anatomy and Dean of the Faculty of King's College London, whose
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
stands on the outskirts of Corris
Railway Station
Garneddwen railway station was a
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
on the former
Corris Railway
The Corris Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Corris) is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Mid-Wales.
The line opened in 1859 as a horse tramway, runni ...
, a
narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
which ran from to .
The station was open from 25 August 1887,
until the end of passenger services, in December 1930. The Corris Railway closed completely on 20 August 1948,
and the track was lifted between and (through Garneddwen, which lies in the middle) in November 1948. The former railway's trackbed at Garneddwen is now an access road for the hamlet.
Geology
The hamlet gives its name to the
Garnedd-Wen Formation, a thick rock strata that runs from
Tywyn
Tywyn (Welsh: ; in English often ), formerly spelled Towyn, is a town, community, and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales. It was previously in the historic county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the loc ...
to
Dinas Mawddwy
Dinas Mawddwy () is a village in the community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470, and consequently many visitors pass the village by. Its population is ...
and was first identified close by the settlement.
References
External links
*
Villages in Gwynedd
Corris
{{Gwynedd-geo-stub