Gwernaffield ( cy, Y Waun) is a village and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, Wales. It lies about three miles west of

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...

on the eastern side of the

Clwydian Range The Clwydian Range ( cy, Bryniau Clwyd; also known as the Clwydian Hills; or simply the Clwyds) is a series of hills in the north-east of Wales that runs from Llandegla in the south to Prestatyn in the north, the highest point being the popu ...

. The village is part of the

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, tow ...

Gwernaffield with Pantymwyn Gwernaffield with Pantymwyn is a community in Flintshire, Wales with a population of 1942 as of the 2011 UK census. It includes the villages of Gwernaffield and Pantymwyn Pantymwyn is a small village just outside Mold in Flintshire, Wales, in t ...

, which has an area of 7.53 km² and is bordered by the

River Alyn The River Alyn ( cy, Afon Alun) is a tributary of the River Dee, in north-east Wales. The River Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Nat ...

on three sides.Davies, John; Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines & Peredur I. Lynch (2008) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales'', University of Wales Press, Cardiff. The community includes the neighbouring village of

Pantymwyn Pantymwyn is a small village just outside Mold in Flintshire, Wales, in the community of Gwernaffield with Pantymwyn. The village is located within the designated Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, lying on the eas ...

and had a population of 1,851 at the time of the 2001 census, increasing to 1,942 at the 2011 census. The name of the village comes from ''gwern'' (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

for 'alder-grove'), ''feld'' (

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for 'field') and ''gwaun'' (Welsh for 'moorland'). Gwernaffield, which adjoins

, Itself had a population of around 900.

History

The village was first mentioned in the 15th century.Philpot, Mark (ed.)
Discover Gwernaffield & Pantymwyn
''. Accessed 3 April 2012. In 1736, an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

was erected near Maesgarmon farm where, according to tradition,

Saint Garmon Germanus of Auxerre ( la, Germanus Antissiodorensis; cy, Garmon Sant; french: Saint Germain l'Auxerrois; 378 – c. 442–448 AD) was a western Roman clergyman who was bishop of Autissiodorum in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a h ...

defeated an army of

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

and

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

in the 5th century. The village began to grow in the late 18th century as

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mines and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

quarries were developed in the area. The last lead mine closed in the 1970s. In the 20th century rectangular blocks of commuter housing were built in the village.

Notable buildings

In 1634, a large brick house was built at the Rhual estate; today it is the oldest house in the village. The village's first church and school were built alongside each other in 1838. The church was deliberately burned down in 1860 but a new building opened in 1872. The old school is now used as a parish hall after a new school, Ysgol y Waun, was opened in 1973. The village had two pubs until recently, the Miners Arms which closed in 2007 and the Hand Inn which remains open.

References

External links

Gwernaffield and Pantymwyn website
{{authority control Villages in Flintshire