Glyndyfrdwy (), or sometimes Glyn Dyfrdwy, is a village in the modern county of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Wales. It is situated on the

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa *A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Francistown ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

halfway between

Corwen Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen is part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llango ...

and

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beau ...

in the

Dee Valley Dee may refer to: People Surname * Dee, an alternate spelling of the Welsh surname Day * Dee, a romanization of several Chinese surnames, including: ** Those listed at Di (surname) ** Some Hokkien pronunciations of the surname Li () * Di R ...

(the river Dee is ''Afon Dyfrdwy'' in Welsh).

History

A Norman

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

was built near the village in the 12th century to command the route through the Dee Valley. Known locally as ''Owain Glyndŵr's Mount'' (probably a corruption of ''mwnt'' meaning "motte"), only an eroded mound remains. On 16 September 1400

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wa ...

was proclaimed

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

near this village, at his manor of Glyndyfrdwy, Owain Glyndŵr (the Baron of Glyndyfrdwy). His proclamation began the 15-year rebellion against

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rule in Wales. Glyndŵr's manor hall is likely to have been a square moated building that was defended by a water-filled

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

and a gate. In 1403, the site was devastated by the forces of Henry of

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, the English Prince of Wales, who later became

King Henry V Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...

. The Owain Glyndŵr Memorial Hall contains artefacts associated with Glyndŵr. It holds a copy of the

Pennal Letter The Pennal Letter was a historical letter by Owain Glyndŵr to Charles VI, King of France. Owain composed the letter in Latin, in Pennal, in the north of Wales, in 1406, and set out his vision of an independent Wales. The letter is regarded as uniq ...

to King

Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...

, a document of 1405 ratifying the terms of a 1404 treaty between Glyndŵr and the French, a letter confirming the appointments of his Chancellor,

Gruffydd Young Gruffydd Young (or Griffin Yonge) (c. 1370 – c. 1435) was a cleric and a close supporter of Owain Glyndŵr during his Wales, Welsh rebellion against the England, English Henry IV of England, King Henry IV between 1400 and 1412. Winning favour ...

and Glyndŵr's brother-in-law, John Hanmer as Ambassadors to the French Court. It also has pictures of Glyndŵr's Parliament house in

Dolgellau Dolgellau () is a town and community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd) un ...

, a portrait drawn from his Great Seal and a replica seal. In 1866 the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Glyndyfrdwy was created from the former

townships of Carrog, Mwstwr and Tir Llanerch, along with portions of Bonwm and Rhagat. The parish was in the traditional county of

Merionethshire , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

until 1974 when it became part of

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to th ...

following the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. In 1996 further changes placed it in the county of

Transport

The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

line from

Ruabon Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...

to Llangollen was extended via

, Llanuwchllyn and

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

Glyndyfrdwy railway station Glyndyfrdwy railway station (, ''Glin-duvver-doo-ee'') is a former station on the Ruabon to Barmouth line. The stop, which is near the village of Glyndyfrdwy in Denbighshire, Wales, is now a preserved railway station on the Llangollen Railw ...

was opened in 1866 and, later, a passing loop and second platform were added there. The line was closed in the 1960s under the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

and Glyndyfrdwy station was eventually demolished. In 1977 a group of railway enthusiasts came together to form the

Llangollen Railway The Llangollen Railway () is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, North Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen. The standard gauge line, which is long, runs on part of the former Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route that c ...

, with the intention to restore and rebuild a large section of the line. The work was undertaken in stages and by 1991 the track had been replaced as far as Glyndyfrdwy. On 17 April 1992 the first Llangollen Railway passenger train arrived at Glyndyfrdwy. Glyndyfrdwy was also the terminus of the

Deeside Tramway The Deeside Tramway was a gravity and horse-worked, narrow gauge industrial railway connecting the slate workings on the Dee valley with the main road at Glyndyfrdwy See Deeside Tramway rail, Glyndyfrdwy, Denbighshire further down page. and lat ...

, 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 ...

built to serve the local slate quarries. The tramway was one of the last operating

industrial railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...

s in Britain that used wooden rails.

External links

Llangollen Railway

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Glyndyfrdwy and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Denbighshire Corwen