Llangywer (or Llangower) is a

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 ...

near

Bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...

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 is in the historic county of

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

, and is located on the south side of

Bala Lake Bala Lake ( cy, Llyn Tegid ) is a large freshwater glacial lake in Gwynedd, Wales. The River Dee, which has its source on the slopes of Dduallt in the mountains of Snowdonia, feeds the long by wide lake. It was the largest natural body o ...

. In 2011 the population of Llangywer was 260, with 67.2% of them able to speak

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 ...

. Notable people from the community include the poet

Euros Bowen Euros Bowen (12 September 1904 – 2 April 1988) was a Welsh language poet and priest. Born in Treorchy, and a brother of the poet Geraint Bowen, he was educated at the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, and later at the University of Wales (initi ...

, who was vicar of St Cywair's Church, which is a Grade II listed building, although it is now empty.

Bala Lake Railway The Bala Lake Railway ( Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid'') is a narrow-gauge railway along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, North Wales. The line, which is long, is built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon–Barmouth ...

runs past the village of Llangywer. The community includes the hamlet of

Rhos-y-gwaliau Rhos-y-gwaliau is a small hamlet in Meirionnydd, Gwynedd, North Wales, about south-east of Bala. It is home to the Rhos y Gwaliau Outdoor Activity Centre and a now disused Victorian chapel, built for the Calvinistic Methodists. The Berwyn ...

. Llangywer has a church dedicated to St. Cywair, which is now closed; a village hall which hosts the annual Sioe Llangywer; a miniature

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 ...

halt; and a spit of land in Bala Lake, forming a public

shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

and caravan camping site.

History and antiquities

A medieval motte and bailey castle,

Castell Gronw A ''castell'' () is a human tower built traditionally at festivals in Catalonia, the Balearic islands and the Valencian Community. At these festivals, several ''colles castelleres'' (teams that build towers) attempt to build and dismantle a t ...

is near the outlet of the lake. In the Middle Ages, Llangywer was one of three parishes of the

commote A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...

of Uwch Tryweryn in the

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were ...

of Penllyn. Cwm Cynllwyd, which rises in the direction of

Bwlch y Groes Bwlch y Groes (translates from Welsh as ''pass of the cross'') is the second highest public road mountain pass in Wales, with a summit altitude of . Gospel Pass in south Wales is slightly higher. It lies on minor roads linking Dinas Mawddwy (via ...

, marks the western boundary of the parish, which rises to the east towards the southern Berwyn mountains. It is a very mountainous area, with most of the habitations lying on the strip of low-lying land on the shore of Bala Lake. Llangywer is also notable for the folk song: : : (Farewell to the parish of Llangower, and the fair gentle Bala ...)

St Cywair's Church

The parish church is consecrated to a local female saint by the name of Cywair. Very little is known about her, but it is believed that an image of her appears in the stained-glass east window of the church. There is a record of this church in the ''

Taxatio Ecclesiastica The ''Taxatio Ecclesiastica'', often referred to as the ''Taxatio Nicholai'' or just the ''Taxatio'', compiled in 1291–92 under the order of Pope Nicholas IV, is a detailed database valuation for ecclesiastical taxation of English, Welsh, an ...

'' of 1291. It is recorded that John Wynne visited the place in 1729. According to

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

, the correct name is "St Gwawr", but this is disputed. The pillars of the church date back at least to the 15th century. Its doors were closed for the last time in 2003 as the church then only had three members. A nearby holy well - Ffynnon Gywair - is concealed by a stone called Llech Cywair. According to a version of the folk legend about a drowned kingdom where Bala Lake is today, the reason for the drowning of the kingdom by the lake was neglecting to replace this stone.T. D. Breverton, ''The Book of Welsh Saints'' (Glyndŵr publications, 2001), p. 184. The church of Llangywer dates from the 13th century, but was rebuilt in 1871.

References

{{Gwynedd Villages in Gwynedd

History and antiquities

St Cywair's Church

See also

References