Mary Jones World ( cy, Byd Mary Jones) is a small

heritage centre A heritage centre, center, or museum is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and cultural information about a place and its people, and often ...

located in

Llanycil Llanycil is a community in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, near Bala, and is 99.9 miles (160.7 km) from Cardiff and 176.2 miles (283.6 km) from London. In 2011 the population of Llanycil was 416 with 80.4% of them able to speak Welsh. Th ...

near

Bala, Gwynedd Bala ( cy, Y Bala) is a town and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Formerly an urban district, Bala lies in the historic county of Merionethshire, at the north end of Bala Lake ( cy, Llyn Tegid). According to the 2021 Census, Bala had a population ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Situated on the north shore 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 ...

, it provides information on

Mary Jones Mary Jones may refer to: People American * Mary Alice Jones (1898–1980), American children's writer *Mary Cover Jones (1896–1987), American psychologist * Mary Ellen Jones (chemist) (1922–1996), American biochemist * Mary Ellen Jones (politi ...

, a fifteen-year-old girl from Llanfihangel-y-Pennant. After she had saved her money for six years, in 1800 Jones walked 26 miles to buy a copy of a Welsh-language Bible, which she thought would be available in Bala, only to find that they were sold out. The Reverend

Thomas Charles Thomas Charles (14 October 17555 October 1814) was a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist clergyman of considerable importance in the history of modern Wales. Early life Charles was born of humble parentage at Longmoor, in the parish of Llanfihangel Abe ...

was reputed to have given her his own spare copy. The heritage centre is an initiative of the

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Soc ...

and was opened on 5 October 2014 at a cost of £1.3 million in the former village church which was dedicated to

Saint Beuno Saint Beuno ( la, Bonus;Baring-Gould & Fisher, "Lives of the British Saints" (1907), quoted a Early British Kingdoms website by David Nash Ford, accessed 6 February 2012 640), sometimes anglicized as Bono, was a 7th-century Welsh abbot, ...

. It is open daily from April to October from 10am to 5pm with free visitor parking and a café. As well as information about Mary the centre tells about the growth of the Bible Society, and

who sold Mary her bible is buried in the

church yard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

of St Beuno. School group visits are encouraged and there is a children's

play area A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

next to the centre.The centre on visitmidwales.co.uk
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References

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External links

Byd Mary Jones World – heritage centre official websiteThe Bible Society website
Religious museums in Wales History museums in Wales Biographical museums in Wales Museums in Gwynedd 2014 establishments in Wales Museums established in 2014 Bala, Gwynedd