Pen-y-garn is a small village in the

Tirymynach Tirymynach is a community in Ceredigion, Wales, also an electoral ward, which lies immediately to the north of Aberystwyth. Tirymynach is represented in the Senedd by Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru) and the Member of Parliament is Ben Lake (Plaid Cym ...

district of

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...

, Wales, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Aberystwyth. Along with the hamlet of Rhydypennau, Pen-y-garn is now often considered to be part of the neighbouring larger village of

Bow Street Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles to Waterloo Bridge. The street was developed in 1633 by Francis Russell, 4 ...

. All three places stretch in a long narrow strip along the main Aberystwyth to

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a pop ...

road (

A487 The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north. Route The road starts at a junction with the A40 i ...

). As well as the houses on the main road from Cross Street (Y Lon Groes) up to Ysgol Rhydypennau, Pen-y-garn also includes the housing estates of Maes Ceiro, Bryn Meillion, Maes y Garn and Cae'r Odyn.

History

Toponymy

Pen-y-garn (''head of the cairn'') derives its name from its proximity to a former

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

cairn known as Carn Maelgwyn, which is believed to have once stood near the present Capel y Garn somewhere in the vicinity of what is now Maes Ceiro (formerly known as Cae Dôlmaelgwyn). The cairn is remembered in the house names of 'Maelgwyn House' and 'Llys Maelgwyn'. It appears to have been destroyed in the eighteenth-century, when its stone seems to have been plundered for work on the nearby turnpike road (now represented by the

Archaeology

On the hill overlooking Pen-y-garn, called Foel Goch, is Caergywydd farm. John Graham Williams claimed that the hill was the site of a small

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

connected with the larger nearby

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hillfort of

Hen Gaer Hen Gaer is an Iron Age hillfort, on a hill adjacent to and east of Bow Street, Ceredigion, Wales. Other names of the hillfort are Broncastellan and Caer Shon. Description Hen Gaer ("Old Castle") is smaller than a typical tribal fortification. ...

.Williams, J. G., ''A Short Account of the British Encampments Lying Between the Rivers Rheidol & Llyfnant in the County of Cardigan, and their connection with the Mines'' (Aberystwyth 1866); Williams, J. G., 'Ancient Encampments Near Aberystwyth, Read at Machynlleth, 1866', ''Archaeologia Cambrensis: The Journal of the Cambrian Archaeological Association'', Vol. XIII, Third Series, No. LI, July 1867. But his claims with regard to this have not been substantiated, and appear to be based solely on the name of the farm and its position, as well as a misplaced belief that the first element of this was the Welsh word 'caer' meaning 'a fort'. However the earliest available attestations of the farm name are in the form 'Cae’r Gowydd', where the words 'cae’r' means 'the field' and not 'a fort'. Neither was the original farm on its present location. Rather it was actually some distance down the slopes of the hill on the north side of the Aberystwyth to Machynlleth road, near to Bow Street brook, and its name is probably connected with this location instead of that of the current farmhouse.

Religious Buildings

At the heart of Pen-y-garn is a

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

chapel called 'Capel y Garn'. Evan Richardson, teacher

John Elias John Elias was a Christian preacher in Wales in the first half of the 19th century, as part of the Welsh Methodist revival. His preaching was noted as being exceptionally powerful, "as if talking fire down from heaven". On one occasion it is sa ...

and Hugh Owen were the first

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

s or

dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

s to preach in the area in about 1780. A chapel was first erected in 1793, and a new chapel was built on the site in 1833 after the congregation grew too large.

Services

Pen-y-garn has a butcher's shop (formerly I. O. Thomas but now called Bow Street Butchery), and a

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop, is a (often fast food) restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and c ...

(taken over by new owners, and renamed 'Greenfield Fish & Chips', it now offers

Chinese takeaway A Chinese restaurant is an establishment that serves a Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese style, due to the history of the Chinese diaspora and adapted to local taste preferences, as in the American Chinese cuisine and Canad ...

food as well). The present Ysgol Rhydypennau is actually located in Pen-y-garn, though the old Rhydypennau school building overlooks nearby Rhydypennau.

Notable residents

Dewi Morgan Dewi Morgan (1877 – 1 April 1971), also known by his bardic name "Dewi Teifi", was a Welsh bard, scholar and journalist, who won the Chair at the 1925 National Eisteddfod of Wales in Pwllheli with his important awdl recounting the legend of Cantr ...

(1877–1971), bard, scholar and journalist, who lived at 'Garn House' * Tom Macdonald (1900–1980), journalist and novelist, who lived the a cottage now called 'Llys Aeron' * J. T. Rees (1857–1949), musician and composer

References

Bibliography

External links

1891 First Ed. 6” Ordnance Survey Map showing ''Pen Garn''Capel y Garn websitePhotograph of Capel y Garnwww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Pen-y-garn and surrounding area
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pen-Y-Garn, Ceredigion Villages in Ceredigion