Footbridge across Afon Roe in Rowen - geograph

Rowen is a village on the western slopes of the

Conwy valley The River Conwy (; ) is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is long and drains an area of 678 square km. "Conwy" was formerly anglicised as "Conway." The name 'Conwy' derives from the old Welsh words ''c ...

in the parish of

Caerhun Caerhun () is a scattered rural Community (Wales), community, and former Community (Wales), civil parish, on the west bank of the River Conwy. It lies to the south of Henryd and the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and inclu ...

, within now

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the north Wales, north of Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south and Denbighshire to the east. The largest settlement is Colwyn Bay, and Conwy is the administrativ ...

, Wales, and historically in

Caernarfonshire Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Geography The county ...

. It lies off the B5106 road, between Tal y Bont and the Groes Inn. ''Buildings of Gwynedd'' 2009 refers to the River Roe probably following the Roman route from

Abergwyngregyn Abergwyngregyn () is a village and Community (Wales), community of historical note in Gwynedd, a county and Principal areas of Wales, principal area in Wales. Under its historic name of Aber Garth Celyn it was the seat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. ...

. Rowen has won tidiest village awards several times. In recent times the name of the village has been variously spelled as "Y Wy-Wen" (white river), "Rowen", "Ro-wen" "Roe Wen" and "Roewen". Although the Religious

Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 1851 records the name "Ro-wen", most early 20th-century maps simply use the name "Y Ro", Welsh for "gravel" or "

pebble A pebble is a clastic rocks, clast of rock (geology), rock with a grain size, particle size of based on the Particle size (grain size), Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than Granule (geology), gra ...

s". ''Wen'' means "white", or could mean "holy". The Afon Roe, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

River Conwy The River Conwy (; ) is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is long and drains an area of 678 square km. "Conwy" was formerly anglicised as "Conway." The name 'Conwy' derives from the old Welsh words ''c ...

, flows through the village. A tributary of Afon Roe is Afon Tafolog, which drains the eastern slopes of

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

, a mountain in the

Carneddau The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a Welsh language, Welsh plural form, and is sometimes anglicised to ''Carnedds'') are a group of mountains in Snowdonia, Wales. They include the largest contiguous areas of high ground (over or high) in England and W ...

mountains. In the book ''Crwydro Arfon'' (1959, by Alun Llywelyn-Williams), Rowen is described as "...one of the loveliest villages in Wales" (p. 77). The following poem, called "Llais Afon, Ro" ("Voice of Afon Ro"), was written by G. Gerallt Davies in 1945: And, in 1941 he published "Y Ffynnon": The village has a hotel, Tir y Coed; a pub, Y Tŷ Gwyn; and a memorial hall, but the small

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

closed in 2011. There is a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

on the slope a mile to the west of the village. Social housing came to the village in the 1960s - Llanerch Estate. In the past, the village had a greater significance; it had three

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places U ...

, and several ale houses and

inns Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

. It also had a ''pandy'' or

fulling mill Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate (lanolin) oils, dirt, ...

, so

woollen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

cloth must have been made nearby. The village is identified in the Caerhun common enclosure award maps. The award map refers to the creation of the White Hart Road on the mountain above Fotty Gwyn and the Roman bridge, possibly related to the old royal mail coaching days. There are past associations with cattle droving and fairs. Bulkley Mill (completed 1684) is one of the notable old mills of the village. One historic source refers to a mountain cloudburst happening above the village, with properties being lost (probably in the mid-1800s). Nearby is the

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

route through

Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen is a mountain pass in Conwy county borough, north Wales, traversable only on foot or horseback, following the former Roman road from Caerhun (Canovium) to Caernarfon (Segontium). The route may be followed by road to Rowen, Conwy, Rowen or to ...

, with its

cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being a ...

''Maen-y-Bardd''. Part of the ''

A Family at War ''A Family at War'' is a British drama series that aired on ITV from 14 April 1970 to 16 February 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by Granada Television for ITV. The original producer was Richard Doubleday, and with 13 directors dur ...

'' series (Granada TV) was filmed here.

Interesting local buildings

* Ty Pandy - the original woollen or fulling mill c.1800 and modified in Victorian times; still has a mill race and mill pond fed by the river * Pen-y-Bont 'By the Bridge' - c.16th century, river stone cottage; possibly the oldest building in the village * Seion Methodist Chapel and Vestry - 1841 * Former Seion Chapel - 1819 * Llannerch y Felin - Elizabethan Snowdonia-type house * Bodafon and Fronfa - houses adjacent to the former post office with old Georgian style porches since removed; stables/store below * Llais Afon - large village terrace house (formerly two houses) with original sash windows and a former carpenter's workshop to the side; * Coed Mawr Hall - probably mid-19th-century * Rock House - large house above Coed Mawr Hall * Tan yr Onnen cottage with dated gate stoneFrancis Frith site - post card view from the 1960s
/ref> * Glyn Isa - 17th-century country house * Gilfach - with lovely gardens * Y Swan - old village inn, now a house * The old cobbler's shop facing the road (near Ty Gwyn) * Pandy - the manor (historically, Pandy was Lord of the Manorial ) * Bulkeley Mill - old mill property

Local connections

* G. Gerallt Davies - poet and writer; Pengwern * Huw T. Edwards - politician, poet and writer; Tros fy Tresi; see village plaque * Edward Nefydd Evans - gardener, nurseryman and plantsman; born in Rowen in the 1930s; left in spring 2015, after 85 years * Harriet and Jack Evans - from Llannefydd/Llansannan in the 1930s * Isoline Gee - Gilfach * Arthur Tysilio Johnson - plantsman and garden writer; 1930s; ''A Woodland Garden in Wales'' *

Margaret Lacey Margaret Brackenbury Lacey (26 October 1911 – 4 October 1988) was a British character actress and ballet teacher. She appeared in over 30 films between 1957 and 1985, usually playing a sweet old lady or motherly figure in minor roles. Early ...

- actress, ballet teacher and film star in the 1960s - 70s; ''I'm All Right Jack'' * Kyffin Roberts - Wern; Tyddyn Robin, Llanbedr *

Wyn Roberts, Baron Roberts of Conwy Ieuan Wyn Pritchard Roberts, Baron Roberts of Conwy, PC (10 July 1930 – 13 December 2013) was a Welsh Conservative politician. His father was a Minister in a chapel in Llansadwrn, Anglesey, and they lived in the schoolhouse. He was Membe ...

* H. G. Williams - writer * Scriven Williams.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk: photos of Rowen and surrounding areaRowen village community website
{{authority control Caerhun Villages in Conwy County Borough Villages in Snowdonia