Caerhun ( cy, Caerhûn) is a scattered rural

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, t ...

, and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

, on the west bank of the

River Conwy , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , pus ...

. It lies to the south of

Henryd Henryd () is a village and community (Wales), community on the western slopes of the Conwy valley in Conwy county borough, north Wales, north Wales. It lies about south of Conwy, off the B5106 road. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 59 ...

and the north of

Dolgarrog Dolgarrog is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales, situated between Llanrwst and Conwy, very close to the Conwy River. The village is well known for its industrial history since the 18th century and the Eigiau ...

, in

Conwy County Borough Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy ...

, Wales, and includes several small villages and hamlets including

Llanbedr-y-cennin Llanbedr-y-Cennin is a small village in Conwy county borough, Wales, in the community of Caerhun. It lies in the foothills on the western side of the Conwy valley, in Wales. The river Conwy runs through the valley, running into the sea to the ...

Rowen Rowen is a village on the western slopes of the Conwy valley in the parish of Caerhun and the former County of Caernarfonshire in Wales. It lies off the B5106 road, between Tal y Bont and the Groes Inn. ''Buildings of Gwynedd'' 2009 refers ...

, Tal-y-bont and Ty'n-y-groes. It was formerly in the historic county of

Caernarvonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,200, increasing to 1,292 at the 2011 census. It includes a large part of the

Carneddau The (lit. 'the cairns'; is a 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 Wales and England (although l ...

range including the lakes of

Llyn Eigiau Llyn Eigiau is a lake on the edge of the Carneddau range of mountains in Snowdonia, Conwy, Wales. The name ''Eigiau'' is thought to refer to the shoals of fish which once lived here. Early maps refer to it as ''Llynyga''. It is thought that ...

Llyn Dulyn Llyn Dulyn ( cy, black lake) is a lake on the edge of the Carneddau range of mountains in Snowdonia, North Wales. The lake is in extent and 189 feet (58 metres) deep. Less than a kilometre to its south lies the smaller Llyn Melynllyn. Cliffs ri ...

and

Llyn Melynllyn Llyn Melynllyn (Welsh for ''yellow lake'') is a lake within the Carneddau range of mountains in Snowdonia, North Wales. It lies at a height of just over , and has an area of some . Cliffs rise steeply from its western edge, up to the summit of ...

Features

Surrounding the 14th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

are the banks of the

Roman fort In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

Canovium Canovium was a fort in the Roman province of Britannia. Its site is located at Caerhun in the Conwy valley, in the county borough of Conwy, in North Wales. Etymology The fort appears in the Antonine Itinerary as ''Conovio'' and in the Ravenn ...

. The excavations of the Roman site were directed by P.K. Baillie Reynolds, of

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

, over a period of four summers in the 1920s,. Page found on Kanovium Project website although there have of course been several other publications since. The church and its

churchyard 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 ...

occupy the north-east quarter of the original

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

site. Canovium was built at an ancient river crossing and was an important post on the

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

and ancient drovers road via

Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen ( Welsh: ''Gap/Pass of the Two Stones'') 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 r ...

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

and the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...

. Latterly the best crossing point, now with a bridge, has been at nearby Tal-y-Cafn. After the

end of Roman rule in Britain The end of Roman rule in Britain was the transition from Roman Britain to post-Roman Britain. Roman rule ended in different parts of Britain at different times, and under different circumstances. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus withdrew t ...

, the fort was associated with King Rhun Hir of

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, an ...

, hence the subsequent name. CaerhunRiverConwy9010465

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

exists in the same name. This ward stretches to surrounding communities and at the 2011 census had a total population of 2007.

Notable people

* Sir John Ponsonby Conroy, 1786 – 1854

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

officer and

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...

to the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

and Princess Victoria

References

External links

Caerhun Community Council's website

A Vision of Britain Through Time

British Listed Buildings

Geograph

Office for National Statistics
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