Y Rhiw () is a small village on the south west tip of the

Llŷn Peninsula The Llŷn Peninsula ( or , ) is a peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales, with an area of about , and a population of at least 20,000. It extends into the Irish Sea, and its southern coast is the northern boundary of the Tremadog Bay inlet of Cardigan Ba ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, Wales. The village forms part of the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Aberdaron Aberdaron () is a community (Wales), community, electoral ward and former fishing village at the western tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in the Wales, Welsh county of Gwynedd. It lies west of Pwllheli and south-west of Caernarfon; as of 2021, it h ...

. From the village there are views towards

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

. Nearby is the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

owned Plas yn Rhiw.

History

The area has been inhabited at least since the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. On the slopes of Mynydd Rhiw is a late Stone Age burial chamberCyngor Gwynedd : ''Llŷn Coastal Path : Plas yn Rhiw to Llanbedrog''
Retrieved 2009-08-16 and

neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

quarries. Nearby on Mynydd y Graig are three

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

s, several hut circles and terraced fields that are thought to date from the late

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

;Gwynedd Archaeological Trust : ''Rhiw and Penarfynydd''
Retrieved 2009-08-16 a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

cinerary urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

was uncovered in 1955. Common land at Mynydd Rhiw and Mynydd y Graig was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1811, and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

were grown.

Manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

was discovered in 1827; donkeys carried the ore to Porth Cadlan and Porth Neigwl, and in the late 19th century houses were built for industrial workers. By 1914 an aerial ropeway had been constructed, passing over the growing village to a jetty on the shore at Porth Neigwl. In

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

there was a great demand for manganese as a strengthening agent for steel, and the industry became a substantial employer in the village; over of ore were extracted during the lifetime of the mines, and in 1906 the industry employed 200 people.Rhiw : ''About''
Retrieved 2009-08-16 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, coal miners, Cornish tin miners and a contingent of the

Royal Canadian Engineers The Canadian Military Engineers (CME; ) is the military engineering personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the branch that wear army uniform comprise the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE; ). The mission of the Canadia ...

were drafted in to work the mines.Mindat : ''Benallt Mine''
Retrieved 2009-08-16 Aberdaron - Rhiw

Notable buildings

Plas yn Rhiw is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

early 17th-century manor house, which contains a stone spiral staircase. The house is believed to be on or near the site of an earlier defended house, built by Meirion Goch in the 10th century to prevent incursions by

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

into Porth Neigwl.Rhiw : ''Plas yn Rhiw : The First Thousand Years''
Retrieved 2009-08-16 It was remodelled in 1820 and restored by the Keating sisters in 1939. It is now owned by the

. The garden lies below the house and is terraced into the slope, divided by hedges into several small compartments; there are views over Porth Neigwl and

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

, and in spring and summer there are displays of snowdrops and bluebells. It is the only organic National Trust garden in Wales. Places of worship include: * St Aelrhiw's Church, built in 1860 on the footings of an earlier church. The churchyard contains the graves of some of the many bodies that were washed up at Porth Neigwl during World War I. * Capel Nebo, built in 1813 by the

Congregationalists Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

; * Capel Pisgah, built in 1832 by the Wesleyan MethodistsComisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru / Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: Capel Pisgah
Retrieved 2014-11-14
Retrieved 2009-08-16 * Capel Tan y Foel, a

Calvinistic Methodist The Presbyterian Church of Wales (), also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church (), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales. The Calvinistic Methodist movement has its origins in the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival ...

chapel. Other notable buildings include: * Hen Felin, an ancient mill which stood close to the shoreline at Porth Neigwl, and was referred to in a Crown survey of 1352. A second mill stood above Plas yn Rhiw, fed by the

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

at Ffynnon Aelrhiw. * Bwlch y Garreg Wen, built in 1731, is a typical agricultural worker's house of the period. This type of dwelling, known as a 'croglofft cottage', was found throughout the Llŷn Peninsula. * Tyn y Graig, built at the beginning of the 18th century and constructed of uncoursed boulders. It was originally thatched, but a slate roof was later substituted. It has two tall square capped chimneys, and contains a dairy with a loft above. * Meillionydd Fawr, which dates from 1616 and is to the west of Mynydd Rhiw. It is a three-storey building with boulder-built walls and a modern slate roof, which was much altered in the 19th century. * Bryn Gwynt and Pen yr Ogof, examples of 'Moonlight Cottages''. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was common for young couples to squat on land; if they were able to build a cottage over night and have smoke coming from the chimney by dawn, they could keep both the house and surrounding land.Rhiw : ''Moonlight Cottages''
Retrieved 2009-08-16

References

{{authority control Villages in Gwynedd Aberdaron