Ysbyty Ifan (often formerly anglicised as Yspytty Ifan) is a small, historic village and

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, tow ...

in the

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, ...

of Wales. The population in 2011 was 196 in 76 households (29 household spaces had no usual residents), over 79% of the population were able to speak

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

. It has one of the smallest populations of any Welsh community, the smallest being

Ganllwyd Ganllwyd is a small village and community in southern Gwynedd, Wales. It lies in the Snowdonia National Park to the north of Dolgellau. A470 passes through it. The Community population taken at the 2011 Census was 179. Geography The villag ...

. It is in the

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 t ...

of Uwch Conwy.

History

Ysbyty Ifan, until about 1190, was known as Dôl Gynwal (Welsh for ''Cynwal's Meadow''). Then, it came to the attention of the Knights of St John, the Order of Hospitallers, who set up a hospital to care for pilgrims and also to be a hostel for them on their journeys (Ysbyty Ifan means ''hospital of St John''). Ysbyty Ifan was on the ancient pilgrimage routes, for example, from Bangor Is Coed (

Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg, and from 1974 to 19 ...

) to

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

and

Bardsey Island Bardsey Island ( cy, Ynys Enlli), known as the legendary "Island of 20,000 Saints", is located off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", while its English name refers to the "Islan ...

and the Cistercian Way between Aberconwy and Cymer. It is centrally located among a significant number of important pilgrimage destinations of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, see the map which shows only some of them. In the 15th century, the Red Bandits of Mawddwy used Ysbyty Ifan as a hideout, taking advantage of the Knights' privilege of sanctuary. The hospital was abolished in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; the Church of St John is built on the site of the old hospital, and it contains a number of remnants that tell of the area's history. Effigies in the church are said to depict Rhys Fawr ap Maredudd (fl. 1485–1510), a local nobleman who served Henry VII at the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Augu ...

, his wife Lowri, and his son Robert, chaplain to

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

. There is a bridge over the Afon Conwy in the centre of the village

Notable associations

*The poet William Cynwal was buried in Ysbyty Ifan in about 1588. He was a disciple of

Gruffudd Hiraethog Gruffudd Hiraethog (died 1564) was a 16th century Welsh language poet, born in Llangollen, north-east Wales. Gruffudd was one of the foremost poets of the sixteenth century to use the cywydd metre. He was a prolific author and gifted scholar. Tho ...

and took part in the second

Caerwys Caerwys is a town in Flintshire, Wales. It is just under two miles from the A55 road, A55 North Wales Expressway and one mile from the A541 road, A541 Mold, Flintshire, Mold-Denbigh road. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census, the popula ...

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

in 1568. *

Tomos Prys Tomos Prys (c.1564–1634) was a Welsh soldier, sailor and poet. He was the eldest son of Ellis Price MP, of Plas Iolyn, Pentrefoelas, Denbighshire. Life He followed a seafaring life for many years, joining expeditions under both Sir Walter Ral ...

, sailor,

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from Stuart Restoration, the Restoration in 16 ...

and poet, was buried in Ysbyty Ifan on 23 August 1634. *

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's great, great grandfather, John Morris, lived in Bryn Gwyn, a farmhouse in Ysbyty Ifan which is now derelict. His daughter emigrated to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the United States with a group of

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

in the 17th century. *Siôn Dafydd Berson (c.1675-1769), poet, clog maker and lay reader, was buried in Ysbyty Ifan cemetery in 1769. Dafydd is mainly remembered as the person who taught

Twm o'r Nant Twm o'r Nant was the pseudonym of a Welsh language dramatist and poet, Thomas Edwards (January 1739 – 3 April 1810), also known as ''Tom of the Dingle''. He was famous for ''anterliwtau'' (interludes or short plays), which he performed mainly ...

to read and write. The inscription on his grave, by Twm o'r Nant, says "Galar, i'r ddaear ddu - aeth athraw..." (''Oh grief, into the black earth - goes the teacher...'') *

Gwallter Mechain Walter Davies (15 July 1761 – 5 December 1849), commonly known by his bardic name Gwallter Mechain ("Walter of Mechain"), was a Welsh poet, editor, translator, antiquary and Anglican clergyman. Davies was born at Y Wern, near Tomen y Caste ...

, the Welsh

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

, was made curate of Ysbyty Ifan in 1799.

Today

Ysbyty Ifan has a

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

with two classrooms and a cafeteria. The village also has a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

shop, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, a milk shop and a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

pitch with a children's playground. The Ysbyty Ifan Estate is the largest single estate looked after by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The area of the estate is over 8,000 hectares and includes moorland, river valleys and hill farms. The

Migneint The Migneint () is a large expanse of moorland in central Snowdonia, north-west Wales. It is part of the ''Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt'' Special Area of Conservation, along with the mountains Arenig Fawr, Arenig Fach and Dduallt, covering a range of ...

is an area of moorland and bog designated as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI). The Trust is responsible for a number of holiday cottages within the estate including Foel-Gopyn, which is off the grid. There are also a number of other places of interest near Ysbyty Ifan, so the area attracts a large number of visitors including walkers, especially during the summer months. Ysbyty Ifan is part of the Uwch Conwy

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

for elections to

Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is the local authority for Conwy County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. History Conwy County Borough was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 199 ...

. File:Ysbyty Ifan - geograph.org.uk - 34544.jpg, Ysbyty Ifan File:Bridge over the Conwy - geograph.org.uk - 1170462.jpg, Bridge over the Conwy File:Effigies, Ysbyty Ifan - geograph.org.uk - 1170458.jpg, Effigies in the church of Rhys Fawr and Lowri, and their son Robert File:Bryn Gwyn - geograph.org.uk - 962307.jpg, Bryn Gwyn File:Ysbyty Ifan, watermill - geograph.org.uk - 55285.jpg, Ysbyty Ifan watermill File:Ysbyty Ifan Primary School - geograph.org.uk - 1170470.jpg, Ysbyty Ifan Primary School File:Foel-Gopyn. - geograph.org.uk - 296340.jpg, Foel-Gopyn Cottage File:B4409 to Ysbyty Ifan - geograph.org.uk - 61328.jpg, Moorland of Migneint (on B4409 looking NE)

References

External links

Ysbyty Ifan timeline

A Vision of Britain Through Time

British Listed Buildings

Geograph

Office for National Statistics
{{Conwy