| Machynlleth | |
|---|---|
| Market town | |
 Machynlleth Clock Tower | |
  Machynlleth Location withinPowys | |
| Population | 2,235 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SH745005 |
| Community |
|
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county |
|
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MACHYNLLETH |
| Postcode district | SY20 |
| Dialling code | 01654 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
52°35′28″N3°50′56″W / 52.591°N 3.849°W /52.591; -3.849 Community map
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Machynlleth (pronounced[maˈχənɬɛθ]ⓘ) is amarket town,community andelectoral ward inPowys,Wales and within the historic boundaries ofMontgomeryshire. It is in theDyfi Valley at the intersection of theA487 and theA489 roads. At the2001 Census it had a population of 2,147,[3] rising to 2,235 in 2011.[1] It is sometimes referred tocolloquially asMach.[4]
Machynlleth was the seat ofOwain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404,[5] and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official recognition as a capital. It applied forcity status in 2000 and 2002, but was unsuccessful. It istwinned withBelleville, Michigan.[6][7]
Machynlleth hosted theNational Eisteddfod in 1937 and 1981.
The origin of the name Machynlleth derives frommaes [field, plain] andCynllaith.[8] The ending 's' ofmaes is the cause of the 'c' ofCynllaith becoming 'ch':maes cynllaith > machynlleth reflecting a standard phonological development in Welsh.
There is a long history of human activity in the Machynlleth area. In the late 1990s,radiocarbon dating showed thatcopper was being mined in theEarly Bronze Age (c. 2,750 years ago), within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the town centre.
TheRomans settled in the area; they built afort at Cefn Caer, nearPennal, 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Machynlleth, and are reputed to have had two look-out posts above the town atBryn-y-gog andWylfa, and another fort, called Maglona, at Machynlleth.[9] One of the earliest written references to Machynlleth is theRoyal charter granted in 1291 byEdward I toOwen de la Pole, Lord of Powys. This gave him the right to hold "amarket[5] at Machynlleth every Wednesday for ever and two fairs every year". The Wednesday market is still a busy and popular day in Machynlleth 700 years later.
The Royal House, which stands on the corner of theGarsiwn, is another of themediaeval houses that can still be seen today. According to local tradition,Dafydd Gam, a Welsh ally of the English kings, was imprisoned here from 1404 to 1412 for attempting to assassinateOwain Glyndŵr. After his release by Glyndŵr, ransomed Gam fought alongsideHenry V at theBattle of Agincourt and is named amongst the dead inShakespeare'sHenry V. The name Royal House undoubtedly refers to the tradition thatCharles I stayed at the house in 1643.[citation needed]
The weekly market and biannual fair thrived, and in 1613 drew complaints from other towns whose trading in cloth was being severely affected. A document dated 1632[citation needed] shows that animals for sale came from all overMerionethshire,Montgomeryshire,Cardiganshire,Carmarthenshire andDenbighshire, and prospective buyers came fromFlintshire,Radnorshire,Brecknockshire,Herefordshire andShropshire, in addition to the above.
TheDyfi Bridge (Welsh:Pont ar Ddyfi) was first mentioned in 1533, by Geoffrey Hughes, "Citizen and Merchant taylour of London" who left£6 13s 4d (tenmarks) "towards making of a bridge at the toune of Mathanlleth". By 1601 "Dovey bridge in theHundred of Mochunleth" was reported to be insufficient, and the current one was built in 1805 for £250. Fenton describes it in 1809 as "A noble erection of five large arches. The piers are narrow and over each cut-water is a pilaster, a common feature of the 18th century".[This quote needs a citation]
Rowland Pugh was the Lord of Meirionedd,[10] and lived atMathafarn about two miles east of Machynlleth. Pugh supported theRoyalist side in theEnglish Civil War. On 2 November 1644,Sir Thomas Myddleton ofChirk Castle was marching on Machynlleth with a force of theParliamentarian army, when he was ambushed by a force organised by Pugh. In retaliation for the attack, Myddleton burned down Mathafarn on 29 November 1644, along with a number of houses in Machynlleth.[11]
Laura Ashley's first shop was opened in Machynlleth (at 35 Maengwyn Street) in 1961.[12]
Thedisappearance of April Jones in October 2012 received a large amount of coverage in the UK media.
In 1846 Mary Cornelia, the daughter of a local landownerSir John Edwards marriedViscount Seaham, the second son of thethird Marquess of Londonderry and they set up home atPlas Machynlleth. Seaham became Earl Vane on the death of his father and the fifth Marquess on the death ofhis half-brother.
To celebrate the 21st birthday of the Seahams’ eldest son,Viscount Castlereagh, the townspeople paid for the clock tower which stands at the town's main road intersection. Erected on the site of the old town hall, it has become the symbol of the town. The foundation stone was laid on 15 July 1874 amid great festivities. The clock tower, designed byHenry Kennedy of Bangor and now aGrade II listed monument, cost £800; the townspeople raised £1,000, of which the remainder was spent planting trees along nearby streets.[13] Meanwhile, a new town hall was erected on the east side of Penrallt Street in 1872; after becoming unsafe, it was demolished in 1968.[14]
Another son,Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest, was the last member of the family to live at the Plas and was killed in theAbermule train collision on theCambrian Railways, of which he was a director.
The house was given to the townspeople in December 1948 under the stewardship of the then Machynlleth Urban District Council.
Various local government re-organisations saw responsibility for the Plas pass first to Montgomeryshire District Council, who in 1995 converted it into theCeltica visitor centre. Celtica interpreted the history and culture of the Celts with a walk-through audio-visual exhibition housed in a purpose-built addition to the house. The £3 million attraction was part-funded by theEuropean Union. The centre had a high-profile in the Welsh media, with opera singerBryn Terfel officially opening the attraction in October 1995.
Powys County Council took over Celtica and the house when it was formed as aunitary authority in 1997. The centre was successful in attracting tourists, school groups and conferences for a number of years; however initial predictions of visitor numbers proved to be too ambitious, and the council was unwilling to prolong its subsidy. With little scope for alternative investment, Celtica closed in March 2006, and the house stood empty while Powys County Council sought to relinquish responsibility for it in line with their policy of selling many of their publicly owned buildings.
On 1 April 2008, in a move thought to be unprecedented for a community council of its size, Machynlleth Town Council took ownership of the Plas and its parkland and facilities. It has reopened the restaurant by leasing it to a local licensee, and the 1st and 2nd floors of the main building are rented out as office space. Medium-sized meeting rooms and conference space are also offered for hire.
Machynlleth railway station was built by theNewtown and Machynlleth Railway; it provides services toAberystwyth and theCambrian coast to the west, andNewtown andShrewsbury to the east. Services are operated byTransport for Wales.[15]
The town is home to the signalling centre that controls theEuropean Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) on theCambrian Line. The system went into full operational use in March 2011.
From 1859 to 1948, the town was served by thenarrow-gaugeCorris Railway, which brought slate from the quarries aroundCorris andAberllefenni for onward despatch to the markets. The railway's original station,Machynlleth Town was on Brickfield Street, and operated from about 1860 to about 1874. It was replaced by anew station, opened in 1874, next to the mainline station.[16] A new station building was built in 1905, and can still be seen alongside the road approaching the town from the north.
Machynlleth is served by twoTrawsCymru long-distance bus routes. The T2 connects the town withBangor to the north and continues to Aberystwyth, where connections can be made to South Wales. There is also the T12 which runs toWrexham, via Newtown; this is branded asTrawsCymru Connect.[17]
Machynlleth retains its linguistic tradition, withWelsh spoken alongsideEnglish. The 2011Census indicated that 67% of the population have some knowledge of Welsh, with 39% able to read, write and speak the language.[18]
Machynlleth has a special role in Welsh history because of its connection withOwain Glyndŵr, aPrince of Wales who rebelled against the English during the reign ofKing Henry IV. Owain was crowned Prince of Wales in 1404 near the Parliament House, which is one of three mediaeval houses in town, in the presence of leaders fromScotland,France andSpain, and he held his own Parliament in the town. He held his last parliament in the nearby village ofPennal, by theChurch of St Peter ad Vincula. It is thought that after the rebellion floundered, Owain went into hiding in the area around Machynlleth.
Tourism is the primary employment sector with a range of activity based attractions (for example severalmountain biking trails) as well as the visitor centre at theCentre for Alternative Technology. Agriculture continues to play a significant part in the make-up of the town and surrounding area.[citation needed]
The town has a market on Wednesdays which includes traditional Welsh, Spanish and French food stalls.
The town has hosted theMachynlleth Comedy Festival annually since May 2010, featuring comedians such asJon Richardson,Pappy's,Josie Long,Stewart Lee andRichard Herring. The festival dominates the town for a weekend, with events running over three days in nine venues.[20]
Machynlleth lies onGlyndŵr's Way and theDyfi Valley Way, twolong-distance footpaths.
Machynlleth is the home of theMuseum of Modern Art (MoMA), Wales. It originated in 1986 asY Tabernacl, a centre of performing arts in an old chapel, a private initiative by former journalist Andrew Lambert. In 1994 this was expanded with a new complex of art galleries, a recording studio and a language laboratory.[21] Lambert had previously tried to convert the town's old railway station into a hotel and museum, employing international architectRichard Rogers.[21]
MoMA Wales hosts the annualMachynlleth Festival, as well as its own annual open exhibition of art.[22]
Machynlleth is the home of Ecodyfi, a locally controlled organisation that was set up to foster and support a greener community and economy in the Dyfi Valley.[23]
TheCentre for Alternative Technology is based in a disused quarry three miles from Machynlleth.
In December 2019 Machynlleth council was the first in Wales to declare aclimate emergency.[24][25][26][27]
There are two tiers of local government covering Machynlleth:
In both theSenedd and theUK House of Commons, Machynlleth sits within the Montgomeryshire constituency, whose MS and MP are ConservativesRussell George andCraig Williams respectively.
Machynlleth was anancient parish in the historic county ofMontgomeryshire.[32] When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, the parish was made anurban district.[33] The Machynlleth Urban District was abolished in 1974, with its area instead becoming a community. District-level functions passed toMontgomery District Council, which in turn was abolished in 1996 and its functions passed to Powys County Council.[34][35]
Machynlleth Town Football Club, founded in 1885, plays in theSparMid-Wales district league and the reserve team is in the Cambrian Tyres Division 2 Amateur football league. The Machynlleth Rugby Club plays in theNorth Wales Division 2.
Machynlleth travel guide from Wikivoyage| Preceding station |  Heritage railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Corris Railway | Ffridd Gate | ||
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
| Transport for Wales Cambrian Line | ||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
