 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Rhos" North Wales – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Rhos (Welsh for 'moor' / 'moorland') is a region to the east of theRiver Conwy inNorth Wales. It started as a minor kingdom then became a medievalcantref, and was usually part of theKingdom of Gwynedd (later the region became part ofDenbighshire, thenClwyd, and is now inConwy county borough).
Rhos is identified as a small kingdom during thesub-Roman andearly medieval periods in anOld Welsh genealogical document "Ancestry of the Kings and Princes of Wales" listing thirteen of its kings (including two who are known to have ruled the wider region ofGwynedd).
The most famous monarch was perhapsCuneglasus, the son ofOwain Danwyn, who lived in the early 6th century and was denounced by the monk,Gildas. He wrote (inLatin) that Cynlas was the "guider of the chariot which is the receptacle of the bear". The latter may refer to a "Fort of the Bear", possibly Dinerth, the name of ahillfort onBryn Euryn inLlandrillo yn Rhos. The road that runs below the western side of the hill is still called Dinerth Road and Dinerth Hall is nearby.
TheGwynedd Archaeological Trust has undertaken a trial excavation of this hillfort and set up related information boards inColwyn Bay Library. Their investigations revealed a massive defensive stone wall, well built and faced with good-quality limestone blocks originally rising to about ten feet high. The ramparts were eleven and a half feet thick. These defences are unlike those ofIron Age hillforts but comparable with similarMedieval fortifications, so may represent a possible stronghold of the Kings of Rhos.
By the 11th century, Rhos was part ofGwynedd Is Conwy (Gwynedd "below", east in this case, theRiver Conwy) as an administrative unit known as acantref. Along with its three adjoining cantrefi, the area was known asY Berfeddwlad or the "Middle Country" lying between Gwynedd andPowys and often changing hands between those two powerful kingdoms. With the loss of Welsh independence in 1283, Rhos became part of thelordship of Denbigh, as granted to the EnglishEarl of Lincoln. The cantrefi were abolished in 1536 with the creation ofDenbighshire, but the name of Rhos survives today in places such asLlandrillo yn Rhos (Rhos-on-Sea) andPenmaen Rhos.
Creuddyn was a historiccommote of Rhos, then later ofCaernarfonshire.[1]
| Statistical |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geographical |
| ||||||||
| Historical |
| ||||||||
| Local governance |
| ||||||||
| Other | |||||||||
