| Trawsfynydd | |
|---|---|
 Fronwynion Street, Trawsfynydd | |
  Trawsfynydd Location withinGwynedd | |
| Area | 120.10 km2 (46.37 sq mi) |
| Population | 973 (2011) |
| • Density | 8/km2 (21/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SH707356 |
| Community |
|
| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BLAENAU FFESTINIOG |
| Postcode district | LL41 |
| Dialling code | 01766 |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
52°54′07″N3°55′23″W / 52.902°N 3.923°W /52.902; -3.923  Map of the community | |
Trawsfynydd (Welsh pronunciation:[trausˈvənɨ̞ð];Welsh for'across [the] mountain') is alinear village inGwynedd, Wales, nearLlyn Trawsfynydd reservoir, and adjacent to theA470 north of Bronaber andDolgellau and 10 km (6 miles) south ofBlaenau Ffestiniog. It also neighbours the towns of Porthmadog and Bala.
The totalcommunity area is 12,010 hectares (46.4 square miles) with a population of only 973.[1] The area is sparsely populated with each hectare (acre) inhabited by an average 0.07 (0.03) persons. The community includes the sub-regions ofBronaber, Cwm Prysor and Abergeirw, in addition to the village itself.
Within the village, more than 81% population are fluentWelsh speakers; it is one of the top five Welsh-speaking communities in Gwynedd.[2][3]
Prehistoric people lived in the area in scattered groups of circular huts near the river, Afon Crawcwellt, about two miles south of today's village. A substantialRomano-British fort and settlement was established atTomen y Mur in the first century CE. The area continued to be inhabited duringsub Roman Britain. An example of activity is the Trawsfynydd tankard, a lateIron Age jug used to drink mead and beer between 100BC and 75AD.[4]
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By theearly medieval period, the village was part of a largeCeltic Christianparish of the three settlements of Trawsfynydd,Prysor, andCefn Clawdd. Trawsfynydd parish church is dedicated toSt Madryn. Although the medieval church was badly damaged by fire in 1978 (re-opened 1981), it remains the only listed building in the village.
Records in theMeirionnydd Lay Subsidy Rolls show that following theEnglish conquest of Wales there were 105 taxpayers in the parish in 1292–3. Throughout the next centuries, agriculture and mineral extraction (such as quarrying) remained the main economic focus of the area.
In the late 16th century, the parish of Trawsfynydd was home toSaint John Roberts, one of theForty Martyrs of England and Wales (he was canonised in 1970). Roberts, who was baptised in the church, gained great respect helping those with theplague in London. However, he was found guilty ofhigh treason andhanged, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1610.
By the mid 17th century, the parish of Trawsfynydd had grown to roughly 300 houses and cottages with a population of 1200, although there only 12 properties and a church in Trawsfynydd itself. Due to the economic hardship in the area, Trawsfynydd would remain quite small until theBritish Army established a training area near the village in 1930. Between 1924 and 1928, a large man-madereservoir namedLlyn Trawsfynydd was created to supply water forMaentwroghydro-electricpower station. This would lead to the largest change to the village, when a location nearby was chosen as a site for one of the UK's first nuclear power stations in the 1950s.
Before theSecond World War, theWar Office opened a site atBronaber near Trawsfynydd as an artillery range and training area. Its continued use for training exercises after the war was the subject of protest byPlaid Cymru, who also challenged theUK government's continued military conscription in peacetime.[citation needed]
In 1965 the newpower station was completed. It was capable of supplying the whole of North Wales' electricity needs. The lake was subsequently also used to supply cooling water to the twin reactorTrawsfynydd nuclear power station, which was used for the commercial generation of electricity for theUKnational grid. It also became the biggest employer in the area which brought financial wealth to the village.[5]
One of the four original dams built to create the lake was subsequently rebuilt after construction of the nuclear power plant. Whereas previously the Maentwrog power station had access to all of the water in the lake, the needs of the nuclear plant dictated that from then on, the hydro plant should only use the top five feet of water.[citation needed]
In the 1990s the site was closed. Decommissioning is expected to take until 2083.[citation needed]
Anelectoral ward in the same name exists. This ward includes the community ofMaentwrog and Gellilydan and has a total population of 1,604.[6]
Trawsfynydd used to be served by a section of theGreat Western Railway branch line, which ran fromBala to Blaenau Ffestiniog. To the north of the station, the army built its own station to serve the large camp nearby.(camp detail) TodayTrawsfynydd railway station is a private home. (pictures). The line closed to all traffic in 1961, and the trackbed at the Bala end was subsequently severed by theLlyn Celyn reservoir, but the section between Blaenau and Trawsfynydd Power Station reopened in 1964 fornuclear flask traffic. Access from the Bala end being no longer possible, a new section of track – the so-called "Trawsfynydd Link" – was constructed to link the previously separate ex-GWR and ex-LNWR stations in Blaenau Ffestiniog. It finally closed in 1998, although the track remains in situ.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries aturnpike was built that ran through the village. With the advent of motor transport, this became theA470 in the 1920s. Between 1963 and 1965, a bypass was built around the village for through traffic.
In 1976 theChildren's Film Foundation productionOne Hour to Zero was filmed in the village and at the nearby power station. The filmFirst Knight' (1995)' had scenes filmed around Llyn Trawsfynydd.[7]
Trawsfynydd was the home of the WelshbardHedd Wyn (1887–1917), who died during theBattle of Passchendaele in 1917, six weeks before his poem won theBard's Chair at that year'sNational Eisteddfod. It was sent to his parents in the village draped in a black cloth.Y Gadair Ddu (The Black Chair) is now on display at his home farmYr Ysgwrn. A statue of him byLeonard Stanford Merrifield, unveiled in 1924, stands in the main street of Trawsfynydd. Hedd Wyn is buried with others from his regiment, theRoyal Welch Fusiliers, atArtillery Wood Cemetery, Boezinge inFlanders.[8] The filmHedd Wyn (1992) was filmed in and around Trawsfynydd.
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