place

Cefn Meiriadog

Communities in DenbighshireVillages in Denbighshire
Elwy Valley landscape geograph.org.uk 782531
Elwy Valley landscape geograph.org.uk 782531

Cefn Meiriadog (sometimes Cefnmeriadog) is a rural community in Denbighshire, Wales, just south-west of the city of St Asaph. The boundary of the community on three sides is the river Elwy, which here forms the county boundary with Conwy County Borough. Arguably the largest settlement in the community is the hamlet of Bontnewydd. Also in the community are the hamlets of Groesffordd Marli where Ysgol Cefn Meiriadog is situated, and Cefn. The community is named for a small ridge of the same name (cefn in Welsh means "ridge"). It is said that the place was named for St Meiriadog, a 4th or 5th century Breton saint. Cefn Caves are nearby, where human and early Neanderthal remains dating back 250,000 years have been discovered. Visitors to the site have included Charles Darwin, in 1831. The site is known as Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site. There is a local spring, Ffynnon Fair ("St Mary's spring"), and it was once believed to have healing properties. The poet Siôn Tudur (1522 – 1602) lived at Plas Wigfair (GR028712) nearby.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Cefn Meiriadog (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.24 ° E -3.488 °
placeShow on map

Address


LL17 0HE , Cefnmeiriadog
Wales, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Elwy Valley landscape geograph.org.uk 782531
Elwy Valley landscape geograph.org.uk 782531
Share experience

Nearby Places

Marble Church, Bodelwyddan
Marble Church, Bodelwyddan

St Margaret's Church, Bodelwyddan, nicknamed the Marble Church, is a Decorated Gothic Style parish church in the lower Vale of Clwyd in Denbighshire, Wales and is visible for many miles because its spire rises to 202 feet. It lies just off the A55 trunk road. The church was erected by Lady Margaret Willoughby de Broke (daughter of Sir John Williams of nearby Bodelwyddan Castle) in memory of her husband, Henry Peyto-Verney, 16th Baron Willoughby de Broke. She laid the foundation stone on 24 July 1856 and the new church designed by John Gibson was consecrated by the Bishop of St Asaph on 23 August 1860 after construction at a cost of £60,000. The new parish of Bodelwyddan was created on 3 August 1860, from the communities of Bodelwyddan, Faenol and Pengwern, which until that date had been part of the parish of St Asaph. When it was first built, it was nicknamed the 'Pearl of the Vale'. The church contains fourteen varieties of marble including pillars made of Belgian Red marble, a nave entrance made from Anglesey marble and shafts of Languedoc marble on bases of Purbeck marble. It also contains elaborate woodwork, and in the tower can be found windows of stained glass on the north and south sides, featuring Saint Margaret and Saint Kentigern. It is a popular tourist destination. The church was designated with Grade II* listed status in November 1962.Until the latter part of the 20th century the church, and in particular its high steeple, was very distinctive because it was so white. With the passage of time, pollution has resulted in the colour becoming more grey, and therefore more like other stone buildings. Local government reorganisation resulted in the church being in Flintshire until 1974, in Clwyd from 1974 until 1996, and since then in Denbighshire.

Llannefydd
Llannefydd

Llannefydd (sometimes Welsh: Llanefydd) is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, in Wales. It is located on the border with Denbighshire, between the Afon Aled and River Elwy, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) north west of Denbigh, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south west of St Asaph, 6.9 miles (11.1 km) south of Abergele and 15.2 miles (24.5 km) south east of Conwy. In the 2011 census the community parish had a population of 590. The community includes the village of Cefn Berain and part of the hamlet of Bont Newydd. Saint Nefydd and Saint Mary's church, founded in the fifth century, is Grade I listed; the farms of Berain and Plas Uchaf are Grade II* listed, with Plas Uchaf's gardens being listed at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. Numerous agricultural buildings in the community, along with a number of bridges over the two rivers, are Grade II listed. In 1978, archaeological excavations in a cave at Bont-newydd, in the east of the community, unearthed the teeth and jawbone of an 11-year-old Neanderthal boy dating from 230,000 years ago, the oldest human remains discovered in Wales.Thomas Edwards, better known as the Welsh language dramatist and poet Twm o'r Nant, was born in Llannefydd in 1738, but fled to Llandeilo to avoid imprisonment for his uncle's debts, for which he had stood surety. His anterliwtau (English: interludes), satirical musical plays, lambasted tax collectors, landlords, lawyers and the religious hypocrisy of the established church, and promoted Methodism.Nearby is the hill Mynydd y Gaer which has a hillfort and is 280 metres (919 feet) with views stretching to Snowdonia, the Clwydian Range and Mynydd Hiraethog.