Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MERIONETH, or MERIONETHISHIRE

MERIONETH, or MERIONETHISHIRE, a maritime county of North Wales; bounded, on the N W, by Carnarvonshire; on the N, by Carnarvonshire and Denbighs hire; on the N E, by Denbighshire; on the SE, by Montgomeryshire; on the S, by Cardiganshire; on the W, by Cardigan bay or the Irish sea. It is separated from part of Carnarvonshire, by the ravine of the Glaslyn river; from parts of Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire, by the watershed of the Berwyn mountains; and from part of Montgomeryshire and from Cardiganshire, by the rive r Dovey. Its outline is somewhat triangular, with the sides facing the N, the SE, and the W. Its greatest length, south-westward, from the NE angle, 2¾ miles beyond Gwyddelwern to the SW angle at Aberdovey, is 46 miles; its greatest breadth, in the opposite direction, is 29 miles; its mean breadth is about 1 5½ miles; its circu it is about 140 miles, 30 of which are coast; and its area is 385,291 acres. The surface is very mountainous. The county, proportionately to its extent, contains a larger aggregate of lofty upland than any other coun ty of Wales. One irregular group, in the NW, connects with the great Snowdonian range in Carnarvonshire, and culminates in the summits of Moelgwyn and Cnicht, at altitudes of 2,566 and 2,372 feet. A vast triangular group, with much tableland, commences immediately E of the preceding; is separated from it partly by a narrow glen, partly by a wild peat morass; extends eastward to the vicinity of Bala; and culminates in Arenig, at an altitude of 2,809 feet. A lofty oblong range is separated from the first group by the vale of Festiniog; lies W of the second group; extends southward to the estuary of the Maw; measures nearly 15 miles in length and about 7 miles in breadth; and culminates in Craig-dwrg and Rhinog-fawr, at altitudes of 2,100 and 2,345 feet. A comparatively small but very magnificent group rises immediately S of the estuary of the Maw; consists chiefly of Cader-Idris, with its spurs and offshoots; and culminates in Pen-y-Gador and Mynydd-Moel, at altitudes of 2,914 and 2,817 feet. A great chain commences near the SW extremity, in the vicinity of Aberdovey; extends in a well defined wavy line, north-eastward to the vicinify of Corwen; forms a grand barrier along the SE frontier of nearly the entire length of the county; commences in Arrau-y-Gessel, with a culminating altitude of 2,224 feet; splits, near Dinas-Mowddwy, into two lines, slightly. diverging from each other, the one going north-northeastward, the other continuing north-eastward; rises, in the north-north-easterly line, to a culminating altitude of 2,955 feet in the summit of Arran-Mowddwy; forms, throughout the north-easterly line, the Berwyn mountains, whose watershed divides the county from Montgomeryshire and Denbighshire; and culminates, in these mountains, on the summit of Cader-Ferwyn or Berwyn, at an altitude of 2,563 feet. The general surface presents, to a dull eye, a bleak and dreary appearance, but presents, to a quick one, a vast amount of picturesqueness and romance. "It has not, ''says Mr. Newell, "the stupendons craggy wildness of Carnarvonshire, but is equal to it in calm sublimity, and superior in richness, variety, and beauty. The mountains, if not so high, display more varied and beautiful colouring, as well as a more correct and elegant outline. ''Some of the finest, too, have the advantage of rising from low levels, around magnificent glens, in such a manner that their height, as seen from good stand-points, often appears to the eye to be greater than it really is. Both the glens and the mountain sides, also, are much better wooded than those of Carnarvonshire; and they derive from that circumstance, in combination with their own features, a richness of scenery which, in many parts, assimilates them to some of the most admired portions of Switzerland. The streams, likewise, abound in cascades; the estuaries of the Maw, the Traeth-bach, and the Dovey strike grandly inward from the sea; and the coast exhibits a constant succession of striking and varied views.

The chief rivers are the Dee, draining all the NE region, through the lake of Bala, along the exquisite vale of Edernion, and past Corwen, to the vicinity of Llangollen; the Dovey, or Dyfi, running along much of the SE boundary under Arran-y-Gessel, to the sea at Aberdovey; the Dysynni, descending from Cader-Idris to the sea, in the vicinity of Towyn; the Maw, or Mawddach, making two grand falls, expanding into estuary in the vicinity of Dolgelly, and going thence to the sea at Barmouth; the Glyn, with a fall of 200 feet; the Cynfael, with a fall of 40 feet; the Dwyryd, the Glaslyn, the Eden, and others. The principal lake is that of Bala; others are Talyllyn, Elider, Treweryn, Y-cwm-bychan, Bodlyn, Cwm-Howel, Glyn, Arrenig, and Y-cae; and there are about fifty more, mostly pools or tarns, in the rooms or hollows of the mountains. The rocks are chiefly Cambrian and Silurian, of similar character to those of Snowdonia. Slates prevail through a great portion; a bluish grey limestone abounds in the NE; and igneous rocks are largely protruded around the estuary of the Maw, particularly on its S side, and thence toward the NNE. Slate is extensively quarried; limestone is much used for manure; copperores occur in the vicinity of Towyn, Dolgelly, Barmonth, and Aberdovey; lead ores are found near Towyn, Llanaber, Dolgelly, Tremadoc, Llanelltyd, and DinasMowddwy; and small quantities of silver and gold have been found near Dolgelly. Grouse is plentiful in some of the mountains; partridges are numerous in the low tracts; and fish, of varions kinds, abounds in the principal streams and lakes.

The soils are varions. The vales and the sheltered portions of the coast contain some fertile fields; but even the best tracts elsewhere are comparatively sterile. About one half of the entire area is waste or common. Not enough of wheat is grown for home consumption; oats, barley, and potatoes are grown in considerable quantities, yet often insufficiently for family use; and some cheese and butter are made for the market. The inhabitants depend chiefly for support on sheep and cattle,-on wool and the produce of the dairy. They are visited periodically by dealers, who purchase from them in the gross; and, excepting these or some rare tourists or sportsmen, they seldom see a stranger. They are a very primitive people, mostly all speaking Welsh, and living in a very unsophisticated way. The dwellings of the peasantry, in general, are extremely rude; the farm buildings themselves, for the most part, are very poor; the fences are of stone or sods; and the chief fuel is peat. Upland farms are measured, not by acres, but by the number of cattle or sheep they are considered able to maintain. The cattle on the hills are small; but those in some of the low tracts are an old, large, black Welsh breed. The sheep are white-faced and coarse-woolled, from 9 to 12 lb. per quarter. Goats, till a recent period, were reared in great numbers; but they were less compensating than sheep, they injured the bark of trees, and they went generally into disuse. A hardy breed of ponies, called merlins, are bred on the Berwyns, and on some of the other mountains. The chief articles of manufacture, but these to no great extent, and principally around Bala, Corwen, and Dolgelly, are flannel webs and knit stockings. About 190 miles of turnpike, and 420 miles of other good roads, are within the county. One railway, coming in from Carnarvonshire, goes along the coast, past Harlech, Barmouth, and Towyn, to Aberdovey; another, available for the SW parts of the county, but not within its limits, runs near its boundary, past Machynlleth, toward Aberystwith; another, starting at the junction of two lines which come into the NE corner of the county at Corwen, goes southwestward, past Bala and Dolgelly, to Barmouth; another, a branch of the first, goes from Towyn, east-north-eastward, to Talyllyn; and another, a branch of the second, goes from Cemmaes northward to Dinas-Mowddwy; but they are quite recent, some of them not completed in 1866; and they may be expected to effect considerable changes on the interests and habits of the people.

The county contains 34 parishes, parts of 3 other parishes, and 1 extra-parochial place; and is divided into the hundreds of Ardudwy-Is-Artro, Ardudwy-UwchArtro, Edernion, Estimaner, Mowddwy, Penllyn, and Talybont. The registration county takes in a township from Montgomeryshire, seven parishes and part of another from Denbighshire, and five parishes and part of another from Carnarvonshire; gives off two parishes to Montgomeryshire; comprises 466,026 acres; and is divided into the districts of Corwen, Bala, Dolgelly, and Festiniog. The market towns are Corwen, Bala, Dolgelly, Dinas-Mowddwy, Harlech, Barmouth, and Towyn; and there are upwards of 120 villages and hamlets. The chief seats are Glanylyn, Maesy-Newadd, Nannan, Hengwrt, Corsy-Gedol, Bronhaulog, Caerynwch, Peniarth, Glyn, Rhiwlas, Rûg, Aberhirnant, Crogen, Talgarth, Tanybwlch, and Ynysmaengwyn. Real property, in 1815, £111,436; in 1843, £153,665; in 1860, £186,603,-of which £36,528 were in quarries, £722 in mines, £30 in fisheries, £983 in railways, and £100 in gas-works. The county is governed by a lord lieutenant, a sheriff, and about 24 magistrates; is in the London military district, the North W ales judicial circuit, and the dioceses of Bangor and St. Asaph; and sends one member to parliament. The Lent assizes are held at Bala, and the summer ones at Dolgelly. The county jail and house of correction is at Dolgelly. The police force in 1864 comprised 23 me n, and cost £1,718. The crimes committed in 1864 were 47; the persons apprehended, 32; the depredators and suspected persons at large, 89. Electors in 1833,580; in 1865,1,527,-of whom 758 were freeholders, and 530 occupying tenants. Pop. in 1801,29,506; in 1821, 34,382; in 1841,39,332; in 1861,38,963. Inhabited houses, 8,499; uninhabited, 352; building, 39.

Merioneth was known to the Romans as Mervinia, and to the ancient Welsh as Meironydd; and it is said to have derived its name from Meirion, son of Tibiawn, and grandson of Cunedda, a noble native chieftain who, in the 5th century, drove the Irish from the territory, and obtained, in guerdon of his services, extensive local possessions. It was inhabited by the Ordovices; was included, by the Romans, in their Britannia Prima; was divided, by Roderick Mawr, between the kingdoms of Aberffraw and Powys; and was constituted a county by Henry VIII. It made no figure in history in either the Saxon or the Norman times; yet it was the scene of many of those unnatural conflicts between tribe and tribe which disgrace the annals of Wales; and it afterwards, particularly about Harlech, played an important part in the movements of Owen Glendower, and in the wars of the Roses.-Druidical remains are at Moel-y-Goedog, Corsy-Gedol, Llwyngwril, and Trawsfynydd. Pillar stones or cairns are at Trwyn, Llech-Idris, Beddau-Gwyr-Ardudwy, and near Corwen. Ancient British camps or forts are at Tommen-y-Bala, Castell-Prysor, CastellDdinas-Gortin, Craig-y-Ddinas, Moel-Orthrwm, and Caer-Drewyn. The Sarn Helen way went through the county northward, by Roman camps at Pennal, CefnCaer, Castell-Prysor, Maentwrog, and Rhyd-ar-Helen, to Tommen-y-Mur, anciently called Hereri-Mons; and the Sarn Hir way, or Southern-Watling-street, went thence, by Caer-Gai near Bala, and through the Bwlchy-Buarth pass, into Montgomeryshire. An interesting mediæval castle is at Harlech; and remains of four others are at Castell-Prysor, Castell-y-Beri, Carndochon, and Murcaston. Curions old mansions are at Llys-Bradwen, Towyn, Sychnant, and some other places. An old abbey is at Cymmer, and was the only edifice of its class in the county at the Reformation.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a maritime county of North Wales"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 2nd order divisions")
Administrative units: Merionethshire AncC
Place names: HERERI MONS     |     MEIRONYDD     |     MERIONETH     |     MERIONETHISHIRE     |     MERIONETH OR MERIONETHISHIRE     |     MERVINIA
Place: Merionethshire

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