FEW parts of ancient Britain, so consecrated by historic recollections,
and endowed with so many natural graces, appear to be less known than the
vale and castle of Dolwydellan. The former is nearly a Welsh _cwm_, or
hollow, but more expansive than that term in general implies, bounded on
all sides by hills of fanciful and picturesque forms, and sheltered on
the west by the beautiful leaning pyramid of Moel Siabod, at whose base
the little village reposes in tranquillity. Little rocky eminences,
covered with copse-wood or stunted oak, decorate the enclosure of the
vale, while a scene of simple greatness envelopes the whole.
In the centre of the valley, and on the summit of an isolated rock, on
one side precipitous and inaccessible, and on the other easily
defensible, stand the remains of the ancient British castle of
Dolwydellan. It was a royal residence, and a place of defence, though
now “its walls are desolate; the gray moss whitens the stones; the fox
looks out from the window; and rank grass waves round its head.” The
castle consisted of two square towers, each containing three stories,
connected by a centre, and enveloped by a curtain wall, enclosing the
whole superior surface of the rock. The style of building resembles that
discoverable in Dolbadarn and the other British castles, the
counter-arches being pointed, and of flat shingle. The verdant area
encompassing the ruins is usually browsed by a few head of cattle,
forming a happy combination, and resembling the compositions of Bergham
and other great masters of like style, in whose pictures cattle and ruins
are made to lend their graces to each other.
[Picture: Dolwyddellan Castle; Conway Castle; Beddgellert. London.
Published by T. T. & J. Tegg, Cheapside, Oct. 1st 1832]
Jorwerth Drwyndwn, or Edward, sirnamed “Broken Nose,” son of Owen
Gwynedd, by the Lady Gwladys, was lord of Dolwydellan Castle about the
year 1169, and here Llewellyn ap Jorwerth, better known to the historian
as Llewellyn the Great, was born. His father’s claims to the throne of
Wales were disallowed in consequence of the deformity of his countenance,
but the martial daring of the son obtained for him the possession of that
diadem which the barbarity and folly of the times had withheld from the
father. Llewellyn was acknowledged sovereign prince of Wales A.D. 1184;
and after a brilliant, glorious, and eventful reign of fifty-six years,
embittered only by domestic calamities, was released from the cares of
this world, and interred with great ceremony in the abbey of Conway in
the year 1240. Amongst the grants made during the usurpation of the Duke
of Glo’ster, is found one of Dolwydellan Castle to Sir Ralph Berkinnet,
of the county of Chester, knight, chamberlain of North Wales. In the
third year of King Henry the Seventh, an act of resumption was passed,
whereby all the grants of Richard the Third were recalled, except the
lease of the (ffrydd) fryth of Dolwydellan. At this time lived Meredydd
ap Jevan ap Robert, who had been enriched by a bequest of Crug in
Caernarvonshire, from his foster father, and who had farther augmented
his treasures by a marriage with the daughter of William Gryffydd ap
Robin. This child of fortune, after a short residence on his newly
acquired estate of Crug, removed into his native country of
Cessailgyfarch, and there purchased the lease of the castle and frydd
{34} of Dolwydellan from the executors of Sir Ralph Berkinnett, part of
the castle being then in a habitable condition. After many years
residence in the old castle, Meredydd erected a small, but exceedingly
substantial house, in the close valley or _cwm_ of Penanmen, the walls,
staircase, and roof of which are at this day in good preservation, and
afford a comfortable dwelling to the tenantry of his descendants.
The state of this country at his first entering upon possession was so
lawless, that Meredydd, although guarded by “twenty tall archers,” dared
not make known when he went to church or elsewhere, or go or return by
the same way through the woods and defiles, lest he should be waylaid.
To protect and strengthen himself he filled his tenements with “tall and
able” men, and fixed others of similar prowess in arms on the king’s
lands adjoining; one of these, William ap Robert, was placed at Pencraig
Inco, for which he paid a relief to the king of ten shillings and
fourpence, and his posterity, the Davises of Cyffdû, are still in
possession of this ancient estate.
As a further security against interruption in attendance upon divine
worship, he threw down the old church, then standing upon a little
eminence called Bryn-y-beddau, about three hundred yards from the present
church, and erected a new one in its stead. This site was chosen in
order that the house of Penanmen and the church of Dolwydellan might both
be brought within the ken of a sentinel, to be placed upon a rock called
Craig y Big, overhanging the narrow entrance of Penanmen Cwm, who was to
give the alarm, if either church or house should be assailed.
In this manner he continued to defend himself and organize the less
powerful gentry and free-holders, until at last he counted around his
banner seven score tall bowmen, accoutred with an armolette, a good steel
cap, a short sword and dirk, together with their bows and arrows. Most
of them also were furnished with horses and hunting spears, and were
sufficiently matched against the robbers and outlaws of the district, who
exceeded one hundred in number, all too well mounted and arrayed.
Besides the “good work,” as it was called, of extirpating banditti,
Meredydd also served his royal master abroad, and was an officer of rank
at the siege of Tournay. On his return to his native land, he purchased
the seat of Gwydyr from Dafydd ap Howell Coytmor, and erected what is
called the Lower House, but more properly that portion of it called the
“Hall of Meredydd.” Placing a tenant in his strong house of Penanmen,
and abandoning the old castle to the owls and wolves, he settled in his
new house at Gwydyr, where he departed this life, in peace and honour, on
the eighteenth day of March, 1525, aged fifty-five: his remains were
deposited in the church of Dolwydellan, which he had caused to be erected
at his own expense, and where a modest tablet of three lines epitomizes
his history, in the pious form of inscriptions of that day.
The church built by Meredydd is of such substantial workmanship, that it
will probably prove the most lasting, as well as pious, monument of his
deeds. A little chapel or transept was subsequently added on the south
side by Robert Wynne, uncle of Sir John, the author of the Memoirs.
The village consists of a few cottages, unconnected and poor looking:
riches or civilization would not harmonize with the scenery of
Dolwydellan, which is as though it existed in an age when the use of
money and the various arts of life were still unknown or undiscovered.