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Where
is Rhiw?
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Amdan
Os hon ydi'r tro cyntaf i chi
fod ar y wefan yma neu fuoch chi erioed ym mhentra bach Rhiw mae hi yn syniad
dda i chi ddefnyddio'r map isod, mae llun bach o dan y spotiau Coch. Mae'r lluniau mawr i'w cael ar dudalenau
eraill.
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About
If this is your first time on
this website and you've never been to Rhiw, its a good idea to use the Hotmap
below, just click on the Red
spots for a short pictorial tour of our little village. You will find larger
versions of all of these photographs on other pages.
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An over view
Rhiw is a small village situated at the southern area, - but centrally
east/west, - of the LIyn Peninsula, it lies in a pass between two points,
Creigiau Gwineu, 242 meters, and
Clip y Gylfinir,
270 meters; the views are
stunning whichever way you look, inland and north east towards Snowdonia, yes,
you can see Snowdon itself, and all its companions, cast across
Hell's
Mouth,
over Abersoch towards the Meirioneth vista of Cader Idris and the coastline
southwards past Barmouth and Aberystwyth. Turning south west and west, you
overlook the rest of the peninsula towards
Aberdaron,
Whistling Sands, Anglesey,
but also on clear days - which are not uncommon - the Wicklow Hills of
Ireland.
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Enlli from Rhiw
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The geological period is Ordovican (400/450 million years), with Creigiau
Gwineu - Mynydd y Graig to the local population - being granite. Rhiw Mountain,
- Clip y Gylfinir, - on the other hand, is carboniferous, being volcanic at one
time, with huge quantities of
manganese
having been produced from the bowels of
the hill, from six mines, three being very productive, three not so flourishing.
More than 113,000 tons were produced over a period of a hundred years of on /
off production, - 1840-1945. Date of the highest number of workers was 1906,
when
200 men
were on the pay-roll, with as little as two at times, or even none
at all for non-productive periods. During World War 11, 150 was probably the
highest number. Manganese was used in the early years for varnish making, glass
(there was a high silica content in the manganese), paint and numerous other
products, but later on it was found that manganese at the rate of 14 Ibs. to the
ton made steel harder and more durable in making rails, tanks, ships, and
anything that required resistance to wear and tear.
It was transported by sea at first, then by road, to Ellesmere Port then on
to the steelworks at Brymbo. This was the only industry Rhiw has had apart from
farming, which is still on- going.
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Rhiw is rather unique in a way, in a period of 60 years say, only five new
houses and the village hall have been new buildings, but there have been a lot
of adaptations going on, for instance, the school was made into two houses, a
garage, two chapels, an L.S.A. building, (Life Saving Apparatus, where
volunteers practiced and kept their two-wheeled trolley carrying their ropes,
rockets, flags and all their gear for saving shipping that had run aground),
cobbler's workshop, a shop or three, three or four inns, were turned into
houses, so it is a village that is not wasteful of resources.
Plas yn Rhiw is only a mile down the hill towards Abersoch, this is owned by
the National Trust now, donated by the Keating family in 1949. It was a manorial
estate at one time, comparable to Nanhoron and Cefnamwlch, built by Meirion Goch
in the Tudor period.
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Old Mine works
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Plas yn Rhiw
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From Creigiau Gwineu - which is itself an ancient and sizeable hill-fort,
looking
north
24 antiquities are recorded on maps and historic
charts, ranging from settlement huts (several), to platform houses, from
cromlechs (4) to terrace farming (2), plus another smaller fort so you can see
that this is an old and truly historic area, full of gripping, interesting and
ancient history.
There are a number of
wells
scattered about, two in particular, that have
been built up, and are about 10 / 12 feet square, being curative as well.
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An axe factory lies on the north eastern slopes of Rhiw. The rock is 'hornfelsised
shale,' the tools, adzes, knives, axes and scrapers were used by the Neolithic
and Bronze Age people to fashion boats, carve wood, and cut up whales. It is
dated as between 1150 and 1100 B.C., and was in production periodically for more
than 1,000 years. It was discovered in 1956 by pure chance, when heather and
gorse was being burnt to improve grazing for sheep.
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Cromlech Tan-y-Muriau
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Axe factory Rhiw
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Below is an interesting statistic about the
population of Llyn between 1801 ~ 1901.
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Many thanks to Wil Williams for his help with this article.
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