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St Mary's Church

5   The now defunct Golden Lion Inn was once a coaching inn. The stagecoach journey from London took about twenty-four hours ca. 1830. It became the premier hotel of the area and was an obligatory stopping point for any passing European royals.

6   One of the very few brick buildings in Dolgellau and unique for its period (early 19th century). Note that the bricks were only used on the principal elevation.

henneuadd.jpg (13752 bytes)7   The Old Town Hall (Y Sosban), dated 1606, once fulfilled the judicial and administrative functions of the town. Two dungeon-like rooms downstairs served as a lock-up for vagrants and drunkards.

8   The present Church (St Mary) dates from 1716, with a chancel added in 1864. The masonry is, unusually, of dressed slate with blocks overlapping at the corners, log-cabin style. The timber piers inside were brought over the mountains by ox-cart from Dinas Mawddwy. A carved stone effigy (ca. 1350) of Meurig ap Ynyr Fychan lies in the NE corner of the church. The first mention of the church and indeed of Dolkelew is from 1253. The Cistercian Cymer Abbey (founded 1198) two miles away, was the main religious centre and a major influence until its suppression in 1536.

Tan y Fynwent9   Tan y Fynwent This fine town house dating from the late 17th century was the rector's residence at one time and was possibly built as such. Note the unusual positioning of the chimneys and the 19th-century lattice-work porch. Such porches are one of the characteristic architectural features of the town.

Monument to Dafydd Ionawr10   Dolgellau's own pyramid, a monument to local bard and schoolteacher Dafydd Ionawr (1750-1827).

11   The Marian Dolgellau's main green space and one of its greatest assets, was given in trust to the town in 1811. It has been the focus of the town's leisure activities for generations. By the 16th century there was a bowling green surrounded by ditches to keep out grazing animals. It lay under the car park. A hollow in the grass in the cricket outfield marks the site of a cockpit. The stone circle was set up in 1948 to proclaim the National Eisteddfod of Wales the following year. Using stone-age technology for advertising in this way is a peculiarly Welsh phenomenon.

 

   

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