Llyn Crafnant

Coordinates: 53°7′57″N 3°52′12″W / 53.13250°N 3.87000°W / 53.13250; -3.87000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Llyn Crafnant
View from the summit of Crimpiau
Llyn Crafnant is located in Conwy
Llyn Crafnant
Llyn Crafnant
LocationNorth Wales
Coordinates53°7′57″N 3°52′12″W / 53.13250°N 3.87000°W / 53.13250; -3.87000
Typenatural lake
Basin countriesUnited Kingdom
Surface area63 acres (25 ha)
Max. depth71 ft (22 m)

Llyn Crafnant is a lake that lies in a valley in

Ogwen Valley, and Snowdon. Further up is Creigiau Gleision
. At 63 acres (250,000 m2) it is the best part of a mile long, although it was clearly once much longer - its southern end shows the evidence of centuries of silting. Jehu's survey (see references) recorded a maximum depth of 71 ft (22 m).

Crafnant takes its name from “craf”, an old Welsh word for garlic, and “nant”, a stream or valley.

The lake can be reached by car only from

Conwy valley, though many visitors walk there from the village or from the neighbouring lake of Llyn Geirionydd, which runs parallel to it, but a mile distant, the two being separated by Mynydd Deulyn – “mountain of the two lakes”. The lake can also be reached on foot from Capel Curig
.

There is a Natural Resources Wales car park with toilets, which is reached just before the lake itself, and the lakeside cafe (open from Easter until late summer) offers car parking for patrons. The lake is a popular fishing spot, and is kept stocked with brown trout and rainbow trout. From the cafe, it is possible to hire boats for fishing or for pleasure. Private boating and swimming are not permitted.

The lake is a reservoir and was dammed at its northern end in 1874, but the dam itself is barely visible as the outflow plunges down steeply from it. By the outflow is an obelisk, erected in 1896 by the inhabitants of Llanrwst which commemorates "the gift to that town of this lake with 19 acres (77,000 m2) of land" by Richard James. The lake is leased to the owners of what is now the cafe.

In the upper part of the valley there is no mains water connection and during the particularly dry summer of 2006 many properties were without water.

The

River Crafnant ("Afon Crafnant" in Welsh) joins the River Conwy at Trefriw, but not before some of it has been diverted to pass through the Trefriw Woollen Mills
to generate hydro-electricity for the machinery.

Cornel, a large property in 25 acres (10 ha) on the southern banks of the lake, is owned and operated by the Welsh

Scout
Council.

Areas around the lake have been used for location shots in

Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment
.

Gallery

  • A view of Llyn Crafnant
    A view of Llyn Crafnant
  • View of Llyn Crafnant
    View of Llyn Crafnant
  • The monument, commemorating the gift of free water to Llanrwst
    The monument, commemorating the gift of free water to Llanrwst

References

Further reading

  • The Lakes of North Wales by Jonah Jones, Whittet Books Ltd, 1987
  • The Lakes of Eryri by Geraint Roberts, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 1985
  • Bathymetrical Survey of the Lakes of Snowdonia, by T.J. Jehu, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1902