Y Rhiw

Y Rhiw
The road linking Y Rhiw with Aberdaron
Y Rhiw Location within Gwynedd
OS grid reference	SH227281
Community	Aberdaron
Principal area	Gwynedd
Preserved county	Gwynedd
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PWLLHELI
Postcode district	LL53
Dialling code	01758
Police	North Wales
Fire	North Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
Dwyfor Meirionnydd
List of places UK Wales Gwynedd 52°49′16″N 4°37′55″W / 52.821°N 4.632°W / 52.821; -4.632

Y Rhiw (Welsh pronunciation^ⓘ) is a small village on the south west tip of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales. The village forms part of the community of Aberdaron.

From the village there are views towards Snowdonia. Nearby is the National Trust owned Plas yn Rhiw.^[1]

History

The area has been inhabited at least since the

Common land at Mynydd Rhiw and Mynydd y Graig was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1811, and barley and oats were grown. Manganese was discovered in 1827; donkeys carried the ore to Porth Cadlan and Porth Neigwl, and in the late 19th century houses were built for industrial workers. By 1914 an aerial ropeway had been constructed, passing over the growing village to a jetty on the shore at Porth Neigwl.^[4] In World War I there was a great demand for manganese as a strengthening agent for steel, and the industry became a substantial employer in the village;^[4] over 150,000 long tons (150,000 t) of ore were extracted during the lifetime of the mines,^[6] and in 1906 the industry employed 200 people.^[7] During World War II, coal miners, Cornish tin miners and a contingent of the Royal Canadian Engineers were drafted in to work the mines.^[6]

Notable buildings

• St Aelrhiw's Church, built in 1860 on the footings of an earlier church. The churchyard contains the graves of some of the many bodies that were washed up at Porth Neigwl during World War I.[11]
• Capel Nebo, built in 1813 by the
  Congregationalists;^[12]
• Capel Pisgah, built in 1832 by the Wesleyan Methodists^[13][14]
• Capel Tan y Foel, a Calvinistic Methodist chapel.^[4]

Other notable buildings include:

• Hen Felin, an ancient mill which stood close to the shoreline at Porth Neigwl, and was referred to in a Crown survey of 1352. A second mill stood above Plas yn Rhiw, fed by the holy well at Ffynnon Aelrhiw.^[4]
• Bwlch y Garreg Wen, built in 1731, is a typical agricultural worker's house of the period. This type of dwelling, known as a 'croglofft cottage', was found throughout the Llŷn Peninsula.^[15]
• Tyn y Graig, built at the beginning of the 18th century and constructed of uncoursed boulders. It was originally thatched, but a slate roof was later substituted. It has two tall square capped chimneys, and contains a dairy with a loft above.^[16]
• Meillionydd Fawr, which dates from 1616 and is to the west of Mynydd Rhiw. It is a three-storey building with boulder-built walls and a modern slate roof, which was much altered in the 19th century.^[17]
• Bryn Gwynt and Pen yr Ogof, examples of 'Moonlight Cottages'. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was common for young couples to squat on land; if they were able to build a cottage over night and have smoke coming from the chimney by dawn, they could keep both the house and surrounding land.^[18]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhiw.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Y Rhiw.