Pentrefoelas is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The village lies on the A5 road between Betws-y-Coed to the west and Cerrigydrudion to the east. The Afon Merddwr river, a tributary of the River Conwy, flows through it. The community had a population of 356 at the time of the 2011 census,[1] 70% were able to speak Welsh.[2] It has an area of 53.86 km2 and covers a large region around the village including part of Mynydd Hiraethog, Llyn Alwen and part of Alwen Reservoir.[3] It is in the electoral ward of Llangernyw. The community includes the small settlement of Rhydlydan.
The name of the village comes from pentre (Welsh for "village") and a nearby hill, Foel Las ("green bare-topped hill").[4] The hill is the site of a motte built around 1164 in the time of Owain Gwynedd. Old Voelas House (or Plas Foel Las), mansion of the Wynne family, was built at the foot of the hill in 1545. It was demolished in 1819 and a new site was established two kilometres to the west. The current Voelas Hall was built in 1961 and was designed by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis.[3][5]
Other buildings around the village include:
Plas Iolyn, home to Rhys Fawr ap Maredudd, his son Robert ap Rhys (the chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey), his grandson the 16th-century MP Elis Prys (known as Dr Coch and notorious for his oppression of the district) and his great-grandson, the poet Tomos Prys. It is now a farmhouse.[6][7]
Gilar, built in the 16th century for the poet Rhys Wyn ap Cadwaladr (fl. c. 1600), perhaps by his father Cadwaladr ap Maurice after receiving a substantial grant of land from Henry VIII in 1545–1546, which included the land later occupied by Plas Iolyn and Old Voelas House.[3][8][9][10]
The village had a chapelry of Ysbyty Ifan built in 1766 and known as Voelas Chapel. The Parish Church was built on the same site in 1857–1859.[11][12]
The Pentrefoelas watermill (Melin Voelas) for grinding flour dates from 1815 and was restored by Clwyd County Council as part of a heritage scheme. The ironwork for the external overshot waterwheel was originally cast by the Llanrwst Foundry probably sometime in the 19th century[13]
View towards the village
Plas Iolyn
Gilar
Parish Church c. 1875
Graveyard, Pentrefoelas
Pentrefoelas watermill
^"Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics: Area: Pentrefoelas (Parish)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
^"Area: Pentrefoelas (Parish): Welsh Language Skills, 2011 (KS207WA)". Office for National Statistics.
^ abcDavies, John; Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines & Peredur I. Lynch (2008) The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales, University of Wales Press, Cardiff.
^Owen, Hywel Wyn & Richard Morgan (2007) Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales, Gomer Press, Llandysul, Ceredigion.
^"Voelas, Pentrefoelas". British Listed Buildings.
^"Plas Iolyn, Pentrefoelas". British Listed Buildings.
^Yorke, Philip (1887). The Royal Tribes of Wales. London: Isaac Foulkes. p. 200.
^"RHYS WYN ap CADWALADR". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. The National Library of Wales. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
^"Gilar, Pentrefoelas". British Listed Buildings.
^Yorke, Philip; Fiske, Willard. The Royal Tribes of Wales. p. 200.
^Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust. Pentrefoelas Church. Accessed 13 March 2012.
^"Parish Church, Pentrefoelas". British Listed Buildings.
^"Melin Voelas, Pentrefoelas". British Listed Buildings.
Thomas Telford between London and Holyhead; it enters the park near Pentrefoelas and leaves it near Bethesda. Other A class roads provide more local links;...
sailor and poet. He was the eldest son of Ellis Price MP, of Plas Iolyn, Pentrefoelas, Denbighshire. He followed a seafaring life for many years, joining expeditions...
Llanddoged Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr Llangernyw Llangwm Llanrwst Rural Pentrefoelas Tir Ifan The rural district was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government...
Wrexham Trefnant A542 Llangollen Llandegla crosses the Horseshoe Pass A543 Pentrefoelas Bodfari A544 Bylchau Llanfair Talhaiarn Originally ran from north of...
2023. "Voelas Hall Park, Pentrefoelas (700273)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 14 March 2023. "Voelas Hall Garden, Pentrefoelas (266399)". Coflein. RCAHMW...
Gwynedd by way of Penmachno B4407 B4391 near Ffestiniog, Gwynedd A5 near Pentrefoelas, Gwynedd by way of Ysbyty Ifan Originally ran from Llan Ffestiniog to...
with Aberconwy Abbey itself, or alternatively with Rhyd Llanfair near Pentrefoelas. The story is clearly full of elements taken from the world of Celtic...
west of Trefor is now part of the B5109. B5113 A547 in Colwyn Bay A5 at Pentrefoelas Crosses A548 and also, by way of Nebo Originally ran from the A5 in Valley...
Conwy, Wales. It is a tributary of the River Conwy and joins it near Pentrefoelas. It is about 10 km long. "Merddwr" is Welsh for backwater or stagnant...
Conwy Valley, stretching from north east of Llanrwst to just west of Pentrefoelas, and includes the villages of Capel Garmon, Glan Conwy, Melin-y-Coed...
Cerrigydrudion community, while the northern arm forms the boundary between Pentrefoelas, to the west, and Llansannan and Nantglyn, to the north and east. It...
and has a total population at the 2011 census of 1,435, and includes Pentrefoelas. "Community population 2011 & % of Welsh speakers". Retrieved 21 May...
the A543 and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north-east of the village of Pentrefoelas. It is a natural lake; however, a dam was built at its northern outlet...
have founded. Alternatively, some believe that Brochwel was buried at Pentrefoelas in Gwynedd where the grave has been uncovered of a six-foot man, with...
evacuated to North Wales, renting a large country house called Voelas, near Pentrefoelas, from a family called Wynne Finch. Here school life continued little...
Ysgol Pant y Rhedyn Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn Ysgol Pencae Ysgol Penmachno Ysgol Pentrefoelas Ysgol Porth-y-Felin Ysgol San Siôr Ysgol Sant Joseff Ysgol Swn y Don...
Charlotte Godley Sketch of Charlotte Godley (1877) Born 14 November 1821 Pentrefoelas, Denbighshire, Wales Died 3 January 1907(1907-01-03) (aged 85) London...
Global Information
View towards the village
Plas Iolyn
Gilar
Parish Church c. 1875
Graveyard, Pentrefoelas
Pentrefoelas watermill
