Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for DOLGELLY

DOLGELLY, a town, a parish, and a district in Merioneth. The town stands on the Sarn-Helen way and the river Wnion, 18 m. SW by S of Bala; and is at the terminus of the extension of the Llangollen, Corwen, and Bala railway, authorised in 1865, and in operation in 1869. It has magnificent mountain environs, and is a great resort of tourists. Some Roman coins have been found in its vicinity, proving it to have been known to the Romans. Part of an old house is in it, where Owen Glendower held important meetings at the forming of his alliance with Charles VI. of France. A body of royalist troops attempted to fortify it in the wars of Charles I. The town consists chiefly of mean irregular streets, yet contains some good modern houses. The county-hall was built in 1825, and contains a portrait, by Shee, of Sir R. W. Vaugham, Bart. The county jail, on a hill to the south, was built in 1811, and has capacity for 27 male and 5 female prisoners. The parish church is a modern limestone edifice, in the Grecian style; has a large tower; and contains monuments of Meiric ab Vychan and Chief Baron Richards. The town has a post office‡ under Corwen, two banking offices, three chief inns, a town-hall, a market-house, four dissenting chapels, a grammar school with £44 from endowment, and other charities with £29; and is a scat of summer assizes, a seat of April and October quarter sessions, and the head-quarters of the county militia. Markets are held on Tuesdays and Saturdays; fairs are held on Shrove Tuesday, the Tuesday before Easter, 11 May, 4 July, 20 Sept., 9 Oct., 22 Nov., and 16 Dec.; and a considerable manufacture of flannels, coarse woollen cloths, and kerseys is carried on. Real property, £4, 668. Pop., 2, 217. Houses, 546. Chief Baron Richards was a native.—The parish includes also the townships of Brithdir-Isaf, Brithdir-Uwchaf, Cefnyr-Owen, Dolgledr, Dyffrydan, and Garthgynfawr; and extends along the estuary of the Maw. Acres, 25, 607; of which 575 are water. Real property, £12, 566. Pop., 3, 457. Houses, 818. The property is much subdivided. Numerous villas and other genteel residences are on the thickly-wooded sides of the hills. The cataract of Dol-y-Melyn-llyn, with two falls of 35 and 20 feet, is 5 miles from the town. An ancient British camp is at Moel-Cynnwch. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bangor. Value, £440. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The vicarage of Bryncoedifor is a separate benefice. -The district comprehends the sub-district of Barmouth, containing the parishes of Dolgelly, Llanfachreth, Llanelltyd, Llanaber, Llanddwywe, and Llanenddwyn; and the sub-district of Talyllyn, containing the parishes of Talyllyn, Llanym-awddwy, Mallwyd, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Llanegryn, and Llangelynin. Acres, 145, 213. Poor-rates in 1862, £8, 889. Pop. in 1841, 13, 211; in 1861, 12, 482. Houses, 2, 838. Marriages, in 1860, 75; births, 272, -of which 19 were illegitimate; deaths 215, -of which 40 were at ages under 5 years, and 19 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 785; births, 3, 115; deaths, 2, 352. The places of worship in 1851 were 13 of the Church of England, with 2, 839 sittings; 23 of Independents, with 3, 365 s.; 3 of Baptists, with 484 s.; 12 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1,819 s.; 26 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 4, 534 s.; 1 of the Wesleyan Association, with 60 attendants; and 1 undefined, with 257 at. The schools were 13 public day schools, with 894 scholars; 8 private day schools, with 200 s.; 73 Sunday schools, with 5, 405 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 18 s.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Dolgellau CP/AP       Dolgelly RegD/PLU       Merionethshire AncC
Place: Dolgelley

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