Tremadog was a village created by William Madocks (1773-1828) in the first decade of the 19th century on reclaimed land known as Traeth Mawr, the estuary of Afon Glaslyn. It was originally intended to be a post town on a direct road between London and Dublin, via Porthdinllaen on the Llyn peninsula, a project that in due course lost out to the Holyhead Road. Tremadog was laid out around a market square, with market hall, coaching inn, houses and shops, with a church and chapel just outside the centre. Building of this small planned development, as well as a separate woollen manufactory, began c.1805 and was largely completed by the time Richard Colt Hoare described it in 1810.

The main features of the town are the combined Market Hall and Assembly Rooms (Nprn 23259), St Mary's church (NPrn 43788) and the Madoc Hotel (Nprn 15982).

Reference: Cadw listed buildings database.

Tremadog, a village on the outskirts of Porthmadog, started life as a planned settlement; founded by William Maddocks, who purchased the land in 1798. The centre of Tremadog was in place by 1811, and remains very similar today as it was then. Designed to create the impression of a borough it is held to represent a notable example of early town planning.

The most important part of the town was to be the Market Square, which, set against a natural sheer-cliff setting, provided a dramatic backdrop to the town. The High Street and Dublin Street form cross-roads the top of the square, and house the most significant buildings: the Town Hall, the Dancing Room, and the Coaching Inn. Madocks was also keen to encourage industry: in 1805 he built the Manufactory, the site of one of the first powered woollen mills in Wales. This site also housed a Loomery, later a tannery; and water-powered fulling mills and corn mills. An emphasis in all of these buildings was on a design aesthetic, one which would present a coherent, overall look to the village. Madocks himself lived at Tan yr Allt, amidst an area of gentry villas.

Tremadog's early ninteenth century Peniel Chapel was built in the style of a Greek Temple; whilst St Mary's Church, dating to 1811, represents one of the first examples of a Gothic Revival church in Wales. It was originally built with box pews, wall paintings, and cast-iron windows, but late Victorian alterations signalled the demise of these distinctive features. Plaques to, and a vault of, the Madocks family are situated within the church. The village was also the birth place of T.E. Lawrence.

L. Moore, RCAHMW, 9th February 2011