Cynwyd is situated on the banks of the river Cynwyd, approximately 27km (16.5 miles) west of Llangollen. ‘A crossroads as the focus of the settlement.’

‘Cynwyd is a personal name, though the person behind the name is not known to history. As a place-name Kowryt (or Conryt) is first recorded in 1292-3. The present form of the name appeared as late as 1838.’

Although its early history has not been established, ‘Cynwyd can be recognised as the caput or centre of the commote of Edeirnion in the Middle Ages and is referred to in passing in the 12th-century Welsh poetry’. By the end of the thirteenth century, it is possible that ‘Cwnwyd with its doctor, merchant, and cobblers [and also crowders or fiddlers] … was one of the few places in Meirioneth which resembled a town. Its 45 tenants paid the highest subsidy in the commote.’

At the end of the 17th century  Lluyd ‘recorded a village of nine houses and a mill.’ The settlement did not have its own church, instead worshipers went to the medieval All Saints Church at Llangar (NPRN 93771), about a kilometre to the north east, until St John the Evangelist Church (NPRN 43879), near the centre of Cynwyd, was consecrated in 1856.

During the nineteenth century Cynwyd ‘functioned as a centre of flannel manufacture.’ The ordnance survey map published in 1888 notes that there were ‘factories’ on the south eastern edge of the village. One of these was ‘Pentre Llawen Woollen Factory’ (NPRN 310325), another, opened in 1840, was known as Prince’s Yard Factory (NPRN 310324). The ordnance survey map also records a woollen factory a little way outside the village, again to the south east.

In addition to the factories, the 1888 Ordnance Survey map shows a thriving village with several amenities. It had two public houses – the Blue Lion and the Prince of Wales. There was also a corn mill named ‘Felin Isaf’ and a smithy at the northern junction of the crossroads. There was a school a little to the north of the smithy, and four places of worship – St. John’s Church, Sion Calvinistic Methodist Chapel (NPRN 8506), a Baptist Chapel (NPRN 8505) and an Independent Chapel (NPRN 8504). To the west of the village there was a station on the Corwen Bala Railway (NPRN 87039).

The second edition of the six-inch Ordnance Survey maps was published in 1901. It shows that Cynwyd had acquired an additional school (NPRN 411567), and Sion Calvinistic Methodist Chapel was named ‘Capel Bethel.’  

Today, ‘the village has the appearance of a post-medieval development.’ The Blue Lion Inn remains open but the Prince of Wales closed in July 2019. There is a post office and general stores located in the centre of the village. Although not in the same location as the schools recorded in the nineteenth century, Cynwyd does have a school: Ysgol Bro Dyfrdwy educates approximately 115 pupils aged between 3 and 11. Ifor Williams is located on the western outskirts of the village. St John’s church and the three chapels appear to have all remained open into the 21st century

Sources: Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust report no. 1257 ‘Historic settlements in Denbighshire’ by R. J. Silvester, C. H. R. Martin, S. E. Watson (March 2014); Estyn report on Ysgol Bro Dyfrdwy, published in June 2015; https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/; historic Ordnance Survey maps and google maps

M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 3rd December 2020