Ysbyty Ifan | |
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![]() St John's Church at Ysbyty Ifan | |
Location within Conwy | |
Area | 67.99 km2 (26.25 sq mi) |
Population | 196 (in 2011) [1] |
• Density | 3/km2 (7.8/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | SH841488 |
Community |
|
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BETWS-Y-COED |
Postcode district | LL24 |
Dialling code | 01690 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Ysbyty Ifan (often formerly anglicised as Yspytty Ifan) [2] [3] is a small, historic village and community in the Conwy County Borough of Wales. The population in 2011 was 196 in 76 households (29 household spaces had no usual residents), over 79% of the population were able to speak Welsh. [1] It has one of the smallest populations of any Welsh community, the smallest being Ganllwyd. It is in the electoral ward of Uwch Conwy.
Ysbyty Ifan, until about 1190, was known as Dôl Gynwal (Welsh for Cynwal's Meadow). Then, it came to the attention of the Knights of St John, the Order of Hospitallers, who set up a hospital to care for pilgrims and also to be a hostel for them on their journeys (Ysbyty Ifan means hospital of St John). [4] Ysbyty Ifan was on the ancient pilgrimage routes, for example, from Bangor Is Coed (Bangor-on-Dee) to Holyhead and Bardsey Island and the Cistercian Way between Aberconwy and Cymer. [5] [6] It is centrally located among a significant number of important pilgrimage destinations of the Middle Ages, see the map which shows only some of them.
In the 15th century, the Red Bandits of Mawddwy used Ysbyty Ifan as a hideout, taking advantage of the Knights' privilege of sanctuary. [5] [6]
The hospital was abolished in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; the Church of St John is built on the site of the old hospital, and it contains a number of remnants that tell of the area's history. [6] Effigies in the church are said to depict Rhys Fawr ap Maredudd (fl. 1485–1510), a local nobleman who served Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth, his wife Lowri, and his son Robert, chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey. [5] [6]
There is a bridge over the Afon Conwy in the centre of the village
Ysbyty Ifan has a primary school with two classrooms and a cafeteria. The village also a rugby union pitch with a children's playground.
The Ysbyty Ifan Estate is the largest single estate looked after by the National Trust. The area of the estate is over 8,000 hectares and includes moorland, river valleys and hill farms. The Migneint is an area of moorland and bog designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). [14] The Trust is responsible for a number of holiday cottages within the estate including Foel-Gopyn, which is off the grid.
There are also a number of other places of interest near Ysbyty Ifan, [14] so the area attracts a large number of visitors including walkers, [15] especially during the summer months.
Ysbyty Ifan is part of the Uwch Conwy ward for elections to Conwy County Borough Council.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was the native Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr and grandson of Llywelyn the Great, and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed, until Owain Glyndŵr held the title during the Welsh Revolt of 1400–1415.
Llywelyn the Great was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually "Prince of the Welsh" and "Prince of Wales". By a combination of war and diplomacy he dominated Wales for 45 years.
Caernarfonshire, sometimes spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, is one of the thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county of Wales.
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Llyn Conwy (SH780462) is a lake in the county of Conwy in central north Wales. It is the source of the River Conwy which, on flowing south out of the lake, swings round to then generally flow in a northerly direction for a distance of some 27 miles (43 km) to its discharge in Conwy Bay. Llyn Conwy lies at a height of about 1,488 ft, with a maximum depth of 16 feet, and is by far the biggest lake of the Migneint moors, an extensive area of blanket mire with high rainfall - about 260 cm p.a. There is a view of Arenig Fawr.
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The Migneint is a large expanse of moorland in central Snowdonia, north-west Wales. It is part of the Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt Special Area of Conservation, along with the mountains Arenig Fawr, Arenig Fach and Dduallt, covering a range of nearly 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi). It is either the largest area of blanket bog in Wales, or the second largest, after the Berwyn range, further to the east.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1201–1300 to Wales and its people.
The history of Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th through the 13th centuries. Gwynedd, located in the north of Wales, eventually became the most dominant of Welsh polities during this period. Contact with continental courts allowed for Gwynedd to transition from a petty kingdom into an increasingly sophisticated principality of seasoned courtiers capable of high level deplomacy and representation; not only with the Angevine kings, but also the king of France and the Papal See. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, particularly poets known as the Beirdd y Tywysogion associated with the court of Gwynedd; the reformation of bardic schools; and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel. All three of these further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales.
Carnedd Llechwedd-llyfn is a subsidiary summit of Carnedd y Filiast on the border of Snowdonia National Park in Llandderfel, in Gwynedd. The northern slopes of the peak lie in Ysbyty Ifan, in Conwy. It is part of the Arenig mountain range, and rises from the shore of Llyn Celyn.
Rhys Fawr ap Maredudd was a Welsh nobleman chiefly known for his valour at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where he fought on the side of Henry VII.
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Rhiannon Ifans is a Welsh academic specialising in English, Medieval and Welsh literature. She was an Anthony Dyson Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, in University of Wales Trinity St. David. She twice won a Tir na-n-Og prize for her work and won the literary medal competition at the Welsh Eisteddfod, for her 2019 debut novel, Ingrid, which was chosen for the Welsh Literature Exchange Bookshelf. In 2020, Ifans was elected as Fellow the Learned Society of Wales.