Location

The parish of Llangar, Merionethshire, is based around the parish church situated about half-way between Corwen and Cynwyd at grid reference SJ 063424, about ¾ mile south of the road junction of the B4401 with the A5 and between the B4401 and the river Dee. It stands just above the old railway line between Corwen and Bala (see map of Merionethshire on the Tallis webpages). I have not yet found a map showing the boundaries of the parish of Llangar.


Historical background (extracted from Gregory, 1993)

Circa 1164 AD:
A general revolt against Norman power started in Wales in 1164. King Henry II was the most powerful ruler in Europe, except for the Holy Roman Emperor, Barbarossa.
Owain Gwynedd, realising the quarrel between Henry and Thomas à Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was becoming increasingly serious, took the opportunity to win back some of his land in north Wales, while Rhys ap Gruffudd did likewise in the south (their contemporary, Giraldus Cambrensis always referred to them as Princes of North or South Wales).
Henry decided he must set aside his problems in France and likewise the Church and deal with the troublesome Welsh. In July 1165, Henry assembled in Shrewsbury and Oswestry the largest army ever committed to the conquest of Wales. In its ranks were the finest fighters of France as well as of the Norman army in England. Faced with a common danger, the Welsh defenders agreed for once to act in unison, with substantial detachments from Deheubarth and Powys joining the forces of Gwynedd in Corwen under the leadership of Owain Gwynedd with Rhys ap Gruffudd at his side.
In August, Henry's great army marched westwards up the Ceiriog valley towards Corwen on the other side of the Berwyn mountain range. However, the ambitions of even the greatest can be thwarted by the weather. As the invading army slowly trudged up the Berwyn mountains, the incessant rain and the buffeting wind helped the darting raids of Welsh guerrilla bands, making life unbearable for Henry's army. Progress became impossible through the mud and moorland bogs and the Norman army retreated back to England. With Henry then preoccupied in France, Ireland and England, Owain Gwynedd continued to push back Gwynedd's eastern boundary until his death in 1170.

Circa 1350 AD:
Following King Edward I's defeat of Llywelyn and brother Dafydd, and his building of the great castles, the western half of Wales plus Flintshire was ruled by the king's agents while the larger half, east of the line of the Conwy valley, was left in the control of the Marcher lords. The marcher lands were as much feudal domains as the fiefdoms of England, and the Welsh peasants had to work three days a week on their masters' lands, just like the English peasants. But in the early 1300s many peasants on both sides of Offa's Dyke managed to persuade their feudal lords to let them pay rent instead of labouring.
In 1348 and 1349 the British Isles were visited by the dreaded bubonic plague which in two years took the lives of about one third of the population. One immediate consequence of the Black Death was a shortage of labour; hence its value greatly increased and the position of the peasants improved. Before 1400 the English peasants felt strong enough to revolt but perhaps the Welsh had more painful memories or perhaps young Welshmen of fighting age were kept occupied fighting the king's battles elsewhere. Owain Glyndwr had fought for King Richard II who was deposed in favour of Henry IV, Henry of Lancaster, in 1399. Marcher Lord de Grey of Ruthin, supported King Henry IV and picked a fight with Owain Glyndwr and so Owain's war with Henry IV began. Towns that had grown around the castles and had been decreed out-of-bounds to Welsh people were quickly burned down by Glyndwr's men. Ten years of fierce fighting laid waste many castles and churches over a great area of Wales. Sir John Wynn's History of the Gwydir Family, written about 1580, describes the devastation in the Conwy valley.

In 1403, the future Henry V, Henry of Monmouth, sacked Glyndwr's homes at both Sycharth, 1½ miles south of Llansilin, and Glyndyfrdwy. Defeated at Harlech Castle in 1409, Owain Glyndwr became a fugitive, outlawed in 1410, and disappeared in 1412.
English historian G. M. Trevelyan wrote in his History of England about Owain Glyndwr:
"This wonderful man, an attractive and unique figure in a period of debased and selfish politics, actually revived for a few years the virtual independence of a great part of his country."
In Maengwyn Street, Machynlleth, can be seen the Parliament House built in the 16th century on the spot where Owain Glyndwr had called the first Welsh parliament. Harsh reprisals followed the collapse of the revolt and for years the clock was put back in Wales.

Source: GREGORY, Donald (1993) Wales before 1536 - a Guide, published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, Llanrwst, Wales. ISBN 0-86381-250-3
Full details are available on the Gwasg Carreg Gwalch website at: http://www.carreg-gwalch.co.uk/

- 4th May 2001