Gwytherin

Principal areaPreserved countyCountryWalesSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townABERGELEPostcode districtLL22Dialling code01745PoliceNorth WalesFireNorth WalesAmbulanceWelsh UK ParliamentSenedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament 53°08′20″N 3°40′52″W / 53.139°N 3.681°W / 53.139; -3.681

Gwytherin is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies in a small valley through which the River Cledwen flows and has been winner of 'Best Kept Village' on four occasions. Its church is dedicated to Saint Winefrid (Welsh: Gwenfrewy gwenfrewi; Medieval Latin: Winefrida).

In the centre of the village opposite the Lion Inn is the Church of St Winifred, which was built and dedicated in 1869. The church is believed to have originated in the mid-600s CE up by Prince Eleri who then went on to set up a double monastery in the village. He was the Abbot to the monks, and his cousin's daughter, St. Gwenffrewi, was the Abbess to the nuns.

In the churchyard are three ancient yew trees and a row of four ancient standing stones approximately one metre high and aligned roughly east to west. The first stone carries a carving and what appears to be a 'W'.

The church is one of the major places visited on the North Wales Pilgrims Way.^[1]

In Literature

Gwytherin is the setting for much of the action in the novel A Morbid Taste for Bones, first published in 1977 by Ellis Peters. It was the first book in a series of twenty to introduce the fictional Brother Cadfael, the real Prior Robert Pennant, and the rest of the monks at Shrewsbury Abbey in the 12th century.

Gallery

• 
  Moonrise over Aled valley.
• 
  Ruin near Pant-y-fotty

References