Merioneth

MERIONETH (Welsh Meirionydd), a county of North Wales bounded north by Carnarvon and Denbigh, east by Denbigh and Montgomery, south-east by Montgomery, south by the Dovey estuary, dividing it from Cardigan, and west by Cardigan bay. It is nearly triangular, its greatest length from north-east to south west being about 45 m., and its greatest breadth about 3o miles. Area, 422,372 acres. Pop. (1931), 43,198 (administrative county).

Geology.

The outstanding geological feature is the Harlech dome—a mountain tract about 15 m. from north to south by 1 o m. from east to west, from the coast inland. It is roughly oval, with Barmouth and Dolgelly, Harlech and Maentwrog around its edges. It is of Cambrian age and composed of grits, quartzites and slates, forming a large anticline. Its central por tion is occupied mainly by Harlech grits and Menevian beds. Around the dome on the north, east and south, from Towyn around to Carnarvonshire, great volcanic masses, mostly green stone, stand out in a sweeping curve. The igneous material is intruded into Lingula, Tremadoc and Arenig beds. This belt of high ground surrounding the dome includes Rhobell Fawr (2,313 ft.), composed of andesitic rock, while in the Arenig beds (inter stratified with and overlaid by accumulations of volcanic ashes, felspathic traps or lava flows) are the rugged heights of Cader Idris (q.v.), Aran Fawddwy (2,970 ft.) and Arenig Fawr (2,600 ft.). The rough grits of the Harlech dome are separated from the grits and lavas further east by the valley of the Eden and Mawddach. The Ordovician volcanic rocks are, in turn, overlaid by the Llandeilo and Bala beds, the latter including the Bala limestone. South of Rhobell Fawr the great ring of volcanic mountains is broken across by the deep straight Bala cleft—one of the sharpest geological fault lines in Britain. The line of depres sion marking the fault runs from the sea near Towyn through the long and narrow Dysynni valley to Tal-y-llyn, and over the low hump of the Cross Foxes to the elongated Bala lake, the source of the Dee. The great fault line has many branches; the Mawddach estuary line, with its beautiful sands, represents a sec tion which has sunk seawards.

Here and there along the eastern boundary of the county, Llandovery and Wenlock strata are included. The structure of the Silurian tract is synclinal; in the Berwyn mountains the Ordo vician rocks again appear with associated andesitic and felsitic lavas and tuffs. West of Llangar, near Corwen, is a small patch of Carboniferous limestone. Glacial drift with boulder clay is a prominent feature in the valleys and on the mountain sides, while a good deal of blown sand fringes the coast north and south of Harlech.

The southern section of the county is bordered in some parts by the river Dyfi (Dovey), which rises in a small lake near Aran Fawddwy, passes Machynlleth and expands into an estuary on Cardigan bay, the origin of which is probably associated with the Llyfnant fault zone of northern Cardiganshire and southern Montgomeryshire.

History and Early Settlement.

The Ardudwy coast be tween Barmouth and Harlech seems to have been important in Megalithic times, while finds of flat axes of bronze to the north east of Bala lake indicate early attempts to reach the coast from England by way of the Bala cleft. The finds of gold and Late Bronze age hoards on the north-west coast near Harlech indicate contact with Ireland. The upper Ded valley, as well as other strategic sites in the county have hilltop camps of Romano British age. A Roman trackway ran from the military site at Pennal, in the south of the county, northwards to Tomen y Mur and hence to Segontium and Kanovium in the north. Some

where to the east of Dolgelly this trackway was met by another following the Bala cleft from Caergai. In the post-Roman cen turies, the remoteness and isolation of the county became more pronounced. Shut off by hills on all sides, it experienced little Saxon, Scandinavian or early Norman influence. In this respect it bears a striking contrast to the neighbouring county of Mont gomery, which had easier connections with England. In Saxon times the county was under the princes of Gwynedd, although some parts of what later became Merionethshire were under the princes of Powys. A Norman attempt to enter the county was repulsed in 1096. During the next 30o years there were many fights in the neighbourhood of Corwen, which commanded the entrance to the county via the Bala cleft. Here Owain Gwynedd was posted to repel Henry IL, and hither Owain Glyn Dwr retired before Henry IV. The remoteness of the region made it a gathering ground of the Welsh resistance to the English, and in the county and over its borders, at Dolgelly and Machynlleth, there are traditions of Owain Glyn Dwr's parliaments. In this sheep-rearing county the Cistercian abbey of Cymmer (Y Fan ner), near Dolgelly, was founded about 1200. It was dissolved by Henry VIII., though some interesting ruins remain. The county was still inaccessible in Elizabethan times, and its re moteness is mentioned by Churchyard (1587). About this time may be traced the beginnings of the slate industry, though it did not come into prominence until the i8th century. There were quarries in the 19th century at Festiniog, Corris, Aberlle feni, Pennal, Abergynolwyn and Arthog, though the depression in the slate industry since 1914 has seriously diminished the output. There are records of gold mines in the Mawddach valley from early times, and copper has been mined in the Ardudwy, and lead in the Dyfi valleys. The flannel and woollen industries were important in the county until recently. In the i8th century Dolgelly was famous for its production of a Welsh tweed cloth, and Bala made stockings and woollen caps. The coming of steam driven machinery seriously diminished these trades and the county is now almost entirely a region of pastoral farming, exporting young men and women to the large cities.

Of recent years, however, with the advent of better roads and the motor car, the coastal towns, particularly Aberdovey, Barmouth and Harlech, have many summer visitors.

Communications, Travel and Government.

The climate varies much with the elevation. Grain crops cover a small area only; barley and oats are the most important crops. Potatoes, turnips and swedes are also grown, but there is very little culti vation of fruit. While the soil is generally thin, there are fertile tracts in the valleys, and there is some reclaimed land. The small hardy ponies (known as of Llanbedr, Conway valley) are now almost restricted to this county and Montgomeryshire. The Great Western railway skirts the coast from Portmadoc to Aberdyfi. At Barmouth junction a branch crosses to Dolgelly. Bala and Festiniog are also united by the G.W. railway, and Festiniog is further joined with Llandudno junction by the L.M.S. railway, and with Portmadoc by a narrow-gauge line. The coast is almost unnavigable, owing to sand-banks, and the only havens are Bar mouth and Aberdyfi.

The county returns one member to parliament, and has neither parliamentary nor municipal borough. The urban districts are: Bala, Barmouth. Dolgelly, Festiniog, Mallwyd and Towyn. The shire is in the north-west circuit, and assizes are held at Dolgelly.

It is partly in the diocese of St. Asaph, partly in Bangor.