's, Trawsfynydd Parish Church Prehistoric people lived in the area in scattered groups of circular huts near the river, Afon Crawcwellt, about two miles south of today's village. A substantial
Romano-British fort and settlement was established at
Tomen y Mur in the first century CE. The area continued to be inhabited during
sub Roman Britain. An example of activity is the Trawsfynydd tankard, a late
Iron Age jug used to drink mead and beer between 100BC and 75AD. By the
early medieval period, the village was part of a large
Celtic Christian parish of the three settlements of Trawsfynydd,
Prysor, and
Cefn Clawdd.
Trawsfynydd parish church is dedicated to
St Madryn. Although the medieval church was badly damaged by fire in 1978 (re-opened 1981), it remains the only listed building in the village. Records in the
Meirionnydd Lay Subsidy Rolls show that following the
English conquest of Wales there were 105 taxpayers in the parish in 1292–3. Throughout the next centuries, agriculture and mineral extraction (such as quarrying) remained the main economic focus of the area. In the late 16th century, the parish of Trawsfynydd was home to
Saint John Roberts, one of the
Forty Martyrs of England and Wales (he was canonised in 1970). Roberts, who was baptised in the church, gained great respect helping those with the
plague in London. However, he was found guilty of
high treason and
hanged, drawn and quartered on 10 December 1610. By the mid 17th century, the parish of Trawsfynydd had grown to roughly 300 houses and cottages with a population of 1200, although there were only 12 properties and a church in Trawsfynydd itself. Due to the economic hardship in the area, Trawsfynydd would remain quite small until the
British Army established a training area near the village in 1930. Between 1924 and 1928, a large man-made
reservoir named
Llyn Trawsfynydd was created to supply water for
Maentwrog hydro-electric power station. This would lead to the largest change to the village, when a location nearby was chosen as a site for one of the UK's first nuclear power stations in the 1950s.
Military training area Before the
Second World War, the
War Office opened a site at
Bronaber near Trawsfynydd as an artillery range and training area. Its continued use for training exercises after the war was the subject of protest by
Plaid Cymru, who also challenged the
UK government's continued military conscription in peacetime.
Trawsfynydd nuclear power stations In 1965 the new
power station was completed. It was capable of supplying the whole of North Wales' electricity needs. The lake was subsequently also used to supply cooling water to the twin reactor
Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, which was used for the commercial generation of electricity for the
UK national grid. It also became the biggest employer in the area which brought financial wealth to the village. One of the four original dams built to create the lake was subsequently rebuilt after construction of the nuclear power plant. Whereas previously the Maentwrog power station had access to all of the water in the lake, the needs of the nuclear plant dictated that from then on, the hydro plant should only use the top five feet of water. In the 1990s the site was closed. Decommissioning is expected to take until 2083. ==Governance==