Historical background
The village of Bryncrug is identified as a Medieval township
and is situated at a point where Cefn Gaer to Pennal Roman
road and its successor, the Medieval road past Domen Dreiniog,
cross the Afon Fathew. It is shown on the Tywyn tithe map of
1842 and on an estate map of 1860 as three small settlements,
based on Pont Fathew (SH 6089 0333), Perthi Citiau (SH 6089
0311) and Pont y Felindre (SH 6138 0309), which are likely
to have expanded with the opening of the Talyllyn Railway in
1866, which would have enabled it to become a dormitory settlement
for Bryneglwys quarrymen and their families. It has continued
to expand as a suburb of Tywyn in the late twentieth and early
twenty-first century.
Most of the land belonged to Ynysymaengwyn but it seems also
to have enjoyed the patronage of Peniarth estate on the evidence
of the large ‘Peniarth' hotel of 1901. The village seems to
have developed in an ad-hoc way with little sense of an estate
pattern of architecture being imposed on it.
Key historic landscape characteristics
Nineteenth century village
Bryncrug is situated on the main coastal road on the Afon
Fathew, near its confluence with the Dysynni, and is made up
of buildings that are largely nineteenth to twentieth century
in date, as such it contrasts strongly with the more vernacular
character of Llanegryn. The Peniarth Arms Hotel is the dominant
building of the village, mainly built of squared stone but
with brick chimneys and ceramic chimney pots. On each side
of it are small Victorian terraced houses. The church is also
nineteenth century.
A feature of the village is the attractive general store and
newsagent's facing the bridge for travellers leaving Tywyn.
The proportions are vernacular, and it includes five of the
distinctive Merioneth dormer windows on the top floor but it
is built mainly out of slate rags, suggesting a date in the
1840s, when Bryneglwys quarry moved into production, or later.
Other nineteenth century dwellings in the village have been
pebbledashed and it is not possible to identify the building
material.
There are some late-twentieth century housing estates in the
village.
Back to Dysynni
Landscape Character Map
