Abergwyngregyn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abergwyngregyn is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales adjacent to the A55 five miles east of Bangor.
For almost all purposes, the name is shortened to Aber.
In the 13th century the princes of Gwynedd had a court at Aber, which appears to have taken over from Aberffraw as the chief court of Gwynedd at this time. Llywelyn the Great, Dafydd ap Llywelyn and Llywelyn the Last all spent much time here. It was at Aber that William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny was discovered in the chamber of Llywelyn the Great's wife, Joan in 1230, a discovery that led to de Braose being publicly hanged. Archaeological investigations have recently uncovered many remains from this period.
The full name derives from its position at the mouth of the Afon Gwyngregyn but this river itself is now also called the Afon Aber after the shortened form of the village name. The diversion of the road around the village in the 1990s damaged its historical value as a watering hole for travellers. The village provides the access to one of Wales' great waterfalls, the Aber Falls as the river falls precipitously from the Carneddau mountains into a pleasant wooded valley below.
Aber is the coastal starting point for the Roman road and ancient drovers road from Anglesey over Bwlch-y-Ddeufaen (at about 1,400 ft) via Rowen (nine miles) to Caerhun or Tal-y-Cafn.
