Abergwyngregyn
Abergwyngregyn is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales adjacent to the A55 five miles east of Bangor.
The strategic settlement of Aber Garth Celyn (now Abergwyngregyn)is on the north coast of Gwynedd, between Bangor and Conwy, on the fringe of Snowdonia. Garth Celyn overlooks the eastern approach of the Menai Strait, the Lafan Sands crossing to Anglesey and what was, before the English conquest in 1283, the main port of Llanfaes. Garth Celyn, on a raised ledge of land above the village situated on the valley bottom, was the royal home and court of Llywelyn Fawr, Dafydd ap Llywelyn and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. It was, before the conquest, in effect, the capital of Wales.
In 1283 Edward Longshanks, king of England with a massive army captured independant Wales and took possession of Garth Celyn. The palace remained in the hands of the Crown of England until 1553 when it was granted to the Thomas family. William Thomas built among the palace ruins, converting Llywelyn's Ty Hir (Long House) into an Elizabethan manor house. Garth Celyn, the home of the Princes of Gwynedd, is now known as Pen y Bryn.
Reference: Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions (1962) Vol. 23
Article Professor T. Jones Pierce 'Aber Gwyn Gregin'
Web site: www.llywelyn.co.uk
Novels Sharon Kay Penman 'Here Be Dragons' 'The Reckoning' Edith Pargeter 'The Brothers of Gwynedd' 'The Green Branch' Barbara Erskine 'Child of the Phoenix'