Caerwys Chronicle

In this month’s Caerwys Chronicle you will find a short article by me!

As well as all of the usual features, and some other special articles, I was delighted to be asked to contribute to this month’s edition of one of our local village’s very popular newspaper.

Caerwys itself is a beautiful little place, with a fascinating history too.

You may know that towns such as Conwy, Caernarfon, Flint and Beaumaris are ‘planted towns’ – built on King Edward I’s orders, following his invasion of Wales. These were primarily set up to house incomers and the Welsh were not welcome. Well, did you know Caerwys is also one of these planted towns? There were no town walls, nor a castle, but you can still see the tell-tale grid-pattern layout of the streets today. It had a church, a jail and a courthouse. Caerwys is the smallest town in Britain with a Royal Charter, granted in 1290.

But its Welsh roots are just as important – Prince Gruffudd ap Cynan lived at Maesmynan. Caerwys is also known as the ‘Home of the Eisteddfod’ (Queen Elizabeth I’s words!), as the national festivals which were held here in 1523 and 1567/8 were two of the first ever professionally organised eisteddfodau!

In my article for the Caerwys Chronicle, I decided to write about my time spent studying local maps and walking the lanes over lockdown, getting to know my locality better. In particular, the place names around the area give a lot of insight into the history of the places themselves.

The Caerwys Chronicle is available to buy from local shops in the town itself, or you can request a digital copy now online. You can find the Caerwys Chronicle on their website at http://caerwyschronicle.com/ and on Facebook.