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Deiniolen

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Deiniolen, with an outlying township of Clwt-y-bont on its south side, is an upland village in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, standing just over 200 metres above sea level.

Settlement at Deiniolen and Clwt-y-bont began in the 1820s on the line of a quarry road and railway respectively, where they crossed the estates of opportunistic land owners who leased plots for building by quarrymen most of whom worked at Dinorwic Slate Quarry, 3km to the south-east. The Vaynol Estate of the Assheton Smith family was the dominant landowner in the area, and owner of Dinorwic Slate Quarry, but Deiniolen and Clwt-y-bont were built on pockets of land beyond its control. Both settlements contain a variety of housing stock, from early single-storey cottages of rural tradition, to terraces of two-storey houses, including some of the earliest terraced housing in the North Wales slate-quarrying district. The emergence of Deiniolen and Clwt-y-bont as fully-formed communities is marked by the chapels, church and schools.

Statement of Significance: Deiniolen and Clwt-y-bont are nineteenth-century settlements built initially for quarrymen at Dinorwig slate quarry, but on land beyond the control of the quarry owner. Originally named Ebenezer, Deiniolen was one of a number of self-created settlements by quarrymen in the slate region of North Wales that were named after the earliest chapel.

The pattern of settlement was structured by land ownership and a quarry road and railway. The nucleus of Deiniolen is High Street, North Street and New Street, built on a small upland estate, to which later streets were added in a grid pattern, before settlement spilled beyond its original confines, mainly in a linear fashion along existing roads. Clwt-y-bont developed in a linear fashion along existing farm roads, access between which was made possible by a railway bridge over Afon Caledffrwd.

Deiniolen and Clwt-y-bont retain houses of varies types that chart both rural vernacular and urban traditions. They demonstrate improvements in the quality of workmen's housing as the nineteenth century progressed, and the social subtle hierarchies they reveal are an important component of character. There are single-storey cottages characteristic of the poorer smallholdings of rural Caernarfonshire, but it was the single-fronted two-storey house that proved most suitable for urban development, and is the most common form in both settlements. In Rhes Fawr on New Street is a rare surviving industrial row of the 1830s. These two-room houses, with no gardens, represent the beginning of a chronology of nineteenth-century housing development that includes rows with small front and rear gardens (Rhes Marian, Tai Caradog), then a gradual increase in the size and the number of rooms, culminating at the end of the nineteenth century with larger houses that have rear wings and bay windows (Ffordd Deiniol, Victoria Terrace).

Chapels, church and schools remain prominent buildings, a defining characteristic of Welsh industrial settlements. Ebenezer stands on High Street at the heart of the village, whereas the finest of the buildings, in architectural terms, is Cefn y Waen, demonstrating the increasing confidence and aesthetic sophistication of nonconformist Welsh congregations toward the end of the nineteenth century. Two of Deiniolen's schools pre-date compulsory education and embody the importance placed on education in industrial communities.

Building materials make an important contribution to the character of Deiniolen and Clwt ?y-bont. Locally-quarried or field stone is used for the majority of the buildings, but imported quarried stone is used for status buildings such as the parish church and Cefn-y-Waen chapel. Ingenious use is made of slate, in the form of slate garden fences, or crawiau, which survive in Clwt-y-bont, and for sawn-slate gate piers, which are common throughout the settlement.

Source: Hayman R, 2017. Deiniolen: An Urban Character Study (unpublished report for Gwynedd Council in support of the proposed Wales Slate World Heritage Nomination).

Statement of Significance:

Deiniolen and Clwt-y-bont are nineteenth-century settlements built initially for quarrymen at Dinorwig Slate Quarry (NPRN 40538), but on land beyond the control of the quarry owner. Originally named Ebenezer, Deiniolen was one of a number of self-created settlements by quarrymen in the slate region of North Wales that were named after the earliest chapel, including Bethesda, Saron, Carmel and Bethel.  

The pattern of settlement was structured by land ownership and a quarry road and railway. The nucleus of Deiniolen is High Street, North Street and New Street, built on a small upland estate, to which later streets were added in a grid pattern, before settlement spilled beyond its original confines, mainly in a linear fashion along existing roads. Clwt-y-bont developed in a linear fashion along existing farm roads, access between which was made possible by a railway bridge over Afon Caledffrwd.  

Chapels, church and schools remain prominent buildings, a defining characteristic of Welsh industrial settlements. 

The Dinorwic and Fachwen settlements are estate-sponsored and reflect a considered intention to root the lives of men working in the quarry (NPRN 40538) and their families in the soil, and to create an industrious but dependent workforce. Unlike other dual-economy settlements under estate control, the enclosures are irregular and the houses of various designs and styles

This site is part of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site, Component Part 2: Dinorwig Slate Quarry Mountain Landscape. Inscribed July 2020. 

Sources:  

  • Louise Barker & Dr David Gwyn, March 2018. Slate Landscapes of North-West Wales World Heritage Bid Statements of Significance. (Unpublished Report: Project 401b for Gwynedd Archaeological Trust)  
  • Tirwedd Llechi Gogledd Orllewin Cymru / The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales. Nomination as a World heritage Site (Nomination Document, January 2020)  
  • Wales Slate World Heritage Site https://www.llechi.cymru/   
Adnoddau
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application/pdfSWH - Slate World Heritage Urban Characterisation CollectionReport entitled "Deiniolen A character study" produced by Richard Hayman for Gwynedd Council, March 2017.