(murdered Dec 1282) (executed 1283) I I ____________ I I I Gwenllian Llywelyn Owain Gwladys
Boothby Pagnell
Example of a surviving stone built house of the period. Boothby Pagnell, Lincolnshire, built c.1200
Reconstruction drawing of the thirteenth century royal home on Garth Celyn. 'The palace on the hille' Dr Jonathan Foyle
"The Palace of Aber Garth Celyn"
Tywysog Cymru ac Arglwydd Eryri
About the year 1200, Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn Fawr) constructed a royal home on Garth Celyn. To the east of the Llys was the newly endowed Cistercian Monastery of Aberconwy; to the west the cathedral city of Bangor. Between Garth Celyn and the shore the fertile farmland provided food for the royal family, members of the court, and the local community. The sea and the river had fish in abundance and there was wild game to be hunted in the uplands. The village of Aber Garth Celyn on the west side of the river was a bustling, thriving place. Travellers negotiating the dangerous Lafan Sands were given food and lodging in the valley. Goods brought by sea to the Port of Llanfaes were being distributed to other points on the mainland from here. Animals were herded along this routeway to and from the mountains. Grain was carted to the mill. The community came to attend services in the church. Pilgrims from far and wide walked the trackway and paused for refreshments. Bards came to recite poetry recalling the deeds of the heros, the great defenders.
Wasn’t the dancing on the lawn delightful? The lords of France were pleased. I heard one of them marveling to find, The dances of Aquitaine on a mead in Arfon. ‘Siwan’ Saunders Lewis (1954)
Throughout the thirteenth century, as Wales was being bonded together Garth Celyn was the 'headquarters', the focal centre of government. (The '10 Downing Street or White House of its day') Here lawyers were working alongside ministers and advisors; messengers were arriving from Europe; negotiations were taking place; justice was being sought. Life in Aber Garth Celyn, before the Anglo Norman conquest, was anything but dull. J.E. Lloyd described it as- 'the great place by the Menai with which the name of Llywelyn is associated.' Gwynfor Evans described Garth Celyn as 'a place that holds the memory of the Nation'.
1205 Following negotiations, Prince Llywelyn married Lady Joan, daughter of King John of England. The marriage was a deliberate attempt on the part of Llywelyn to secure peace and security for Wales against its powerful neighbour and to prevent Norman encroachments in the borderlands.
1211 King John brought an army across the river Conwy heading for Garth Celyn. In August he occupied the royal home sending his troops on to burn Bangor. Lady Joan negotiated between the two men, terms were reluctantly agreed,and John withdrew.
1215 Prince Llywelyn was one of the signatories of Magna Carta, curbing the powers of the king of England.
1216 King John died and the nine-year old half brother of Lady Joan succeeded to the throne of England as Henry III.
May 1230. William de Braose, a Norman Marcher Lord, having been found together with Lady Joan in Llywelyn's chamber was executed . By long held local tradition, the place of the public hanging was at the foot of the Garth, in the marshland immediately below the royal home. The spot was remembered as 'Gwern y Grog'. De Braose's body was taken to the adjacent parish of Llanllechid and buried in an unmarked cave on the hillside. Joan was kept under 'house arrest' out of public view for a year.
1230 Gwladus Ddu, daughter of Prince Llywelyn and Lady Joan, widow of Reginald de Braose (died 1228) married Ralph de Mortimer of Wigmore.
1231 Lady Joan gave birth to a daughter, Elin.
1231 Gwladus Ddu gave birth to a son Roger de Mortimer.
1237 Lady Joan died at Garth Celyn. Her body was carried across the Lafan Sands to Llnfaes on the opposite shore. Here Llywelyn founded and endowed a Franciscan Friary in her honour and to her memory. It was concecrated in 1240.
11 April 1240 Llywelyn ab Iorwerth 'The Great', died at the Cistercian Abbey at Aberconwy. His son Dafydd ap Llywelyn succeeded him as Prince of North Wales and Lord of Eryri.
1246 Dafydd ap Llywelyn died at Garth Celyn after a six year reign. His coffin was placed alongside that of his father in the Cistercian Abbey at AberconwyDafydd's marriage to Isabel, daughter of William de Braose, was childless. After Dafydd's death Isabel married John FitzGeoffrey, and had a daughter, Joan FitzJohn.
1251 Gwladus Ddu died at Windsor.
1255 Llywelyn ap Gruffudd became sole ruler of Gwynedd.
1278 Llywelyn married Eleanor de Montfort, the daughter of earl Simon.
19 June 1282 Eleanor de Montfort, Lady of Wales, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, died at Garth Celyn, giving birth to a baby, Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn.
30 Ocober 1282 Roger de Mortimer of Wigmore, the grandson of Prince Llywelyn Fawr, died.
11 December 1282, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Tywysog Cymru ac Arglwydd Eryri, the Prince of Wales and Lord of Eryri, lured into a trap in Builth Castle, was killed. The correspondence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, preserved in Lambeth Palace Archives, London, provides details of the events surrounding the death. In November 1282 Llywelyn had been offered a bribe by the English crown; the sum of one thousand pounds a year and an estate in England if he would surrender his nation to Edward Longshanks king of England (Lambeth Palace Archives). From his home, Garth Celyn, Llywelyn wrote his response, a total refusal of the offer and a clear statement of his duty towards his inheritance. A month later he was murdered.
1283 Edward Longshanks encircled Snowdonia with a massive army.
21 / 22 June 1283 Dafydd ap Gruffudd, Tywysog Cymru, together with his younger son Owain ap Dafydd, and members of his family, was captured at Nanhysglain, a secret hiding place in a bog by Bera mountain, in the uplands above Aber Garth Celyn.
Bera Photograph by Darek Humar
28 June Llywelyn ap Dafydd was captured.
30 September Dafydd ap Gruffudd was given a show trial at Shrewsbury, and condemned to death.
3 October Dafydd ap Gruffudd was hanged, drawn and quartered. Geoffrey of Shrewsbury was paid 20s. for carrying out the gruesome task.
Sculpture 1913 by Henry Albert Pegram. 'Llywelyn ap Gruffudd' Cardiff City Hall
Tywysog Cymru ac Arglwydd Eryri Prince of Wales and Lord of Eryri
We are aiming to create a permanent memorial to the Princes at Garth Celyn, Gwynedd.
'A Centre for the Interpretation of Welsh History, with the focus on the Heroic Age of the Princes.'
Join with us in this project which celebrates local heritage and oral tradition, place and field names, and which will help to highlight the keyrole that Eryri and the wider landscape of north Wales played in the story of the royal House of Gwynedd.
Garth Celyn Abergwyngregyn Gwynedd LL33 0LA Cymru eryri@garthcelyn.com ________________________________________________ Eryri Photograph by Tony Jones
Boothby Pagnell 
