Introduction
Market town in Powys, Wales
Market town in WalesMachynllethMarket townMachynlleth Clock TowerMachynllethLocation within PowysPopulation2,235 (2011)OS grid referenceSH745005CommunityMachynllethPrincipal areaPowysPreserved countyPowysCountryWalesSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townMACHYNLLETHPostcode districtSY20Dialling code01654PoliceDyfed-PowysFireMid and West WalesAmbulanceWelsh
UK ParliamentMontgomeryshire and GlyndŵrSenedd Cymru – Welsh ParliamentGwynedd Maldwyn
List of places
UK
Wales
Powys
52°35′28″N 3°50′56″W / 52.591°N 3.849°W / 52.591; -3.849
Community map
Map of the community
Machynlleth (Welsh: [maˈχənɬɛθ] ⓘ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales, and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. It has a population of 2,098 (2024 mid-year estimate). At the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,147, rising to 2,235 in 2011 and falling slightly to 2,163 in 2021. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Mach.
Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official recognition as a capital. It applied for city status in 2000 and 2002, but was unsuccessful. It is twinned with Belleville, Michigan.
Machynlleth hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1937 and 1981. The town falls within the catchment area and is involved in the 2027 Maldwyn Meirionnydd National Eisteddford to be held in nearby Glanytwymyn.
History
[edit]
There is a long history of human activity in the Machynlleth area. In the late 1990s, radiocarbon dating showed that copper was being mined in the Early Bronze Age (c. 2,750 years ago), within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the town centre.
The Romans settled in the area; they built a fort at Cefn Caer, near Pennal, 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Machynlleth, and are reputed to have had two look-out posts above the town at Bryn-y-gog and Wylfa, and another fort, called Maglona, at Machynlleth. One of the earliest written references to Machynlleth is the Royal charter granted in 1291 by Edward I to Owen de la Pole, Lord of Powys. This gave him the right to hold "a market at Machynlleth every Wednesday for ever and two fairs every year". The Wednesday market is still a busy and popular day in Machynlleth 700 years later.
The Royal House, which stands on the corner of the Garsiwn, is another of the mediaeval houses that can still be seen today. According to local tradition, Dafydd Gam, a Welsh ally of the English kings, was imprisoned here from 1404 to 1412 for attempting to assassinate Owain Glyndŵr. After his release by Glyndŵr, ransomed Gam fought alongside Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt and is named amongst the dead in Shakespeare's Henry V. The name Royal House undoubtedly refers to the tradition that Charles I stayed at the house in 1643.[citation needed]
The weekly market and biannual fair thrived, and in 1613 drew complaints from other towns whose trading in cloth was being severely affected. A document dated 1632[citation needed] shows that animals for sale came from all over Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Denbighshire, and prospective buyers came from Flintshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, in addition to the above.
Dyfi Bridge
The Dyfi Bridge (Welsh: Pont ar Ddyfi) was first mentioned in 1533, by Geoffrey Hughes, "Citizen and Merchant taylour of London" who left £6 13s 4d (ten marks) "towards making of a bridge at the toune of Mathanlleth". By 1601 "Dovey bridge in the Hundred of Mochunleth" was reported to be insufficient, and the current one was built in 1805 for £250. Fenton describes it in 1809 as "A noble erection of five large arches. The piers are narrow and over each cut-water is a pilaster, a common feature of the 18th century".[quote needs citation]
Machynlleth, c. 1830
Rowland Pugh was the Lord of Meirionedd, and lived at Mathafarn about two miles east of Machynlleth. Pugh supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War. On 2 November 1644, Sir Thomas Myddleton of Chirk Castle was marching on Machynlleth with a force of the Parliamentarian army, when he was ambushed by a force organised by Pugh. In retaliation for the attack, Myddleton burned down Mathafarn on 29 November 1644, along with a number of houses in Machynlleth.
Laura Ashley's first shop was opened in Machynlleth (at 35 Maengwyn Street) in 1961.
The disappearance of April Jones in October 2012 received a large amount of coverage in the UK media.
Plas Machynlleth, the Londonderry family and the Clock Tower[edit]
Machynlleth Clock Tower, circa 1885
Y Plas, Machynlleth
In 1846 Mary Cornelia, the daughter of a local landowner Sir John Edwards married Viscount Seaham, the second son of the third Marquess of Londonderry and they set up home at Plas Machynlleth. Seaham became Earl Vane on the death of his father and the fifth Marquess on the death of his half-brother.
To celebrate the 21st birthday of the Seahams’ eldest son, Viscount Castlereagh, the townspeople paid for the clock tower which stands at the town's main road intersection. Erected on the site of the old town hall, it stands at 23.7m tall and has become the symbol of the town. The foundation stone was laid on 15 July 1874 amid great festivities. The clock tower, designed by Henry Kennedy of Bangor and now a Grade II listed monument, cost £800; the townspeople raised £1,000, of which the remainder was spent planting trees along nearby streets. Meanwhile, a new town hall was erected on the east side of Penrallt Street in 1872; after becoming unsafe, it was demolished in 1968.
Another son, Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest, was the last member of the family to live at the Plas and was killed in the Abermule train collision on the Cambrian Railways, of which he was a director.
The house was given to the townspeople in December 1948 under the stewardship of the then Machynlleth Urban District Council.
Although many sources state that the foundation stone was laid in 1874, the clock tower’s own dedicatory plaque records that it was erected to commemorate the coming of age of Charles Stewart Vane‑Tempest, Viscount Castlereagh, on 15 July 1873. Local historical accounts and community records note that the public subscription that funded the tower also provided for street planting, and that the town celebrated its centenary in July 1973 on the basis of the 1873 date. The clock was constructed by Edward Edwards and his brother John Edwards, local builders whose families continued to live in Machynlleth and its surrounding area.
Dedicatory plaque on Machynlleth Town Clock, Powys, Wales. The inscription records that the tower commemorates the coming of age of Viscount Castlereagh on 15 July 1873.
Celtica[edit]
Various local government re-organisations saw responsibility for the Plas pass first to Montgomeryshire District Council, who in 1995 converted it into the Celtica visitor centre. Celtica interpreted the history and culture of the Celts with a walk-through audio-visual exhibition housed in a purpose-built addition to the house. The £3 million attraction was part-funded by the European Union. The centre had a high-profile in the Welsh media, with opera singer Bryn Terfel officially opening the attraction in October 1995.
Powys County Council took over Celtica and the house when it was formed as a unitary authority in 1997. The centre was successful in attracting tourists, school groups and conferences for a number of years; however initial predictions of visitor numbers proved to be too ambitious, and the council was unwilling to prolong its subsidy. With little scope for alternative investment, Celtica closed in March 2006, and the house stood empty while Powys County Council sought to relinquish responsibility for it in line with their policy of selling many of their publicly owned buildings.
On 1 April 2008, in a move thought to be unprecedented for a community council of its size, Machynlleth Town Council took ownership of the Plas and its parkland and facilities. It has reopened the restaurant by leasing it to a local licensee, and the 1st and 2nd floors of the main building are rented out as office space. Medium-sized meeting rooms and conference space are also offered for hire.
