Harlech (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈharlɛχ]ⓘ) is a seaside resort and communityinGwynedd, North Wales, and formerly in the historic countyofMerionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 1974 County of Gwynedd. Its landmark Harlech Castle was begun in 1283 by Edward I of England, captured by Owain Glyndŵr, and in the 1480s, a stronghold of Henry Tudor.[2] Once on a seaside cliff face, it is now half a mile (800 m) inland.[3] New housing has appeared in the low town and in the high town around the shopping street, church and castle. The two are linked by a steep road called "Twtil".[4] Of its 1,447 inhabitants, 51 per cent habitually speak Welsh.[5] The built-up area with Llanfair had a population of 1,762 in the 2001 census, over half of whom lacked Welsh identity,[6] and the electoral ward which includes Talsarnau 1,997 in the 2011 census. The estimate in 2019 was 1,881.[7] The population of the community, which includes just the village, was 1,263 as of the 2021 census.[8][better source needed]
The exact derivation of the name Harlech is unclear. Some, mostly older sources, derive it from Arddlech, i.e. ardd (high) + llech (rock),[9][10] referring to the prominent crag on which the castle stands. Recent sources prefer a simpler derivation from the two Welsh words hardd (fair/fine) and llech (slate/rock).[11]
As late as the 19th century, some texts referred to Harddlech and Harddlech Castle.[12][13] This name appears in the mid-19th century translation of the Mabinogion: "And one afternoon he was at Harddlech in Ardudwy, at a court of his. And they were seated upon the rock of Harddlech overlooking the sea." Contemporary documents from the time of the Mabinogion do not mention Harlech, referring only to Llywelyn building his castle "at Ardudwy".[14]
In 2007, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning (aWorld War II-era fighter aircraft) was rediscovered on Harlech beach. It has been described as "one of the most important WWII finds in recent history." The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) expressed an interest in salvaging the wreck of the U.S. Army Air Forces plane, known as the Maid of Harlech.[15]
However, in August 2019, Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service, gave the remains scheduled status, making it the first legally designated military aircraft crash site in the UK to be protected for its historic and archaeological interest.[16] The site is also controlled under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. The aircraft came down in September 1942 when it was on a gunnery practice mission. The pilot was Second Lt Robert F Elliott, 24, of Rich Square, North Carolina, survived the crash, only to be reported missing in action a few months later.[17]
The town contains Ffordd Pen Llech, a street down the rock spur to the north of the castle. It is the steepest signed, public paved road in the United Kingdom[21][22] and one of the steepest in the world.[nb 1][23][24][25]
The 2011 census recorded 1,762 usual residents. The village is fairly Anglicised, with 48% of residents having been born in Wales and 46.9% born in England. Correspondingly, only 42.6% reported having a Welsh national identity.[26]
Theatr Harlech (formerly Theatr Ardudwy) is located on the Coleg Harlech campus and stages a varied selection of plays, music and films throughout the year.[27][28]
Other attractions in Harlech include its beach backed with sand dunes and the Royal Saint David's Golf Club, which hosted its fifth British Ladies Amateur in 2009. The Rhinogydd (or Rhinogs) range of mountains rises to the east.
Harlech has a Scout hut, which acts as a base for outdoor recreational activities.[29]
A street in Harlech, Ffordd Pen Llech, was recognised in 2019 by Guinness World Records as the steepest residential street in the world with a gradient of 1:2.67 (37.45%); however, Baldwin StreetinDunedin, New Zealand, was then recognised with a gradient of 1:2.86 (35%).[25] The steepness was determined by measuring consistently on the lower side of the street – the left or right, whichever was lower. It was later decided that measuring consistently in the middle of the street would be more accurate. This gave Baldwin Street a gradient of 34.8% and Ffordd Pen Llech one of 28.6%, so the title returned to Baldwin Street.[30]
Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1359 – c. 1415), Welsh Rebellion leader, was the last Welshman to claim the title Prince of Wales.
Ellis Wynne (1671 in Lasynys Fawr – 1734), Welsh-language author and clergyman
Alfred Perceval Graves (1846–1931), poet, bard and songwriter. He and a large family, including his son the poet Robert Graves, spent summers at Erinfa, a large house north-east of Harlech.[35]
^"Notices Illustrative of Cambrian History and Antiquities", The New Monthly Magazine, Volume 10 – p. 307, 1818.
^The Celtic Review: Volumes 9–10, Donald MacKinnon, E. C. Carmichael Watson, 1975.
^Mills, Anthony David (1991). Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford: OUP.
^The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, and the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd :Volume 6, Jacob Youde William Lloyd, 1887.
^The Poetical Works of Lewis Glyn Cothi: A celebrated bard, p. 21, Lewis Glyn Cothi, 1837.
^Jones, Thomas (1955). Brut y Tywysogion/Chronicle of the Princes, Red Book of Hergest. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
