Editing Trawsfynydd (section)

==History==
[[File:St Madryn's Church, Trawsfynydd.jpg|thumb|St Madryn's, Trawsfynydd Parish Church]]
Prehistoric people lived in the area in scattered groups of circular huts near the river, Afon Crawcwellt, about two miles south of today's village. A substantial [[Romano-British]] fort and settlement was established at [[Tomen y Mur]] in the first century CE. The area continued to be inhabited during [[sub Roman Britain]]. An example of activity is the Trawsfynydd tankard, a late [[Iron Age]] jug used to drink mead and beer between 100BC and 75AD.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://museum.wales/articles/1206/Ancient-Drinking-Culture-The-Langstone-Tankard/| website=museum.wales|title=Ancient Drinking Culture|access-date=8 October 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Iron Age, Tankard Handle (FindID 526570).jpg|thumb|Tankard handle from 2000 years ago, pre Roman]]

By the [[early medieval]] period, the village was part of a large [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic Christian]] [[parish]] of the three settlements of Trawsfynydd, [[Prysor]], and [[Cefn Clawdd]]. Trawsfynydd parish church is dedicated to [[Saint Materiana|St Madryn]]. Although the medieval church was badly damaged by fire in 1978 (re-opened 1981), it remains the only listed building in the village.

Records in the [[Meirionnydd]] Lay Subsidy Rolls show that following the [[conquest of Wales by Edward I|English conquest of Wales]] there were 105 taxpayers in the parish in 1292–3. Throughout the next centuries, agriculture and mineral extraction (such as quarrying) remained the main economic focus of the area.

In the late 16th century, the parish of Trawsfynydd was home to [[Saint John Roberts]], one of the [[Forty Martyrs of England and Wales]] (he was canonised in 1970). Roberts, who was baptised in the church, gained great respect helping those with the [[Plague (disease)|plague]] in London. However, he was found guilty of [[high treason]] and [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] on 10 December 1610.

By the mid 17th century, the parish of Trawsfynydd had grown to roughly 300 houses and cottages with a population of 1200, although there only 12 properties and a church in Trawsfynydd itself. Due to the economic hardship in the area, Trawsfynydd would remain quite small until the [[British Army]] established a training area near the village in 1930. Between 1924 and 1928, a large man-made [[reservoir (water)|reservoir]] named [[Llyn Trawsfynydd]] was created to supply water for [[Maentwrog]] [[hydro-electric]] [[power station]]. This would lead to the largest change to the village, when a location nearby was chosen as a site for one of the UK's first nuclear power stations in the 1950s.

===Military training area ===
Before the [[Second World War]], the [[War Office]] opened a site at [[Bronaber]] near Trawsfynydd as an artillery range and training area. Its continued use for training exercises after the war was the subject of protest by [[Plaid Cymru]], who also challenged the [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|UK government's continued military conscription in peacetime]].{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

=== Trawsfynydd nuclear power stations===
[[File:Trawsfynydd Power Station Rear.jpg|thumb|Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station from the rear of the facility.]]
In 1965 the new [[Trawsfynydd nuclear power station|power station]] was completed. It was capable of supplying the whole of North Wales' electricity needs. The lake was subsequently also used to supply cooling water to the twin reactor [[Trawsfynydd nuclear power station]], which was used for the commercial generation of electricity for the [[United Kingdom|UK]] [[National Grid (UK)|national grid]]. It also became the biggest employer in the area which brought financial wealth to the village.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/trawsfynydd-nuclear-power-plant-wales-20391018|title=The nuclear power plant that shut 30 years ago but still towers over a Welsh village|website=www.walesonline.co.uk|date=18 April 2021}}</ref>

One of the four original dams built to create the lake was subsequently rebuilt after construction of the nuclear power plant. Whereas previously the Maentwrog power station had access to all of the water in the lake, the needs of the nuclear plant dictated that from then on, the hydro plant should only use the top five feet of water.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

In the 1990s the site was closed. Decommissioning is expected to take until 2083.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}