Editing Trefriw (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[Llywelyn Fawr]] (Llywelyn the Great), Prince of [[Gwynedd]], chose Trefriw as the site for a hunting lodge in the 12th century. (Gwynedd was far larger, and included this area at the time.) Given that he had a number of strongholds in north-west Wales, it is not possible to know how much time he spent in the village, although it is reported that he preferred his lodge at Trefriw to his Palace at [[Abergwyngregyn|Aber]].  There are no remains to be seen today but it is now believed that it was on the site of the Ebenezer Chapel on the main hill.  Llywelyn married Siwan or [[Joan, Lady of Wales|Joan]], the youngest daughter of King [[John of England]] in 1204 or 1205, when she was only about 13.  Despite her relative youth, she in time grew weary of the trek up the steep hill to the church at [[Llanrhychwyn]] (regarded by many as being the oldest in Wales), and as a result, in about 1230 Llywelyn endowed a church on the site where St Mary's, Trefriw now stands.

Llanrhychwyn (which takes its name from Rhochwyn, son of [[Helig ap Glannog]]) is now a small hamlet.  In Llywelyn's time, however, and up to the early 19th century, it was larger than Trefriw itself, which consisted of "a few houses here and there".<ref>''Hanes Trefriw'', Morris Jones, 1879, published by W.J. Roberts, Llanrwst</ref> In ''Hanes Trefriw'', Morris Jones writes in Welsh that Llywelyn "built a church for [his wife's] use, and for the use of the inhabitants, for their kindness towards him, and that he donated a number of farms from the parish of Llanrhychwyn, naming them as the parish of Tref Rhiw Las.  It got this name from the slope on which it stood".

At the lower (northern) end of the village is located "Ffrwd Gwenwyn y Meirch" - ''("poison the horses stream")''.  It is said that the stream was poisoned by a traitor, resulting in the deaths of many of Llywelyn's soldiers' horses, at a time when he was at war with the English.

The [[Red Book of Hergest]] (1375–1425) refers to "Kymwt Treffryw", the [[Commote]] (''Cwmwd'' in Welsh) of Trefriw.  This is possibly the earliest written reference to the village.