Llanwddryn the lost village of Vyrnwy
The 1200 acre reservoir known as Lake Vyrnwy (Welsh: Llyn Efyrnwy) was created by Liverpool Corporation to supply Liverpool with a reliable and plentiful supply of water. The Victorians built the dam, the first large masonry dam of its kind in Britain, between 1881 and 1888 as a result of the need for a new water supply and it was decided that the pure water of the Welsh mountains was ideal to be carried, by aqueduct, from Vyrnwy to the city.On 14th July 1881 the first commemorative stone was laid by the third Earl of Powys who was one of the owners of the village of Llanwddyn, which was doomed to be drowned by the reservoir. At that time Llanwddyn consisted of the church, 2 chapels, 3 public houses and 37 houses, 10 farmsteads and 1 mill.By the time the reservoir was opened in 1892 a new settlement had been built lower down the valley by the Liverpool Corporation. The buildings of the old village were razed to the ground before the inaugural filling of the reservoir. Even the remains of the dead were removed from the churchyard and reburied next to the new church before the land was finally submerged.
Today the only place you can see the original village of Llanwddyn is on a map.
Maps shown are available from the Cassini Maps shop. Maps can be centred on any location in the UK.
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