Pen y Bryn

Pen y Bryn is an Elizabethan manor house that was built by Rhys Thomas and his wife Jane, who acquired the manor in 1553, on, and incorporating the remains of the royal long house, the thirteenth century palace of Garth Celyn. The house is located in Abergwyngregyn Gwynedd, a principal area in north-west Wales at gbmapping|SH653726, adjacent to the A55, five miles east of Bangor, eight miles west of Conwy. The structure incorporates a watch tower built in c. 1200 by Llywelyn Fawr, which is still known locally as Twr Llywelyn, 'Llywelyn’s Tower'. [ [http://www.castlewales.com/pen.html Pen y Bryn, The Princes’ Tower] ] It overlooks the Menai Straits, with Anglesey on the opposite shore.

The home is currently owned and occupied by Kathryn Pritchard Gibson, who together with her husband Brian and daughters Hannah, Alex and Emily, acquired the manor in 1988. [ [http://www.llywelyn.co.uk llywelyn.co.uk] ] In 1995 the Gibsons established Ymddiriedolaeth Aber/ the Aber Trust, [ [http://www.llywelyn.co.uk/10.html Ymddiriedolaeth Aber] ] a registered charity (charity number 1050489), and a 'not for profit organisation' to preserve the living history of the location.

Pen y Bryn is situated on Garth Celyn, within a double bank and ditch enclosure that has been Scheduled by the Ancient Monuments Board as 'a site of National Importance'. It has been described by experts in the Royal Commission as 'the most important house in the history of Wales', and the 'Declaration of Garth Celyn', written from this place in 1282, was the forerunner of the Scots 'Declaration of Arbroath'.

External References

* [http://www.llywelyn.co.uk/9.html The Mystery of Llywelyn's Tower]
* [http://www.castlewales.com/pen.html Pen Y Bryn, The Prince's Tower]
* [http://books.google.com/books?as_brr=1&id=yg8NAAAAYAAJ&dq=Pen+y+Bryn+Llywelyn+Fawr&q=Pen+y+Bryn+#search Handbook for England and Wales]

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