Aberdyfi

Local tradition suggests that the Romans established a track into the area as part of the military occupation of Wales around AD78. The strategic location in mid-Wales was the site of several conferences between north and south Wales princes in 540, 1140, and for the Council of Aberdyfi in 1216. The hill in the centre of the village, Pen-y-Bryn, has been claimed to be the site of fortifications in the 1150s, which were soon destroyed. During the Spanish Armada of 1597, a Spanish ship, the Bear of Amsterdam missed her objective at Milford Haven and ended up having entered the Dyfi estuary. She was unable to leave for 10 days because of the wind and could not be boarded as no suitable boats…

Aberdyfi is closely linked to the legend of the submerged lost kingdom of Cantre'r Gwaelod () beneath Cardigan Bay, and bells which, it is said, can be heard ringing beneath the water at the beach. The Bells of Aberdovey () is a well-known song referring to this legend. This song first appeared in the English opera Liberty Hall in 1785, written by Charles Dibdin, and is not thought to be a traditional folk-song as Welsh words were written by John Ceiriog Hughes, during the 19th century. The legend and the song have inspired local cultural projects involving bells. A new chime of bells was installed in September 1936 in the tower of St Peter's Church, which overlooks the harbour. The ten…