Criccieth is a small seaside town located on the Llyn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north Wales in the old county of Caernarfonshire. It lies between the towns of Porthmadog and Pwllheli and is known as "The Pearl Of Wales On The Shores Of Snowdonia". The name Criccieth is pronounced Crick-Yeth or Crick-Key-eth and is probably a corruption of the Welsh "Craig Câs", meaning "Heather Rock".
Criccieths existence arose in the 1230s when Llewelyn the Great built a castle there and in 1239 it is mentioned as being the prison where Llewelyn the Great placed his rebellious son Gruffydd. In 1282 it was captured by Edward I who repaired and enlarged the castle and two years afterwards declared Criccieth a free borough, although at the time it was little more than a church and a few houses.
Criccieth remained a small fishing village, especially once the importance of Criccieth Castle had disappeared, until the year 1867 when the Cambrian Coast Railway reached the village. The village became a summer resort for wealthy families, who often retired to Criccieth for the whole summer - most of today's Criccieth was therefore built by the Victorians as the village turned into a town.
Criccieth's was most famous son was the Liberal Party politician David Lloyd George who was the British Prime Minister between 1916 and 1922.
Table of References
- http://www.gazetteer-wales.co.uk/
- http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/
- www.criccieth.co.uk/
- http://www.the-chapel-of-art.freeserve.co.uk/criccieth_history.html