Place:Betws y Coed, Caernarvonshire, Wales

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NameBetws y Coed
Alt namesBettws-y-Coedsource: Family History Library Catalog
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish, Urban district
Coordinates53.083°N 3.8°W
Located inCaernarvonshire, Wales     ( - 1974)
Also located inGwynedd, Wales     (1974 - 1996)
Conwy, Wales     (1996 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Betws y Coed ("Prayer house in the wood", Welsh pronunciation: [ˈbɛtʊs ə ˈkɔɨd]) is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales.

The name "Betws" or "Bettws" is generally thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Old English bed-hus, "a bead-house" or a house of prayer, or an oratory. The earliest record of the name is Betus, in 1254.

Betws y Coed is one of the "honeypot" locations in Snowdonia. It lies in the Snowdonia National Park, in a valley near the point where the River Conwy is joined by the River Llugwy and the River Lledr, and was founded around a monastery in the late sixth century. The village grew very slowly with the development of the local lead mining industry. In 1815, the Waterloo Bridge, built by Thomas Telford to carry the London to Holyhead road (now the A5) across the River Conwy and through the village, brought considerable transport-related development. The village became a major coaching centre on the Irish Mail route between Corwen (to the east) and Capel Curig (to the west). This led to the improvement of the roads south to Blaenau Ffestiniog and north to Llanrwst and Conwy.

Construction of Betws y Coed railway station in 1868 heralded the arrival of the railway line from Llandudno Junction railway station, and resulted in the village's population increasing by around 500.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Betws-y-Coed.

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