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Tomen y Bala
The story
History of Tomen y Bala
Bala () is a town and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Formerly an urban district, Bala lies in the historic county of Merionethshire, at the north end of Llyn Tegid.
United Kingdom
- Built
- 18th century
- Era
- Baroque
- Country
- United Kingdom
- UNESCO
- —
- Coordinates
- 52.911, -3.596
In depth
The fuller history
Tomen Y Bala ( high by diameter) is a tumulus or "moat-hill", formerly thought to mark the site of a Roman camp.
In the 18th century, the town was well known for the manufacture of flannel, stockings, gloves and hosiery.
The large stone-built theological college, Coleg y Bala, of the Calvinistic Methodists and the grammar school (now Ysgol y Berwyn), which was founded in 1712, are the chief features, together with the statue of the Rev. Thomas Charles (1755–1814), the theological writer, to whom was largely due the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1800 a 15-year-old girl, Mary Jones, walked the from her home village Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to purchase a Welsh Bible in Bala.
Key dates
- 1712The large stone-built theological college, Coleg y Bala, of the Calvinistic Methodists and the grammar school (now Ysgol y Berwyn), which was founded in 1712, are the chief features, together with the statue of the Rev.
- 1800In 1800 a 15-year-old girl, Mary Jones, walked the from her home village Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to purchase a Welsh Bible in Bala.
- 1804The scarcity of the Bible, along with the determination of Mary to get one (she had saved for six years), was a major factor in the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804.
- 1882Bala (New) railway station - Bala's second station, on the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway (open 1882 to 1965)
- 1976It terminates at Bala (Penybont) railway station, which opened in 1976 on the site of the former Lake Halt station.
- 2020As of 2020, work is being undertaken to extend the line along the lake foreshore to a new station in the town centre.
Historical summary drawn from Wikipedia. Read the full article.
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