‘Nid â’n Angof’ – ‘It will not be forgotten’
Yr Ysgwrn, near Trawsfynydd, is a Grade-II listed traditional Welsh farmhouse that came to prominence in 1917 as the home of the poet Ellis Humphrey Evans. He was better known by his bardic name Hedd Wyn (blessed peace), a name said to have been inspired by the misty valleys of Merionnydd.
In early 1917, at the height of the First World War, Hedd Wyn was reluctantly conscripted into the 15th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. ‘Heavy weather, heavy soul, heavy heart. That is an uncomfortable trinity, isn't it?’ he wrote. A month later the battalion marched toward the major offensive known as the Battle of Passchendale, and Hedd Wyn was killed in action on Pilckem Ridge.
Shortly after this, he was awarded the Bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod, Birkenhead. When his untimely death was revealed to the audience there, a black sheet was draped over the chair. To this day, it is referred to as Eisteddfod y Gadair Ddu, the Eisteddfod of the Black Chair.
Following a promise made to the poet’s mother ‘to keep the door open’ to visitors from across Wales and beyond, Yr Ysgwrn has been preserved. It is now a powerful memorial not just to Hedd Wyn, but to the generation of young Welshmen lost during the carnage of the ‘war to end all wars’.
On 1st March, 2012 the Snowdonia National Park Authority and its partners announced that they had secured Yr Ysgwrn for the nation. The purchase was made possible thanks to funding from the Welsh Government and the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Over the next four years, on the eve of centenary commemorations of Hedd Wyn’s death, the SNPA’s aim is to develop a museum of national significance at Yr Ysgwrn. This museum will record and promote awareness of various aspects of Welsh heritage to audiences from Wales and abroad.
By prior arrangement only: Tel: 01766 770 274
Email: yrysgwrn@eryri-npa.gov.uk
Free Entry
Minor road running east off A470 near Trawsfynydd and just south of junction with A4212
Blaenau Ffestiniog - 9 miles
Nearest bus stop is at the Trawsfynydd turn on the A470
NCN Route 8 is nearby
No dogs allowed. 2 steps into house – and wheelchair access is not easy.
Full Figure Grid Reference: SH 722346 OS Landranger map sheet: 124