Memorial for unnamed villagers buried in mass grave

A new memorial has been unveiled to recognise thousands of unnamed people, many of whom are buried in a mass grave in Llanwddyn, Lake Vyrnwy.

It’s thought the remains of over 2,330 people were taken from the graveyard in the old village of Llanwddyn as the dam was being constructed in the 1880s, before the valley was flooded.

The area around the small Welsh village had been compulsorily purchased by the Liverpool Corporation so that the dam could be built and the lake created, in order to supply drinking water to Liverpool.

Local historian, Carol Pearce, has researched the burials and created documents to show who was buried where in the new Llanwddyn cemetery. Only six people were reburied elsewhere. Ms Pearce said: “The original graves dated back to the 1600s, but most of them had no headstone or coffin plate, so could not be identified. There are only 275 names of the original people in the new cemetery.

“Passing through construction works at the time, explosions of dynamite in the quarry would have been heard, while people in the graveyard were removing remains of ancestors.”

Her research, including combing through contemporary accounts, show there are an additional 2,000 people reburied in a mass grave, somewhere in the new cemetery. She feels like this is something that hasn’t been known before and is keen to make people aware.

“I don’t know if local people have publicised it before, but I’ve not seen anything of it, and other ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ Llanwddyn locals hadn’t heard it before,” she said.

“Llanwddyn is unique, in that it is the first major reservoir building in Mid Wales, there’s an awful lot yet that needs to be communicated.”

Welcoming around 40 residents and Llanwddyn family members to the site on Saturday, the chair of Llanwddyn Community Council, Bob Kirby, said: “The plaque serves as a reminder for future generations that the creation of Lake Vyrnwy brought significant and irreversible change.”

Mr Kirby said that he hoped it will ignite a local interest in history in such a unique part of Wales, which is also thought to have the remains of a Roman road and even a cromlech - a stone age burial mound - showing people lived in the area 3,500 years ago.

“The unveiling ceremony and history display shows what can be done when enough people have the will. Building on this success it is intended to form a local history group, Hanes Llanwddyn History, to actively protect, preserve and promote the unique history of the area.”

The inaugural meeting of the history group will be on September 25 at Llanwddyn

Community Centre.

An exhibition showing Carol Pearce’s research is currently on display at Llanwddyn Church, just down the road from the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel.

PICTURES taken by Andrew Cutts.