Frongoch | |
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The former Frongoch railway station |
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Frongoch shown within Gwynedd | |
OS grid reference | SH905392 |
Community | |
Principal area | |
Ceremonial county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BALA |
Postcode district | LL23 |
Dialling code | 01678 |
Police | North Wales |
Fire | North Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
EU Parliament | Wales |
UK Parliament | |
Welsh Assembly | |
The village of Frongoch is located in Gwynedd, Wales. It lies close to the market town of Bala, on the A4212 road in north Wales.
By the late 1800s, Frongoch was the main centre for whisky production in Wales. The distillery was bought by Scottish whisky companies and closed in 1910 when they were attempting to establish brands in England.
It was the home of the Frongoch internment camp, used to hold German prisoners-of-war during First World War, and then Irish Republican prisoners from the 1916 Rising.
Frongoch railway station was on the Bala Ffestiniog Line. It closed to passenger services on 2 January 1960 and freight services on 27 January 1961. The station building and signal box are now in use as a private residence. It was converted to a holiday home during the early 1970s. The main station had a small extension added to the end to house a bathroom and the large warehouse was demolished to make way for several homes.
The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist chapel at Cwmtirmynach, lies on the B4501, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of Frongoch. It was built in 1826 and rebuilt in 1880 in the Lombardic/Italian style of the gable-entry type. The folk singer Robert Roberts (Bob Tai'r Felin) was precentor at the chapel for nearly 50 years. There is weekly worship and the current minister is Hywel Edwards.