Points of interest

IN the 1800s Gelliwen was an industrial hamlet with a corn mill, a woollen factory, a smithy, a large shop and post office, two pubs, and a nonconformist chapel.

Only the latter survives as Ainon Baptist Chapel. It was built in 1828 near the stream where the baptism pool can be seen.

Next to the chapel stood the Farmers Arms, both a shop and a pub, the pub portion of which closed in the late 1800s, around which time the Gelliwen Inn opened.

This inn is now a private residence called Hen Dafarn (the Old Pub). There were probably other front room alehouses around the village, suggested by the house names: Boars Head, Ivy Bush, The Swan and Three Salmons. People supplemented their income by serving ale in their front rooms.

When the pub portion of The Farmers Arms closed in the late 1800s, it continued on as a shop known as John E. Richards, Wholesale and Retail Merchants.

In 1864 a Post Office had been added to the business. The shop catered for all the needs of the surrounding area and sold everything from horse collars to feather boas. Medicine was kept in a locked cupboard and butter made in the building opposite. The business finally closed in 1977, and the property was renamed Granant.

Plas y Deri Corn Mill closed in the 1940s. The former millrace flowed beneath the road and although the waterwheel was removed for scrap in the 1950s, circular grooves can still be seen imprinted on the wall.

Gelliwen Woollen Factory closed in the early 1900s. The water wheel and workshop are long gone and only the weaver’s house survives. The dried up millrace is still discernible running parallel with the Sien stream.