MAENTWROG (MAEN-TWROG), a parish in the hundred of ARDUDWY, county of MERIONETH, NORTH WALES, 18 miles (N. N. W.) from Dolgelley, containing 745 inhabitants. This parish derives its name from a large upright stone still remaining at one angle of the church, which is called "Maen Twrog," and was erected to the memory of Twrog, an eminent British saint, who flourished at the close of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centuries, and to whom the church is dedicated. The village is situated in the north-western part of the county, and in the most romantic portion of the fertile and highly picturesque vale of Festiniog, on the southern bank of the river Dwyryd, which falls into Traeth Bach in the bay of Cardigan, and on the turnpike road leading from Dolgelley to Carnarvon. The surrounding scenery is richly diversified with verdant meadows and luxuriant groves, beautifully contrasting with the barren and precipitous mountains by which this portion of the vale is enclosed. About a mile from the village are two fine waterfalls, one called Rhaiadr Du, or " the black fall," and the other Llyn y Gwynryn, both formed by the small river Velen Rhydr. The latter, which consists of six different falls, each about thirty feet in extent, is beautifully picturesque, and, as seen from the base of the rocks over which the river descends, has a sublime and romantic grandeur of effect. The manufacture of flannel and the knitting of stockings are carried on here to a moderate extent, affording employment to a portion of the inhabitants. The river Dwyryd is navigable to the village, in which it is in contemplation to establish two fairs, one to be held annually on the 13th of April, and the other in May on a day not yet fixed.
The living is a discharged rectory, consolidated with the rectory of Festiniog, in the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and diocese of Bangor. The church, rebuilt in 1814, on the site of the ancient structure, is a neat stone edifice with a square embattled tower. There are places of worship for Independents and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A National school for children of both sexes was established at Festiniog, in 1830, in which children of both parishes receive gratuitous instruction. There are Sunday schools in connexion with the established church and the several dissenting congregations. Mrs. Jones, in 1742, bequeathed £30 ; and Evan Lloyd, in 1691, bequeathed £20 and a rent-charge of £ 1, the interest of which sums, and the rent-charge, are annually distributed among the poor. The Roman road leading from Uriconium to Segontium; another from Tommen y Mar, in this parish, where the Kings of England employed in the conquest of Wales frequently encamped, to Caer Gai; and another to Sarn Helen, passed through this place. Several Roman antiquities have been found in the parish, consisting of coins, urns, and inscribed stones, of which last some are in the possession of W. Grufydd Oakley, Esq., of Tan y Bwlch Hall, and of John Lloyd, Esq., of Pen y Glanau, who has also an extensive collection of antiquities found in different parts of the principality. Among the inscriptions in the possession of Mr. Oakley are, a bordered stone, ornamented at the extremities, and divided longitudinally into two compartments, in the upper of which are the characters >AND, and in the lower PXXXIX. ; another stone, fourteen inches in length and nine inches broad, with the inscription >IVLIMANS ; and a third, fifteen inches long and seven inches broad, bearing the inscription IMAV.XXXIX. The Rev. Edmund Prys, Archdeacon of Merioneth, one of the most eminent poets of his time, was rector of this parish for many years. He translated the metrical version of the Psalms of David used in the Welsh churches, one of which he is said to have versified every time he had service in this church, in which the whole were sung previously to their being published; and he also assisted Bishop Morgan in his translation of the Welsh Bible. He was born at Gerdi Bluog, in the parish of Llandecwyn, in 1544, and was interred under the communion table of this church. The poor are supported by an average annual expenditure amounting to £ 203.