Talk:Portmeirion
Villages in Wales
A recent editor added the category "Villages in Wales" to this article.
While there's some ironic truth to the idea that Portmeirion is "The Village", I'm not sure it counts as a real village. It isn't a political entity, after all, just a commercial establishment within Minffordd.
Should this categorization remain?
Atlant 16:55, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Was there anything there before William-Ellis got involved? There were houses there, I would say its a village. AHEMSLTD 12:11, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
- Are you sure there were houses on the property? (Yes, the village of Minffordd was and still is nearby, but I mean right on the property that became Portmeirion. It's pretty desolate on the eastern side of the property, so they would have had to have been in the heart of the development.)
- Afraid my "Where" became a "There" thanks to my typing, I was asking IF there were houses before. I agree that it is a desolate area especially before the Slate trade and the 'Cob'. It would not surprise me if William-Ellis had demolished or adapted a few old buildings as part of his 'Development'. AHEMSLTD 18:59, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
The main building of the hotel, and the cottages called "White Horses", "Mermaid" and "The Salutation" existed before Williams-Ellis got involved, hvaing been a private estate called Aber Ia, developed in the 1850s, itself on the site of a foundry and boatyard which was active in the late 18th century. There is the site (and very minor remains) of a mediaeval castle (known variously as Castell Deudraeth, Castell Gwain Goch and Castell Aber Iau) in the woods just outside the vllage proper, recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) in 1188.
- Whatever was there before was not called Portmeirion; this name was applied to the place by Williams-Ellis. Therefore — this being an article about Portmeirion — the location of a village on the site before Portmeirion is irrelevant (the only recorded thing there anyway was a private estate, not a village), and Portmeirion is not now nor has it been a village. It's a hotel. I have changed the "Villages in Gwinnedd" category to simply "Gwinnedd". 12.22.250.4 17:19, 5 May 2006 (UTC)