Ynysymaengwyn

Ynysymaengwyn was a gentry house in the parish of Tywyn, Gwynedd (formerly Merioneth), situated near the left bank of the River Dysynni.

[1] From the late medieval period until the twentieth century, Ynysymaengwyn, situated roughly a mile from Tywyn by the road to Bryn-crug, was by far the most powerful estate in the parish.

The estate may be traced back to the days of Gruffudd ab Adda of Dôl-goch and Ynysymaengwyn, bailiff of the commote of Ystumanner in 1330 and 1334, whose effigy is thought to lie in St Cadfan's church in Tywyn.

[3] His daughter Nest married Llywelyn ap Cynwrig ab Osbwrn Wyddel, and Ynysymaengwyn was to remain in the hands of their direct male descendants for well over two centuries.

He was followed by his son Hwmffre (or Humphrey) who was the subject of a famous request by the poet Tudur Aled to bring to an end a bitter family dispute.

Upon his death, the estate passed to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir James Pryse of Gogerddan, Cardiganshire, who both died in 1642.

Robert Corbet was a Royalist during the English Civil War, during which Ynysymaengwyn was burnt to the ground to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Parliamentarians.

Welsh poems to the family were added to David John's manuscript (see above) during the first part of the eighteenth century, when it was in the possession of the Reverend Edward Morgan.

The Corbets were responsible for draining much of the morfa or salt marsh between the town and the Dysynni river, which greatly increased the land available for farming in that part of the parish.

[11] He was not related to the previous Corbet family, but the thought of moving to an area whose residents were long accustomed to tugging a forelock at the mention of the name certainly appealed to him.

Although not a permanent resident, Corbett spent long periods and even more money in Tywyn, and some of the town's key features are the product of his investments.

Despite the fact that his involvement transformed Tywyn, he was not much loved, and upon his death on 22 April 1901, the Cambrian News noted that "he had more than the usual reserve of the Englishman".

A dovecote built by Ann Owen (d. 1760) still survives, and Ynysymaengwyn is now a Trust run by trustees (Tywyn town councillors) with part of the land used as a caravan and camping park.

A survey of the estate completed by Richard Owen in 1776 is also in the National Library of Wales, as are numerous portraits of family members.