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2009

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Aber like this:

The glen of the Gwyngregyn, narrow and romantic, strikes about 2 miles inland flanked on one side by a well-wooded lofty hill,-on the other side by the stupendous rock of Maes y Gaer; and is blocked at the head by the dark, vast, concave precipice of the hill Bera, over which falls the famous cataract Rhayadr Mawr. The cataract is fringed with ash trees; and first breaks on the cliffs into three or four parts, then makes a sheer leap of more than 60 feet. An artificial conical mound, near the village, was the site of a Palace of the Welsh princes, where Llewelyn the Great received the summons to surrender his rights to Edward I. of England. A field, not far off, called Cae Gwilym Dhu, "Black William's Field," was the scene of the summary execution of the Norman baron, William de Braose, whom Llewelyn ap lorwerth had taken prisoner and whom he suspected of an intrigue with his princess. A well-known Welsh distich, alluding to this event, records the following question and answer:-

"'Lovely princess,' said Llewelyn,
'What will yon give to see your Gwilym?
"Wales and England, and Llewelyn,
I'd give them all to see my Gwilym."?

The parish of Aber comprises 8,833 acres; of which 1,515 are water. Real property, £2,454. Pop., 582. Houses, 116. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bangor. Value, £340. Patron, the Hon. Col. D. Pennant.-The church is ancient, with a square tower, in moderate condition. There are chapels for Calvinistic Methodists and Wesleyans. There is also a free school, which was founded about 1719 by Dr. Jones, Dean of Bangor?
By the thirteenth century, Aber appears to have replaced Aberffraw as the favourite court, probably because of its greater security and easier access, and because the Princes increasingly looked east and south to the rest of Wales and to England. Ancient roads connecting Conwy and Caernarfon met the route to Mon. The Princes and their relatives and the great men and women of Gwynedd probably spent more time here than any other court Its importance is confirmed by the fact that King John occupied Aber in his invasion of 1211, the first and only Anglo-Norman king to penetrate so far west until Edward I. At this time John sent his soldiers to burn Bangor, a few miles up the coast. Ironically Aber was the home of his son-in-law Llywelyn Fawr, who had married John's daughter Joan in 1205 Joan was an important person in her own right. As the daughter of John and a half sister to King Henry III she often acted as ambassador from Gwynedd to the English court, her intervention possibly saving Llywelyn from destruction at the hands of John. She suffered a period of disgrace in 1230 when William de Braose was found in her chamber. Joan was eventually forgiven by Llywelyn but William, though a powerful Marcher lord was hanged in front of 800 people
Edward I spent time at Aber in August 1284, savouring the possessions of his defeated enemies. This favourite court of the princes gradually faded into a royal manor, then into ruins,