PENMORVA (PEN-MORFA), a parish, in the union of FESTINIOG, hundred of EIVIONYDD, county of CARNARVON, NORTH WALES, 1 mile
(W. N. W.) from Tr6madoc; containing 1099 inhabitants. The parish is situated in the south-eastern part of the county,
and the village stands upon a gentle eminence beneath craggy mountains of considerable elevation, and on the turnpike-road
from Tremadoc to Carnarvon. The surrounding scenery is rather of bold and rugged character than of pleasing or picturesque
appearance; and the views of the adjacent country, though comprehending some romantic features, are neither interesting
nor extensive. The rateable annual value has been returned at £2387. 18. 6. Clenenny, the family seat of the Owens, is an
ancient mansion, distinguished as the birth-place and residence of that independent royalist Sir John Owen, Bart., who
commanded the king's forces in this part of the principality during the civil war in the reign of Charles I. He was
defeated and taken prisoner near Bangor, in 1648, in the last effort which was made by the Welsh in that monarch's cause,
and was conveyed to Windsor, where, being tried, he was, with the Duke of Hamilton and others, condemned to death; but,
through the intercession of some of the parliamentary commanders, he received a pardon, and returned to his patrimonial
estate, where he died in 1666. Considerable deposites of copper-ore have been found in the parish, and several spirited
attempts have been made, and large sums of money expended, in working them; but the ore, when found, was so mixed with
iron, that the difficulty and expense of separating it, and the depression in the price of the metal, induced the
proprietors to discontinue their works, and the mines are for the present abandoned. Fairs are held in the village on
March 6th, May 14th, August 20th, September 25th, and November 12th. The living is a discharged rectory, with the
perpetual curacy of DOlbenmaen annexed, rated in the king's books at £9. 12. 6.; present net income, £300 with aglebe-
house; patron, Bishop of Bangor. The tithes of Penmorva have been commuted for a rent-charge of £200; and there is a
glebe of 4 acres, which, with a house, is valued at £27 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Beuno, is a small neat
edifice, not distinguished by any architectural details; it contains a monument to the memory of Sir John Owen. There are
places of worship for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists; and four Sunday schools, gratuitously conducted by dissenters
of different denominations, afford instruction to about 360 males and females. Mrs. Jane Owen bequeathed £60, Eleanor
Owen, a rent-charge of £3, and Anne Lloyd, in 1783, £30 in money, to the poor; and there are also some smaller
benefactions in money and land: the produce of the whole, amounting to £10. 10., is annually distributed according to.
the will of the testators. On Bwlch Craigwen are the remains of an extensive Druidical circle, consisting of forty-one
upright stones, several of which are more than seven feet high; and near the church is a smaller circle, some of the
stones composing which have been broken and used as materials in constructing or repairing the neighbouring fences. In
1829, a curious silver coin was dug up, in opening a grave in the churchyard; it was in good preservation, with the
inscription, in rude ancient characters round the obverse, RADVLVS DEI GRA. DVX BURG., and i8 supposed to be a coin of
Rodolphus, Duke of Burgundy, who flourished at the commencement of the ninth century, and was a celebrated collector of
sacred reliques. Sir Hywel y Vwyall is supposed to have been born in the parish, the greater portion of which belonged to
him.