Buildings

Y Felin Fach, Blaenpennal

Y Felin Fach, Blaenpennal

The buildings on Mynydd Bach represent a record of the skills of the builders and the history of the residents and their lifestyles, showing that the majority of the population lived on a modest

Villages had to be self-sufficient, and this is demonstrated by the variety of tradesmen and women working there including farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, millers, cloth and felt producers, tailors, teachers, religious ministers, leather-goods makers, builders, quarrymen and drovers.

It has been said that the two most important buildings in a village were the chapel (or church) and the mill. The chapel sustained the soul with prayer and song; the mill sustained the body with flour and clothing.

The most well-known buildings in the area were the tai unnos — houses built in one night, and possibly the basis of some houses of a later date. Early settlers would have sought a clean water supply, so springs on Mynydd Bach would have determined where buildings were established; some holy springs were said to have healing powers.