Hedd Wyn Heritage Centre
April 27th, 2015
A few years ago on the Oakeley blog we featured the news that one of our most famous local heroes, World War I poet, Hedd Wyn was to have a dedicated museum of his own. The museum will not only be in his home town of Trawsfynydd, not far from us here at the Oakeley Arms, but the Hedd Wyn Heritage Centre will be situated in his childhood home, Yr Ysgwrn.
Hedd Wyn (or Ellis Humphrey Evans to use his real name) was born into the wild landscape of nineteenth century North Wales in 1887. He grew up on a remote sheep farm and by the time he was 14 years old had finished school and was working as a shepherd with his father. He began writing poetry at an early age, undoubtedly inspired by the rugged landscape around him. He won his first county Eisteddfod prize at the age of just 19 under the pen name of Hedd Wyn (literally meaning White Peace) but his ambition was to win the coveted and highly revered chair of a National Eisteddfod.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
Hedd Wyn had no intention of joining the Army; in fact, he was against the war. But, the conscription laws deemed that the family had to send at least one of their sons to the war effort. Ellis volunteered to save his brothers and in March 1917 he joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He continued to write though, and by July he’d finished his entry for that year’s Eisteddfod.
He posted his poem “Yr Arwr” (The Hero) along with his future hopes and dreams, and prayed for success. But tragically, just 16 days later, Hedd Wyn was killed in action during the Battle of Passchendaele in Northern Belgium. He was just 30 years old.
Hedd Wyn was posthumously awarded the chair at the National Eisteddfod that year. The winner was announced and the author asked to step forward. When nobody did it was revealed that the poet had been killed in action. The dark and empty chair was forlornly draped in black cloth and sent to his parents’ home in Trawsfynydd.
Hedd Wyn has since become recognised as one of the most important and influential Welsh language poets in history.
So it’s great news that one of Wales’ greatest literary and cultural heroes will have his own dedicated museum. The Hedd Wyn Heritage Centre is a project undertaken by Snowdonia National Park, who have been awarded a lottery grant to carry out the work, which will cost almost £3 million. Work will start this summer and the Hedd Wyn Heritage Centre will hope to be open soon. Not only will it be a fitting dedication to one of our region’s heroes, but it will also be another fantastic visitor attraction for our area.
