Recreation Ground

The Trefriw Improvement Company Ltd. bought the Recreation Field from the Earl of Ancaster in 1897 for the then substantial sum of £220.

The company had leased the land since 1887 and had already laid it out with tennis courts, a croquet lawn and a bowling green.

In 1911, ownership passed to Geirionydd Rural District Council and then through Nant Conwy Rural District Council and Trefriw Parish Council to Trefriw Community Council, in whose care it remains.

The old iron gate now boasts a second commemorative plaque – a bilingual commemoration of the fact that Trefriw Recreation Ground is now protected against development for all time. The field has been registered by the charitable organisation ‘Fields in Trust’ as a Queen Elizabeth II Field in honour of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The name of the field will remain ‘Trefriw Recreation Ground’, as is recorded in the ironwork archway above the gate.

As well as protecting the field’s status as a recreation field, being registered will open up opportunities to apply for improvement grants that are only available to QEII fields. The Community Council is investigating ways of using this opportunity to improve the field for the benefit of all the residents of Trefriw and Llanrhychwyn. Unfortunately, the delays in getting the field into good condition after the flood works is holding up progress at the moment.