Pont Minllyn

Historic bridge

Explorer Tom

Pont Minllyn hides beside the A470 at Minllyn, a small two-arched stone bridge over the River Dyfi that looks as if it has escaped from a storybook. Its mossy, turf-topped shape is easy to miss while modern traffic hurries past. Give it a few minutes and the old crossing starts making the road look like the newcomer. Cadw says the bridge was built in the early seventeenth century for packhorses. Dr John Davies, rector of Mallwyd and a prominent Welsh scholar, paid for it; he also worked on Welsh religious texts and wrote a grammar of the language. That is a tidy combination of words and stonework. The surviving arches recall a time when loads crossed this valley at the speed of a horse, long before the trunk road claimed the loudest voice. The monument is free to visit all year during reasonable daylight hours. Cadw directs visitors from the A470 into Meirion Mill's driveway to park, then back towards the road and the sign for Pont Minllyn. Three bridges stand close together here: the modern road bridge and two older ones. Look for the lowest, grass-covered historic span rather than assuming the bridge carrying traffic is the attraction. Wet stone and banks can be slippery, and the river is deep; keep to safe viewing points instead of climbing onto the old structure. It is a short stop, but a good one. Watch the Dyfi slip beneath the two arches and imagine a packhorse deciding that your camera is taking far too long. Then step back into the present, where the smallest bridge in the cluster has the longest story.

What is recorded here

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w825184495

Inscription: This packhorse bridge over the River Dovey was built sometime during the first half of the seventeenth century by the Rector of this Parish and eminent Welsh scholar, Dr. John Davies