Welsh place names Welsh place names are usually quite descriptive - either of the local geography or notable features. Most also use the same construction as if you were denoting possession, so 'the estuary of the Tawe', or Abertawe, (as opposed to 'the Tawe's estuary'). Thus Brynmawr is 'big hill', Penrhyndeudraeth is 'the headland of the two beaches', Beddgelert is 'the grave of Celert' (more likely Saint Celert, rather than Gelert, Prince Llewelyn ap Iorwerth's faithful dog, as is popularly thought) and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is of course 'the church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave'. It started off as plain old Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, but in the 1880s a Menai Bridge tailor decided to add a few more syllables as a bit of a publicity stunt to pull in the tourists. It worked, too. aber river mouth or estuary; confluence of two rivers afon river allt cliff, or wooded hill aran high place bach small, lesser bedw birch bedd grave betws prayer-house brenin king bron slope of a hill bryn hill bwlch mountain pass, gap cadair chair, stronghold cae field caer fortified settlement (like '-chester', '-burgh' or '-bury' in English) canol centre cant hundred capel chapel carreg stone cartref home castell castle cefn ridge celyn holly clun meadow clwyd gate, perch coch red coed forest, woodland cors bog craig rock croes cross croeso welcome cwm bowl-shaped glacial valley cwrt court cyntaf first de south derw oak din/dinas fort, city dros over du black dwfr, dwr water dwyrain east dyffryn valley (broad, flat river valley) eglwys church eryri eagle's domain fawr big fferm farm ffordd road fforest forest gardd garden glan shore, bank glas blue glo coal glyn valley (like the English 'vale') gogledd north gorllewin west gorsaf station gwaun meadow gwlad country gwyn white gwyrdd green hen old heol road isa(f) lower llan clearing, early church llanerch glad lle place llech, llechen slate llwybr path llwyd grey llwyn grove llyn lake llys palace, court maen stone maes field marchnad market mawr, fawr great melin mill melyn yellow merthyr burial place of a saint moel bare or rounded mountain môr sea morfa coastal marsh mynydd mountain nant stream, brook neuadd hall newydd new nos night ogof cave olaf last onn ash pant hollow (valley) parc park pen head, top of a valley penrhyn headland pentre(f) village plas hall, mansion pont bridge porth port, gateway pwll pool rhiw hill, ascent rhos moor, heath rhyd ford sant saint sarn causeway sir shire, county taf dark tan under tomen mound traeth beach traws cross tref town tw+r tower ty+, tai house, houses ucha(f) upper uwch higher wrth near, by y, yr, 'r the ynys island ystrad valley (like the English 'vale')