How a small Welsh village became embroiled in a slave trade controversy

You’ve probably never heard of Abergynolwyn, which sits in the Dysynni valley in Merioneth in Wales. The village, established in the nineteenth century to house workers at the nearby Bryn Eglwys slate quarry, is home to just 400 people. But now Abergynolwyn has found its name besmirched by tenuous links to the slave trade.

Abergynolwyn falls within the jurisdiction of Gwynedd council, which manages ‘the slate landscape’ on behalf of Unesco. In April, the council announced that this tiny village must publicly acknowledge its relationship to the slave trade. As part of what Gwynedd council, led by Dyfrig Siencyn (Plaid Cymru), sees as its broader plan to expose the slate landscape’s links to slavery, a plaque advertising the somewhat vague connection will adorn the village hall. ‘Slavery and colonisation form part of the slate story,’ a council spokesperson explained.