Criccieth was originally settled in the Bronze Age with Cae Dyni's chambered tomb still present east of the town on the coast. The tomb is made of seven stones that are stood upright and, arranges in many groups, are thirteen cup marks. There is evidence of there being Celtic people settled in other areas including the Llyn Peninsula. The Celtic settlers were exploring the Irish Sea during the 4th Century. While it is believed that Llewellyn Lorwerth, who had control over the area starting 1202, built the Ciriccieth Castle in 1230, there is no official record of it until 1239.
At this time is when the center for administration for Eifionydd moved from Dolbenmaien. The castle was included in a ring of castles that surrounded Edward I's Wales territory he had conquered in 1282. After his last defeat of Gwynedd, Edward I condensed his Wales rule. The castle was then remodeled and added on to. A town then developed to support the garrison. Criccieth was given official charter in 1284 to create a place for food to be grown by English burgesses for the soldiers that came from the land behind Dinas and surrounding areas.
The castle had changed hands many times but was finally under the control of Henry IV who was not in Wales. They opposed him because he called Owain Glyndwr, the Prince of Wales decedent, a traitor. This lead to an attack on the castle in 1404 in which it had its walls torn down plus the castle and borough were burned. After this the castles was never occupied again but the town was built to be a small backwater for the Welsh.
In the 19th Century the town expanded. In 1868 Min-y-Mor was constructed to accommodate the tourist trade that had sprung up in the Criccieth with the coming of the railway. This was the beginning of building the town to be a seaside resort. In October on 1927 a disaster occurred in Criccieth in which a massive storm caused the tidal flow of the Irish sea to stop and have a tide that was twice as high. The giant waves and high winds destroyed many homes at Abermarchnad and they had to be torn down, leaving their occupants homeless.
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