Dolgellau is a market town as well as area in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It is typically the county town of the historical county of Merionethshire (Welsh: Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd), which shed its management status when Gwynedd was created in 1974. Dolgellau is the major base for mountain climbers of Cadair Idris. Although very tiny, it is the 2nd largest settlement in Southern Gwynedd after Tywyn. The community consists of Penmaenpool. The name of the town is of unpredictable origin, although dôl is Welsh for "field" or "dale", and (y) gelli (soft anomaly of celli) indicates "grove" or "spinney", and is common locally in names for ranches in protected spaces. This would certainly appear to be one of the most likely derivation, offering the translation "Grove Meadow". It has actually likewise been recommended that the name might originate from words cell, suggesting "cell", equating consequently as "Meadow of [monks'] cells", but this seems much less likely taking into consideration the background of the name. The earliest recorded spelling (from 1253, in the Study of Merioneth) is "Dolkelew", although a spelling "Dolgethley" days from 1285. From after that up until the 19th century, a lot of spellings were along the lines of "Dôlgelly" "Dolgelley", "Dolgelly" or "Dolgelli" (Owain Glyndwr's scribe wrote "Dolguelli"). Thomas Pennant made use of the form "Dolgelleu" in his Tours of Wales, and also this was the kind made use of in the Church Registers in 1723, although it never ever had much money. In 1825 the Registers had "Dolgellau", which create Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt embraced in 1836. While this type might originate from a false etymology, it became standard in Welsh as well as is now the basic type in both Welsh and also English. It was taken on as the official name by the neighborhood country district council in 1958. Shortly before the closure of the community's railway station it displayed signs reading otherwise Dolgelly, Dolgelley and also Dolgellau.