Dolgellau is a market community and also community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It is traditionally the county town of the historical region of Merionethshire (Welsh: Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd), which lost its management standing when Gwynedd was developed in 1974. Dolgellau is the major base for mountain climbers of Cadair Idris. Although really tiny, it is the second biggest settlement in Southern Gwynedd after Tywyn. The neighborhood consists of Penmaenpool. The name of the town is of unpredictable beginning, although dôl is Welsh for "field" or "dale", and also (y) gelli (soft mutation of celli) implies "grove" or "spinney", and is common locally in names for farms in sheltered nooks. This would certainly seem to be one of the most likely derivation, offering the translation "Grove Meadow". It has actually additionally been recommended that the name could stem from the word cell, indicating "cell", equating for that reason as "Meadow of [monks'] cells", yet this appears much less most likely taking into consideration the background of the name. The earliest videotaped punctuation (from 1253, in the Survey of Merioneth) is "Dolkelew", although a punctuation "Dolgethley" dates from 1285. From after that up until the 19th century, a lot of punctuations were along the lines of "Dôlgelly" "Dolgelley", "Dolgelly" or "Dolgelli" (Owain Glyndwr's scribe wrote "Dolguelli"). Thomas Pennant made use of the kind "Dolgelleu" in his Tours of Wales, as well as this was the form used in the Church Registers in 1723, although it never had much money. In 1825 the Registers had "Dolgellau", which form Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt taken on in 1836. While this type might stem from a false etymology, it ended up being standard in Welsh and is now the basic form in both Welsh and also English. It was taken on as the main name by the neighborhood country area council in 1958. Shortly prior to the closure of the town's railway station it displayed indicators checking out otherwise Dolgelly, Dolgelley and also Dolgellau.