Llennyrch's Celtic rainforest is now safe under our care

Hidden among the lush green hills of Snowdonia, at the bottom of a gorge so steep it may never be fully explored, is a strip of rare, ancient woodland.

This is Llennyrch – 100 acres of magical, mysterious and incredibly scarce Celtic rainforest, surrounded by 400 acres of spectacular Welsh farmland.

Credit: Phil Formby / WTML

Shaped by man

This traditional upland farm has a long history of human use. It's criss-crossed with stone walls, tumbledown buildings and ancient droves. Free-ranging sheep still keep the woodland open to light today, encouraging rare mosses and lichens.

Credit: Calum Dickson / Alamy Stock Photo

Owned by nature

The steep banks of the Afon Prysor are thought to have been wooded for thousands of years - possibly since trees first re-colonised Wales after the last Ice Age. They echo with birdsong and boast gnarled oaks festooned with mosses and ferns. Listen for the redstart in the summer.

Video

Keeping Llennyrch wild

00:02:19

Hard graft. Passionate people. Expertise and skill. There's more to our woods than just trees. See for yourself what makes Llennyrch so special, and what it takes to keep it that way.

Watch the film

The future of Llennyrch

Now that this beautiful place is in our hands, we have much we want to achieve. Our plans include:

  • improving public access so that people can discover the wood's secrets
  • maintaining traditional light grazing to create the right conditions for special, damp-loving plants  
  • sensitively managing this ancient fragment of Atlantic oak woodland for the rare wildlife that relies on it.

Visit for yourself

Woodland Trust Wood

Coed Felenrhyd & Llennyrch

Maentwrog

309.67 ha (765.19 acres)

Explore this wood

You make our work possible

We can't do any of this without you. We have thousands more special woods like Llennyrch, all over the UK, which we work tirelessly to care for and restore. 

Your donation will help us keep woods open for people to enjoy and wildlife to thrive in, whatever you can give.

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