Cae'r Gors

Childhood home of a literary heroine and showcase for a unique industrial landscape

Novelist and short-story writer Kate Roberts is celebrated across Wales as ‘Brenhines ein Llên’ – or The Queen of our Literature.

She depicts strong women battling stubbornly against danger and poverty in the quarrying communities of north-west Wales. And she knew what she was writing about. That was her life too.

Born in 1891, she grew up in Cae’r Gors, a humble quarryman’s cottage and smallholding on the slopes above the Nantlle Valley near Caernarfon. It shaped her imagination and stayed with her long after she left home at the age of 18.

When she discovered Cae’r Gors was derelict in 1965 she campaigned tirelessly to save it. In 2007 it was finally restored to the way it would have been in her childhood.

So now, starting in the heritage centre behind the cottage, you can explore her world and walk through the tiny rooms filled with voices from the past. Even her books, clogs and cloak are there to remind you of this remarkable period of Welsh industrial history.

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