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Cerrigydrudion, circa 1885, photographed by John Thomas
Geographically the area is classed as moorland and less favourable grassland. It is on the outskirts of Mynydd Hiraethog, and the southern half of Llyn Brenig and also Alwen Reservoir lie in the community. The oldest feature of the village is the parish church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. It is believed to have existed in 440 AD. It is also mentioned in the 'Norwich Taxation' of 1254. The village is the largest in the area known as Uwchaled which also includes Llangwm, Pentrefoelas, Pentre-llyn-cymer, Dinmael, Glasfryn, Cefn Brith, Llanfihangel.G.M and Cwm Penanner. Llangwm and Pentrefoelas are stand-alone parishes whilst the remainder fall within the parish of Cerrigydrudion. However, there are multiple Nonconformist chapels throughout the area of Uwchaled, located in many of the minor villages and hamlets.
The village was mentioned in the writings of several noted travellers including Edward Lhuyd and George Borrow. It attained a certain significance in the 18th century when Thomas Telford built the A5 turnpike Toll road between London and Holyhead. This would be the main route to Ireland. The road passed through the village. In the farmhouse of Ceirnioge Mawr, where the stagecoach and Mail coach horses were changed, there is a plaque marking the fact that Queen Victoria stopped there en route to Ireland.
The 2011 population of the community stands at 740 residents. The community remains one of the heartlands of the Welsh language and in the census of 2001, 80% stated they had some knowledge of the language and over 76% stated that they used spoken Welsh in their normal every-day life.
Remnants of human habitation have been found in the area dating back to the Mesolithic era. Many of these were found in the area of Llyn Brenig, a manmade reservoir to the north of the village. The reservoir was built between 1973 and 1976 and was one of the major British engineering projects of that era. Today it is the most important tourist attraction in the area and provides competition class fly fishing facilities for many visitors.
In 1924, a farmer was carrying out repairs on a wall at Ty-tan-y-Foel Farm when he found significant Iron Age remains in a stone-lined cist. He had uncovered a small burial chamber. The decorated bronze fragments that were found are the remains of what is now known as 'The Cerrigydrudion Crown', one of the earliest examples of Celtic La Tène art found in Britain, dating from between 405 BC and 380 BC. Archaeologists thought for decades that the fragments formed a vessel, but recent research has revealed that it is a headpiece decorated with palm leaf and lotus flower designs. The crown fragments are held at Amgueddfa Cymru in Cardiff. In 2007, staff at Amgueddfa Cymru decided to reconstruct the crown as it might have been when first manufactured. Jacqueline Chadwick, an artist, and Nodge Nolan, a craftsman who specialised in reconstructing Roman era artefacts, were commissioned to produce it. It is now exhibited alongside the fragments.
One of the most famous sons of the parish is Jac Glan-y-Gors, who was a leading Radical at the end of the 18th century. His ideas were published in the polemical pamphlets Seren tan Gwmwl ("Star under a Cloud") and Toriad y Dydd ("Break of Day").
Cerrigydruidion Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1898. The club and course disappeared at the time of World War II.
Heading out of Cerrigydrudion up a minor road off the B5105 is an Iron Age hillfort called Caer Caradog [cy]. This fort dates to pre Roman times and although the origin of the fort's name is unclear, as Caradog can be Latinised as Caratacus, it possibly refers to the 1st century warrior Caratacus who fought against the Romans. A novel published in 2018 called Swords and Slavery describes a battle between Celts and Romans at this fort.
