
Penyberth
A Nation on Trial
Dafydd Jenkins(Author)
Welsh Academic Press
Published on 4. September 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
154 pages
978-1-86057-166-4 (ISBN)
Description
On 8 September 1936 - in what is recognised as one of the defining moments in modern Welsh history - a Baptist minister, a university lecturer and a schoolteacher set fire to the partly built RAF aerodrome at Penrhos on the Llyn Peninsular, then calmly reported their actions to the police at nearby Pwllheli.
The 'Fire' represented the final act in a high profile, passionate, yet ultimately unsuccessful eighteen-month campaign to prevent the destruction of Penyberth, the renowned farmhouse which had iconic cultural and religious significance in Wales, in order to construct a military training facility, a bombing school for the RAF.
Pleas from eminent literary and religious figures, backed by over half a million people, were dismissed by British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin - who had earlier agreed to divert the bombing school away from sites in Northumberland and Dorset due to local protests - incensed Welsh public opinion resulting in a resurgence in nationalist sentiment and increased support for the recently established Welsh Nationalist Party, Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru.
In a sensational outcome to the court case held in Caernarfon, the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The case was then controversially transferred to the Old Bailey in London where Lewis Valentine, Saunders Lewis and D. J. Williams were convicted, merely seconds after the prosecution concluded, and imprisoned for nine months at Wormwood Scrubs: their place in Welsh political folklore assured.
Penyberth - A Nation on Trial, Ann Corkett's meticulous and engaging translation of Prof. Dafydd Jenkins' study, Tan yn Llyn, was first published in 1998 with an updated Introduction by the author sixty years after his original edition and is now republished in paperback and ebook editions.
The 'Fire' represented the final act in a high profile, passionate, yet ultimately unsuccessful eighteen-month campaign to prevent the destruction of Penyberth, the renowned farmhouse which had iconic cultural and religious significance in Wales, in order to construct a military training facility, a bombing school for the RAF.
Pleas from eminent literary and religious figures, backed by over half a million people, were dismissed by British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin - who had earlier agreed to divert the bombing school away from sites in Northumberland and Dorset due to local protests - incensed Welsh public opinion resulting in a resurgence in nationalist sentiment and increased support for the recently established Welsh Nationalist Party, Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru.
In a sensational outcome to the court case held in Caernarfon, the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The case was then controversially transferred to the Old Bailey in London where Lewis Valentine, Saunders Lewis and D. J. Williams were convicted, merely seconds after the prosecution concluded, and imprisoned for nine months at Wormwood Scrubs: their place in Welsh political folklore assured.
Penyberth - A Nation on Trial, Ann Corkett's meticulous and engaging translation of Prof. Dafydd Jenkins' study, Tan yn Llyn, was first published in 1998 with an updated Introduction by the author sixty years after his original edition and is now republished in paperback and ebook editions.
Reviews / Votes
"Without a doubt, the events of September 8th 1936 ensured that Welsh politics would never be the same. This book is an opportunity for a new non-Welsh speaking generation to appreciate the exact significance of those events in the context of our past and present, and an opportunity for all readers to reassess Penyberth's influence on Wales."Y Cymro
"This important book throws a good deal of light on one of the defining moments of Welsh politics in the 20th century. Reading it sent a cold shudder down my spine"
Western Mail
"To understand what has happened, in ideological terms, in Wales since [Penyberth]...the growth of a great patriotic movement and the long-awaited dynamic towards self-determination, this story needs to be read"
Cambria Magazine
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cardiff
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
12 b/w photographs
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
276 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-86057-166-4 (9781860571664)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2025
Welsh Academic Press
€28.49
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
01/1998
Welsh Academic Press
€41.50
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Professor Dafydd Jenkins (1911-2012) was Emeritus Professor of Law and Welsh Law at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Content
Foreword by Dr. John Davies
Introduction by Prof. Dafydd Jenkins
Translator's Note by Ann Corkett
1. "An armament training camp ... at Hell's Mouth"
(2 February 1932 - 30 May 1935)
2 "All appeals, all protests ... are useless"
(1 June 1935 - 8 September 1936)
3 "It was a glorious fire, we didn't need lights"
(12 August - 8 September 1936)
4 "Everything is in the letter"
(8 September - 12 October 1936)
5 "We have failed to agree"
(13 October 1936)
6 "Then why move the trial?"
(13 October 1936 - 1 January 1937)
7 "I deny the authority of the court"
(12-19 January 1937)
Appendix - Penyberth
Afterword
Select Bibliography
Index
Introduction by Prof. Dafydd Jenkins
Translator's Note by Ann Corkett
1. "An armament training camp ... at Hell's Mouth"
(2 February 1932 - 30 May 1935)
2 "All appeals, all protests ... are useless"
(1 June 1935 - 8 September 1936)
3 "It was a glorious fire, we didn't need lights"
(12 August - 8 September 1936)
4 "Everything is in the letter"
(8 September - 12 October 1936)
5 "We have failed to agree"
(13 October 1936)
6 "Then why move the trial?"
(13 October 1936 - 1 January 1937)
7 "I deny the authority of the court"
(12-19 January 1937)
Appendix - Penyberth
Afterword
Select Bibliography
Index