Llandyfaelog Heritage and History PDF

History of Cwmffrwd Church and Cwmffrwd House

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1. Pistyll A healing well was found at Pistyll, this well a spring of limpid water, greatly valued for curing diseases of the eye.
2. Bancycapel takes its name from an old chapel that stood on a bank of high ground Mynydd y Cyfor, at the southern end of the hill near the crossroads in the hamlet of Bancycapel. On this bank mounds of earth remain which mark the site of Capel Cynheiddon. The chapel was standing during the C17th, but has now practically disappeared. Its foundations were mentioned in the C12th De situ Brecheniauc, a document detailing ancient Welsh burial grounds.
3. Capel Bancycapel Before the Chapel was built in 1834, local Methodists held their meetings at Penymaes, Bwlchygwynt, Fforest and Iscwm among others. The first pulpit in the church came from Water Street Chapel, Carmarthen. It was intended to add a clock to the chapel however before the building was completed it was removed to Llangain Church. The interior was very simple with four seats in front and on each side with benches in the centre; some renovations were made in 1869.
4. Cloigyn In this hamlet there was an extra-parochial chapel used only for the the solemnization of marriages. Only the foundations remain. On Cloigyn bridge is an inscription stating that the cost of erecting the bridge was met by fines imposed on ‘Cardis’ who ‘drove their horses and carts at an unlimited speed’ to and from the lime kilns at Meinciau.
5. Glanrhydw is a Georgian manor house, built in 1732 and set within a fine park; it was home to the Saunders family.
6. Gelligaeros / Llwynyreos – Roman Road – There is a Roman road from Pensarn coming out into Bolahaul Road between Penbryn and Mount Hill. It travels across to Beaulieu on to Tycanol and Cwmtawel, re-entering the community near Cwmffrwd Uchaf. The stretch between Llwynyreos and Gelligeiros is still the main road.
7. Oaklands is a large villa built in 1861, set in woodland on the bend in the road. Once the home of T.W.Barker, a Carmarthen lawyer who wrote the ‘The Handbook of the Natural History of Carmarthenshire’ in 1905. Oaklands was also once the home of Mr Walter Davies who with his brother, invented the Stepney spare wheel.
8. St Anne’s Church was built in 1866 by T.W.A.Thompson, and opened on the 14th August 1868. It is a simple building with a bellcote and a grand organ. The earliest grave commemorates an Irishman, Captain J.M. Pentland(1800-1871) of Digoed, and carries the following inscription: This officer sailed in the ship Northumberland with Napoleon Buonaparte to St Helena in 1815 and returned to England in 1818.
9. Cwmffrwd means the Valley of the swift-flowing stream. It is located where the Carmarthen to Kidwelly road crosses Nant Cwmffrwd where an old single-arched bridge crosses the stream. The name dates from 1609, when it was called Cwm y froode. The Ffrwd has its source near Llanddarog and meets the Pibwr with its source at Blaenpibwr (near Capel Dewi) at Pibwr Bridge, they then enter the Towy together at Pibwrwen.
10. Llaingotten is a terrace of houses within Cwmffrwd. The name derives from Llain-coed-ynn, being Llain(narrow stretch of land) and coed-ynn(woodland of ash trees.
11. Abercyfor Iron Age defended enclosure, within which are the foundations of a building, possibly a Roman villa, with a remarkably fine tessellated pavement. It is believed that during Roman times the three Abercyfors and Gelligeiros may have been one estate.
12. Cwmffrwd House was a large Victorian house built around 1860 for Dr Thirlwall, the Bishop of St Davids. It burnt down in 1921.
13. Capel Penygraig Services were originally held at Felin Plas Gwyn Cottage in Croesyceiliog. First they were moved to the home of Nell Francis in Pentrepoeth; thereafter in 1670 to a place named Ffynnonloyw to the east of the current site, until 1703 with services at Glannant and Croesyceiliog, where a cemetery was provided. In 1748 it moved again and a quarter acre was rented for a chapel and graveyard from three sisters who lived at Gelligaeros, Plasygraig and Cwmfelin respectively. Originally a small thatched cottage, the building was ready for services on 13th April 1749, though the chapel name plaque dates 1751 as the date of erection. The Revd Milbourne Bloom was the first minister at Penygraig. The current building was erected in 1834 at a cost of £367. Capel Penygraig celebrated is 250th Anniversary in 1999.
14. Ysgol Gyfun Bro Myrddin The Secondary School moved to this location near Croesyceiliog from its former site on Richmond Terrace Carmarthen in 1997.

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1. Old Quarry between Moelfre and Croesyceiliog Fach. Moelfre derives from ‘moel’ meaning a mountain or hill standing on its own, and ‘bre’, meaning a point rising on high land.
2. TyrNest It is traditionally said that whilst on the way from Carmarthen to attack Kidwelly castle in around 1100, Gruffydd ap Rhys pitched his camp near where Tyrnest farmhouse now stands and the spot was named after his sister, Nest. 
3. Croesyceiliog It was believed that the name arose from the fact that much cock-fighting took place at Croesyceiliog Fawr, with the farm being the first to be called by the name. It is also possible that the original name meant a place where a wayside holy cross stood in olden days. Behind Croesyceiliog village there was a well used ford which served as a shortcut to the parish of Llangain.
4. BrynGwanws A small river, the Gwanws has its source in one of the Capel Farm fields and runs down to the village of Pentrepoeth through Bryngwanws Fields, at one point there is a deep whirlpool. The river flows to Croesyceiliog before it enters the Towy.
5. Pentrepoeth The hamlet sits in a valley between Idole and Croesyceiliog with an old winding road called Cwmale forming a junction at its centre. Along Cwmale was a stretch of free land known as Waun Llefris Common. Nonconformists initially met at the home of Nell Francis in Pentrepoeth and it is said were honoured by the presence of John Penry the martyr who was hanged in 1593. He is thought to have delivered his sermons at a spot near Beulah Hill.
6. Melin Plas Gwyn The nonconformist movement within the Community commenced with a few elderly people meeting at a dilapidated cottage near the site where Melin Plas Gwyn now stands. Near Melin Plas Gwyn is a stretch of old Roman road, running parallel with the railway line. It is probable that Gruffydd ap Rhys travelled along this road to attack Kidwelly Castle. 
7. Idole The place name is ancient, referred to as ‘Vaccae Ithole’, a vaccae being a cow unit for taxation in medieval times. Idole lay within the commote of Kidwelly. A legend explains the origin of the place-name; ‘the high meadows where Idole now stands, were once all common land. When it was all allotted out, and became the centre of so many rules and regulations, the Welsh referred to the part as Mynydd y Rheole, (rules), which in time became Ithole’.
8. Capel Seion, Idole In 1897 a Sunday school was formed at Idole with 19 members enrolling. In 1899 a Baptist chapel was built at Idole, the cost of erecting the building was £430. The first meeting was held on 25th April 1900 to incorporate the members into a body or church. 
9. Ysgol y Fro, Uned Idole By an indenture made on 2nd March 1854, between John Howell of Llan and David Gravell of Cwmfelin a parcel of land was provided for the purpose of erecting a school house and a house for the teacher of the school. There is now no trace of the school or house, while the current building was built in 1906. In 1996 the school became part of the first federated school in Carmarthenshire along with Llangyndeyrn and Llansaint. In 1860 the surveyors of the Parish left a plot of land opposite the school for the children to play on along with one acre to be used for allotments for poor labourers. In 2009 the vision of an area for children to play in was achieved through a project carried out by Llandyfaelog Community Council, Carmarthenshire County Council with funding from Cwm Environmental Grant Scheme and the National Lottery Awards for All. Alongside the school there is a public quarry which contains a well.
10. Cwm yr Arian The fertility of its soil has always made this a prosperous farm with some parishioners recalling as many as ten families living at Cwm yr Arian. Local tradition has it that at some point a large amount of money was found at the farm possibly deposited by smugglers.
11. Towy Castle Originally developed as a mansion during the 18th-19th Centuries.
12. Site of Tredegar Cottage Former birthplace of a Dr. David Davies, the obstetrician who helped deliver Queen Victoria into this world. Demolished in 1938. A memorial tablet to Dr. Davies can be found in St Maelogs Church, Llandyfaelog. 
13. Capel Rama Sunday Schools had been held for many years from 1819 at places such as Manygath, Rhydygar, Pantycwar (all now demolished) and Llwyncelyn. In 1839 a small chapel measuring 24ft x 18ft was built with Sunday schools being moved to the site in 1841. In 1845 the chapel was extended and in 1871 with the church prospering it was decided to build a new chapel, the present Capel Rama.
14. Upland Arms The majority of the Community place names are Welsh, though in this locality there are a number of English names, such as Upland Arms (previously known as Raymond’s Lodge) which was a public house. Close by are also Holy Thorn and Constantinople. The likely explanation being that in the year 1188 Baldwin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, along with the great Welsh historian Gerallt Gymro, travelled through the area preaching the gospel and asking men to join the Crusaders in the Holy Land. They pitched their tent and named Constantinople and Holy Thorn.
15. Lan house was home to Mary Tucker who married Williams Davies, owner of The Emporium in Guildhall Square, Carmarthen.

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LLANDYFAELOG sits at the centre of the old hamlet of Ysgubor Fawr. Once the church was built, further dwellings were established. From late Medieval times and through the Reformation, the village itself became more familiarly identified with the church and parish of its monastic patron, St. Maelog.

1. LLANDYFAELOG - Originally, the name Llandyfaelog applied only to the church and its extensive ‘parish’.The parish mainly consisted of farms and cottages with a few scattered hamlets. The Lordship of Kidwelly organised the parish into tithing areas, later modified into seven hamlets during C15/C16. Many of the existing farms’ names go back to that time. Before C19, the village consisted of a cluster of buildings between Yr Hen Ysgubor and Woodbine Cottage.
2. EFAIL BEYNON - The blacksmith’s shop on this site dated from 1830 and was in the care of the Beynon family for the whole of its working life. It was demolished during road improvements in the 1980’s. The original road junction was on the Kidwelly side of the Smithy and formed a crossroads with the Ferryside road.
3. Pen y Fedw An 18th century detached farmhouse.
4. Nantygoetre Nantygoetre is a corruption of Coedtref which means a home (cartref) in the woods. Nantygoetre Isaf is a typical name of a house standing on the bank of a brook in a wooded glen. Nantygoetre Uchaf stands on adjacent higher ground.
5. Glanmorlais Uchaf The current house and buildings to the front were Pant Faen Woollen Factory. To the rear there was a water wheel, to drive the machinery and Glanmorlais Uchaf, a traditional Welsh long house.
6. Capel Ebenezer, Coed y Brain - In 1850 Baptists in this area led by Daniel Stephens of Coed y Brain began a Sunday School, holding prayer meetings in a loft over the coach-house at Coed y Brain Farm. In the year 1865 the Ebenezer chapel was built. Coed y Brain installed the first private telephone in the Community in June 1933.
7. Glanmorlais and Pontmorlais were originally known as Glanfforddlas and Pontfforddlas.
8. Gellideg - Home to the Jennings family for several generations, Gellideg was the first house in the community to be connected to the Llanelli electricity supply in May 1932. Major E.C. Jennings was first to register a private motor car in January 1916, and was editor of Motor Magazine. In 1936 Mrs. Margaret Jennings set the lap record at Brooklands Racing Circuit, Surrey, at 127mph.
9. Llechdwnni (‘the shelter of the Dwnns’) - This house was the ancient home of the Dwnns, a notable Carmarthenshire family of the C15. A member of the family, Henry Don, was a friend of Owain GlyndWr and took part in his rebellion. A few traces of the old building can be seen behind the current house. In the C17 it became the seat of the Brigstocke family.
10. Standing Stones – Meinillwydion
11. CILFEITHY - Home of the Anthony Family and owners of Glenside the 1911 Grand National Winner.
12. Pont Rhydyronnen - Rhydyronnen bridge is a three arched C18 stone bridge over the Gwendraeth Fach river.
13. Ystradferthyr - Is another seat of the Dwnn Family. Its name points to an unidentified martyrdom.
14. Ystrad Fawr - Was the residence of a Cadet branch of the family of Lloyd of Glyn and was built during the reign of Elizabeth I.
15. VICARAGE now Ty Cloch This “new” vicarage was originally built in the 1888. It came complete with a large field, orchard and outbuildings for servants, a stable, carriage house and a small byre. The last Rev’d B.D.M. Griffiths retired in 1979, when the property was then sold. The outbuildings have since been converted into dwellings known as Apple Tree cottages.

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1. ST MAELOG’S CHURCH (circa C7–8) sits in a large, circular enclosure (5 acres) which suggests evidence of Irish monastic influence. Norman documents state that St. Maelog’s was also a “mother church” to the chapels at Llangyndeyrn, Capel Cynheiddon and Capel Dyddgen. In C13-15, the church was rebuilt in stages with the porch and vestry added during the reign of Henry VII(early C16). The Reformation (C16) and the Civil War (C17) saw the church near to complete dereliction, with no incumbent priest for some 100 years. In 1796, Iolo Morgannwg described St. Maelog’s as “a large but confused heap of rude buildings of addition upon addition of different ages.” In 1868 donations enabled the church to be completely rebuilt. It has fine examples of C19 & 20 stained glass windows by Burne-Jones, Morris & Co and James Powell & Son.
2. The Old Vicarage(C17) The ruin of the old Vicarage lies behind the church. Towy Castle became the preferred residence of the clergy in later years. (See Idole Panel).
3. The Rose and Crown(C15-16) Originally a farm and ale house adjacent to the church drive. Although refurbished, it still resembles a long house, with C18 or C19 additional dwelling facing the village road. Land belonging to the Rose and Crown was obtained by the church in 1659. The tithe list of 1810 records the Rose and Crown as a ‘Public House with Garden’. The public house finally closed its doors in the late 1980’s and is now a private dwelling house.
4. Ysgubor Hen(C15 - 16) Originally dates back to the 1500’s. Besides cattle sheds, the pound also contained a blacksmith’s shop, stables, pigsties and storage for fodder. In 1659 it was recorded as ‘Tithe Barn, buildings and animal pound’ belonging to Rose and Crown. Latterly, the barn was a cowshed, with a small dairy attached to its front.
5. Hen Ysgol yr Eglwys(C19) Once the village school. By a deed enrolled in Chancery in 1852, F.J.Barker the tithe owner granted part of Parc Cwrt for its founding, to aid the promotion of the education of the poor. The school opened in 1855 with 77 pupils. Social factors witnessed a slow but gradual decrease until it closed in 1998, and was converted to a dwelling in 2002.
6. School House(1855) Attached to the school it was built for the head teacher.
7. The Village Pump Villagers originally obtained water from the stream in the churchyard. To celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1898 Joseph Abel Timmins and William Buchanan Lowry agreed to supply a reservoir and conduit, the water pillar and housing at their own expense for the inhabitants of the village and the church for all time. With the coming of mains water supply in the 1950’s, deterioration began to set in. However in 1992, the children of the parish raised funds to renovate the pump and its housing. The pump now uses mains water supply.
8. The Red Lion(C17-18) The tithe list of 1810 refers to the property as two dwellings, Ty Mawr and Red Lion Inn. Its 29 acres of land suggests the Inn was a part of the farmstead. By the 1830’s it had become known as the Red Lion Assembly Rooms. The public house became a separate entity from the farm in 1968. Now a refurbished modern Inn, its function room was once a byre.
9. The Methodist Chapel(C18) The first chapel here was established in 1780 by Reverend Peter Williams after moving from the original meeting house at Woodbine Cottage. Rebuilt in 1844, the chapel finally closed for worship in 1981.
10. Glanffrwd & HafodUnnos(1928) The pair of cottages opposite the Red Lion were built in 1928 by Mrs A. S. Lowry, who had inherited the tithe of the parish. The former was meant as a retirement home for the schoolmaster, while the latter was to be a holiday dwelling. The cottages stand on the site of the old (C18) drapers, grocery stores & telegraph/post office, which was destroyed by fire just before WW1.
11. Ysgubor Fawr(C15 - 16) Lends its name to one of Llandyfaelog Parish’s seven old administrative Hamlets. With Ty Melyn opposite, it was originally part of a farm or holding. Built as a tall, single storey thatched roof barn, Ysgubor Fawr was purchased by the church in 1695 along with the Rose & Crown barn for the collection of the Vicar’s tithe. Attached to the rear of Ysgubor Fawr was another building, (now demolished) called Ysgubor Fach which served as a parish poorhouse. In 1877 saved from sale, the buildings were leased to a local gent, who let them out as dwelling houses. Ysgubor Fach was abandoned as a home in the 1920’s. Ysgubor Fawr was the Village Post Office with a shop, from the 1930’s until the early 60’s.
12. WOODBINE COTTAGE This cottage was acquired by the Reverend Peter Williams after his move to the Parish in 1750. He installed a pulpit in the main area, and this was the first Methodist meeting house in the village. Woodbine was the location of the last village Post Office, from the 1970’s to the 1980’s.