GENUKI : Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, St. Cynfarch and St. Mary

Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd

"A parish in the Union and hundred of Ruthin, county of Denbigh, 2 miles (S) from Ruthin, on the road to Wrexham and Llangollen; containing 1254 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the banks of the river Clwyd, at the upper extremity of the spacious vale to which that stream gives its name; and abounds with interesting and beautifully varied scenery. ..... The substratum of the parish is limestone, of which great quantities are procured for building, and also for burning into lime: the quarries and limekilns afford employment to a considerable portion of the population."
[A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The ancient parish of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd comprised the townships of Eyarth, Garthgynan, Derwen-Llanerch, and Faenol.

Church History
Church Records
Civil Registration

Population
Statistics

Church History

Ordnance Survey reference SJ 134555.
The church, which was mentioned in the Norwich Taxation of 1254, was founded by St. Cynfarch, and is dedicated to that Saint and St. Mary. It was restored in 1872, being re-opened on 8 August 1872.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Nonconformist Churches

"Welsh Church Commission - County of Denbigh - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905" lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the Civil parish of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd :

Name of Chapel	Denomination	Number of "adherents"
Seion	Baptists	46
Cricor	Calvinistic Methodists	76
Graig Adwy Wynt	Calvinistic Methodists	81
Pentrecelyn	Calvinistic Methodists	158
Salem	Calvinistic Methodists	74
Graigfechan	Congregationalists	68
Graigfechan	Wesleyans	100

Return to top of page

Church Records

Parish Registers

The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the Denbighshire Record Office, Ruthin.
They may be viewed on microfilm at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
These microfilms are not available elsewhere.

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1680 - 1979	1691 - 1971	1680 - 1962

Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :

Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
1680 - 1812	1691 - 1812	1680 - 1812

Bishop's Transcripts

Bishop's Transcripts for the years shown below have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Around the year 1951, most of the Bishop's Transcripts which had been deposited at that time were microfilmed by the LDS; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of the LDS.
The films may also be viewed at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.

Deposited at the National Library of Wales	Microfilmed copies
1683 - 1864	1813 - 1864

I.G.I.

There are no official I.G.I. entries for Ss. Cynfarch and Mary, Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd.

Return to top of page

Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd was assigned to the No. 3 ("Llanelidan") sub-district of the Ruthin Registration District; which was co-extensive with the Ruthin poor law Union.

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd are in the format :

Years 1837 - 1851: Ruthin XXVII.nnn
Years 1851 - 1930: Ruthin 11b.nnn

(GRO index references have no relevance at the local Superintendent Registrar's Office)

Return to top of page

Population

In 1831- the population was 1238.
In 1901- the population was 909.
[Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]

Return to top of page

Statistics

Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as 8528 acres.
[ The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]

Return to top of page

Find help, report problems, and contribute information.

Last Updated 23 Nov 2009 - Gareth Hicks