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Gazetteers - Llangefni

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

  • National Gazetteer, 1868
  • Lewis 1833

    National Gazetteer (1868)

    "LLANGEFNI, a parish and market town in the hundred of Menai, county Anglesey, North Wales, 7 miles N. of Newborough, 8 W. of Beaumaris, and 4½ S. of the Gaerwen station on the Chester and Holyhead line of railway. It is situated in a vale, watered by the river Cefni, which is here crossed by a-bridge of two arches. The main road between Bangor and Holyhead passes through it, as well as the old Roman road. The little town of Llangefni is a bustling and prosperous place, with a population of about 1,800. It contains a market-house, a commercial bank, and one for savings. Petty sessions are held in the town. It unites with Beaumaris and others in returning one member to parliament. The chief employments of the people are leather dressing, malting, and the woollen manufacture. There are corn mills on the stream. In the last century it was only a small hamlet.

    The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Bangor, value with the curacy of Tregayan annexed, £446, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is a modern structure dedicated to St. Cyngar. It contains a stone bearing the inscription, "Culidon jacit secvndo." The charities amount to about £2 per annum. About a mile from the town is Tregarnedd, once the seat of Ednyfed Fychan, the friend and minister of Llewelyn, and ancestor of the Tudor family, but now a farmhouse. A grandson of the above nobleman was executed by Edward I. at Rhyddlan Castle, for having fortified his castle of Tregarnedd. Thursday is market day. Fairs are held on the 14th March, 17th April, 10th June, 17th August, 15th September, and 23rd October, also every Thursday for six weeks-before Christmas for the sale of cattle, &c."

    "TREGAYAN, a parish chapelry in the parish of Llangefni, in the hundred of Menai, county Anglesey, 2 miles N.W. of Llangefni, its post town. The living is a curacy annexed to the rectory of Llangefni, in the diocese of Bangor. The church is dedicated to St. Caian. William-ap-Howel died here in 1587, 105 years old, and had forty-two children between eight and eighty-five years of age."

    [Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
    Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

    A Topographical Dictionary of Wales
    Samuel Lewis, 1833

    LLANGEVNI (LLAN-GEVNI), a market town and parish, in the hundred of MENAI, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 13 miles (W.) from Beaumaris, and 248 (N. W. by W.) from London, containing 1753 inhabitants. This place, which derives its name from the river Cevni, upon which it is situated, was, towards the close of the last century, but a small and inconsiderable village, consisting only of two or three solitary houses ; but owing to its central situation, and the establishment of a market here, it has, since that period, amazingly increased in extent and population, and is at present one of the best market towns in the island. It is beautifully situated in a rich and fertile vale, watered by the river Cevni, which nearly encircles the town, and over which two handsome bridges of stone have been erected, and upon the old Holyhead road, at the distance of a mile from the new line of road from the Menai bridge to Holyhead, which has been constructed under the authority of government for the more expeditious conveyance of the mail. The parish comprises a considerable tract of land, of which the greater portion is enclosed and cultivated, though one part forms a tract of common, which affords good pasturage for cattle and sheep. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified, combining features of rural and picturesque character ; and the higher grounds afford some extensive prospects over the adjacent country. The town is well built and of prepossessing appearance, consisting of several regular and well formed streets, with a neat market-house. On the river Cevni is a small factory for carding and spinning wool, and for bleaching and weaving woollen cloth, which is manufactured here on a limited scale. The market, which was formerly on Friday, is now on Thursday, and is well supplied with provisions of every kind : it was established in the year 1785, and is now one of the best attended in the island. Fairs are annually held on March 14th, April 17th, June 10th, August 17th, September 15th, and October 23rd ; and six great cattle markets are held on the six market days preceding Christmas. A post-office under that of Bangor, from which place it is distant eleven miles, has been established in the town, for the accommodation of its greatly increased population. By the late acts for amending the representation of the people Llangevni has been constituted a polling-place in the election of a knight for the shire.

    The living is a discharged rectory, with Tregayan annexed, in the archdeaconry of Anglesey, and diocese of Bangor, rated in the king's books at £9. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Bangor. The church, dedicated to St. Cyngar, is a spacious and handsome structure, in the later style of English architecture, with a lofty square embattled tower, crowned with pinnacles, erected in 1824, by subscription, aided by a grant of £250 from the Incorporated Society for the building and enlargement of churches and chapels, for the erection of three hundred and eighty-three additional sittings, of which two hundred and ninety-seven are free. The late Lord Bulkeley gave the land on which the church is built, and £ 300 towards its erection, also a plot of ground on which to build a glebe-house, with the grounds attached to it ; and a portion of land for the enlargement of the churchyard. The. Rev. Evan Williams, M. A., the present rector, built, in 1822, an excellent, commodious, and well-planned glebe-house, and contributed £100 towards the building of the church, and the proprietors of land in the parish subscribed liberally towards the accomplishment of the same work. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A National school, which is held in a large room over the market-place, built expressly for that purpose by the late Lord Bulkeley, was established here in 1818, and is supported by subscription, for the gratuitous instruction of poor children, of whom there are at present one hundred and sixty attending it. Numerous small donations and bequests have, been made by various benefactors for the relief of the poor of this parish; but they have all been lost, with the exception of £ 1. 15. per. annum, which is distributed according to the intention of the donor.

    About one mile from the town, within the limits of the parish, is situated Tregarnedd, anciently the residence of Ednyved Vychan, the valiant commander of the forces and chief counsellor of Llewelyn the Great, and ancestor of Owain Tewdwr, and of the sovereigns of that house who subsequently succeeded to the throne of England. Tregarnedd, which took its name from a large carnedd, or sepulchral heap of stones, in an adjoining field, was also the birthplace of Sir Grufydd Llwyd, grandson of Ednyved, who was knighted by Edward I., in 1284, on announcing to that monarch, who was then at Rhuddlan, the intelligence of the birth of Prince Edward, in the castle of Carnarvon. Sir Grufydd was greatly distinguished by the royal favour, both in the reign of Edward and during part of that of his son; but in 1317 he attempted to form an alliance with Edward Bruce, who had assumed the crown of Ireland, and in 1322 openly revolted, ravaging the whole country, and committing various acts of atrocity : the English: giving him battle, in which he sustained considerable loss, he retreated to his fortress of Tregarnedd, which he had previously garrisoned, and also constructed another strong hold, called Ynys Gevni, in the marsh at a short distance from his mansion, and surrounded it with a broad and deep fosse, of which part is still remaining. In this strong position he maintained himself for some time, but was finally taken prisoner, and conveyed to Rhuddlan castle, where he was soon afterwards beheaded. The site of Tregarnedd is now occupied only by some mean farm-buildings ; but the whole extent is clearly marked by the intrenchments which surround it, and which enclose an area of nearly five acres : part of the moat on the north-west side is quite perfect. The adjacent carnedd, which consisted of an extensive pile of stones, surrounded by a circle of upright stones about eighty-six yards in diameter, was wholly removed in 1822, for the purpose of building a wall to divide the field. Of the fortress in the marsh, the site of which is still called Ynys Gevni, nothing but some small vestiges of the intrenchments are now visible, the continued overflowing of the river having swept away every vestige of the ancient buildings. About a mile from the town are some considerable remains of a paved road, which may be traced for a distance of two miles, in some parts in a very perfect state, being paved in some places with large masses of jasper, which is found in a quarry at no great distance, intermixed with the grit-stone. It is supposed by some antiquaries to be part of a Roman road, which anciently led from the Moel y don ferry across the Menai to the station at Holyhead. In taking down the old church, in 1824, a large stone was discovercd beneath the foundation, with a very curious inscription in rude Roman characters, of which, owing to the mutilated condition in which it was found, the following part only is legible; CVLIDON. IACIT. SECVND....: it is now placed upright in the churchyard, upon the spot where it was found. In 1829, in removing a small fence at Glanhwva, near the town, forty human skeletons were found, which, from the position in which they lay, appeared to have been hastily interred; and in the adjoining field great numbers of human bones are scattered in every direction : these are supposed to be the remains of the men who fell at the siege of Ynys Gevni. Adjoining the town is a chalybeate spring, formerly in great repute, but now owing to an admixture of other water, by which its medicinal efficacy is weakened, altogether disused. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor is £462. 2.

    ERDDRENIOG

    ERDDRENIOG (YR DDREINIOG), a township in that part of the parish of TREGAYAN which is in the hundred of TYNDAETHWY, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 4 miles (N.) from Llangevni. The population is included in the return for the parish.

    TREGAYAN

    TREGAYAN (TREV GIAN, or TREV GAIAN), a parish partly in the hundred of MENAI, partly in that of TYNDAETHWY, and partly in that of MALLTRAETH, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 3 miles (N. N.W.) from Llangevni, containing 179 inhabitants. This parish, which derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Caian, is situated nearly in the centre of the island, and upon the turnpike road from Beaumaris to Llanerchymedd. It comprises a considerable tract of arable and pasture land, which is, with the exception of a small portion, enclosed and in a good state of cultivation. The surface is boldly undulated, rising in some parts into abrupt eminences, and has a greater proportion of woodland than is generally found in this part of the principality. Tregayan Hall, the seat of Rear-Admiral Lloyd, is a handsome mansion, pleasantly seated in the centre of some flourishing plantations, and forming a prominent object in the scenery of the place. The living is annexed to the rectory of Llangevni, in the archdeaconry of Anglesey, and diocese of Bangor. The church is a small but well built edifice, having a fine south door and a handsome east window. The parish register contains an entry recording the death of William ab Howel, in the year 1587, at the advanced age of one hundred and five years: he is said to have been the father of forty-two children, of whom the eldest, at the time of his decease, was eighty-nine, and the youngest eight, years of age. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £ 75. 11.

    YR DDREINIOG, a township in that part of the parish of TREGAYAN which is in the hundred of TYNDAETHWY, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES. The population is included in the return for the parish. The name signifies a place abounding with thorns.

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