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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

National Gazetteer (1868)

"LLANLLECHID, a parish in the hundred of Uchaf, county Carnarvon, 4 miles S.E. of Bangor, its post town, and 10 N.E. of Carnarvon. It is situated on the river Ogwen, and includes seven hamlets, the principal being Bethesda and Tal-y-bont. The mountains Carnedd Llewellyn and Carnedd Davydd are nearly 3,500 feet in height. This is considered one of the largest parishes in the principality. There are several extensive slate quarries. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Bangor, value £471, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Llechid. There is also the district church of Glanogwen, the living of which is a perpetual curacy,* value £180. The charities, including a small school endowment, produce about £28 per annum. Côchwillan was the birth-place of Bishop Williams, and the residence of Archbishop Williams. A fair is held on the 29th October."

"BETHESDA, a hamlet in the parish of Llanllechid, hundred of Uchaf, in the county of Carnarvon, 3 miles from Bangor."

"BRAICH-MELYN, a hamlet in the parish of Llanllechid, hundred of Uchaf, in the county of Carnarvon, North Wales, 3 miles to the S.E. of Bangor."

"CAELWYNGRYDD, a hamlet in the parish of Llanllechid, hundred of Uchaf, in the county of Carnarvon, North Wales, 3 miles to the S.E. of Bangor. It is near the river Ogwen."

"CARNEDDI, a hamlet in the parish of Llanllechid, hundred of Uchaf, in the county of Carnarvon, North Wales, not far from Bangor."

"LLIDIART-Y-GWENYN, a hamlet in the parish of Llanllechid, county Carnarvon, 3 miles S. of Bangor."

"PANT-Y-FFRYDLAS, a hamlet in the parish of Llanllechid, county Carnarvon, 3 miles S.E. of Bangor."

"TAL-Y-BONT, a village in the parish of Llanllechid, county Carnarvon, 3 miles S.E. of Bangor. There are some lead mines at Alltycrib opened in 1851."

[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

LLANLLECHID (LLAN-LLECHID), a parish comprising the Upper and Lower divisions, in the hundred of LLECHWEDD UCHAV, county of CARNARVON, NORTH WALES, 4 milcs (S. E.) from Bangor, on the great road from London to Holyhead, containing 3075 inhabitants. This parish derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Llechid, an eminent female saint, who flourished in the beginning of the sixth century ; it extends nearly thirteen miles in length, and three miles in breadth, and comprises a tract of about eighteen thousand acres, of which comparatively but a small portion is enclosed and cultivated. The surface is boldly undulated, and the houses of the inhabitants, scattered widely over the parish, have, from the diversity of their situations, a pleasing effect in its scenery, some of which is of a finely mountainous character, the parish comprising within its limits the lofty mountains of Carnedd Llewelyn and Carnedd Davydd, the former of which attains an elevation of three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, and the latter of three thousand four hundred and twenty-seven, feet above the level of the. sea. On the summit of each of these mountains, which form pre-eminent features in the surrounding scenery, are large heaps of loose stones, supposed to be the remains of ancient fortifications, raised respectively by the princes from whom they take their name. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a giant named Rhita was buried on the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn, which may not improbably have been the place of sepulture of some valiant chieftain, whose name has not been recorded. Near the base of this mountain is Fynnon Llugwy, a fine lake covering a surface of many acres, the source of the river Llugwy, which, after traversing part of this parish, falls into the Conway, near Bettws. The village of Llanllechid is pleasantly situated in a fine open plain, in the north-western part of the parish : but the greater portion of the poorer inhabitants reside in the hamlet of Pant y Vriddlas, near the adjacent slate quarries of Penrhyn, in which they find employment. Several attempts have been made to procure slates in this parish, and some quarries have been opened for that purpose near the church ; but the undertaking has not been carried on to any profitable extent, and the quarries are worked only on a very limited scale, affording but little employment to the poor of the parish, in comparison with the quarries of Penrhyn. The road from London to Holyhead runs for twelve miles through the parish, and that from Liverpool to the same place for about three miles, affording excellent facilities of communication with the neighbouring districts. A fair is held on October 29th ; and at Talybont, a large village in the parish, others are held on May 7th, and August 11th.

The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Bangor, rated in the king's books at £ 15. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Bangor : the rector receives all the great tithes of the parish, except that of hay, for which a small modus is taken. The church is a long, low, ancient edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel, with a small chapel or oratory on the south side. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A parochial school was founded here in 1719, by the Rev. John Jones, Dean of Bangor, who endowed it with £ 100 for teaching twelve poor children of the parish to read the Welsh language. A National school was established in 1828, for which a school-house was built by subscription among the inhabitants, aided by a grant of £30 from the parent society in London. This school, in which sixty children of both sexes receive gratuitous instruction, is supported partly by subscription, and partly by the endowment given to the parochial school by Dean Jones, which, since its establishment, has been appropriated to its support. Dr. Williams, Bishop of Ossory, in 1672, bequeathed an estate in this parish, called Plas Hwva, to the poor, directing its produce to be distributed at the discretion of the rector: the farm produces a rental of £ 13, exclusively of some land, whereon six dwelling-houses have been built, among the occupants of which the rent of the farm is annually distributed in food and clothing, according to the will of the testator. William Griffith bequeathed a rent-charge of  £2. 16., and Robert and Catherine George the sum of £50, the former, as well as the interest of the latter, to be distributed in bread to the poor; Gwen Fletcher bequeathed £ 60, the interest to be distributed in articles of clothing among six of the poorest aged females in the parish ; and Maurice Prichard and Pierce Williams £ 5 each, the interest of the former to be given to the poorest person in the Upper, and that of the latter to the poorest person in the Lower, division of the parish. Dr. Williams, Bishop of Ossory, was a native of this place ; and Dr. John Williams, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Archbishop of York, in the reign of Charles I., resided at Cochwillan, in this parish. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £464. 16.

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