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"PISTYLL, a parochial chapelry in the hundred of Dinlaen, county Carnarvon, 5 miles N.W. of Pwllheli, its post town, and 19 from Carnarvon. It is situated on Carnarvon Bay, under Rivel mountain and Vortigern's grave. The living is a curacy annexed to the rectory of Edern, in the diocese of Bangor. The church is an ancient structure. There is a place of worship for Dissenters." [From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]
A Penllyn site - St Bueno Church, Pistyll
Joyce Hinde has supplied a list of Parish Registers held at the Caernarfon Area Record Office.
Pistyll - on the Penllyn.com site
PISTILL (PISTYLL), a parish in the hundred of DINLLAEN, county of CARNARVON, NORTH WALES, 7 miles (N. by W.) from Pwllheli, containing 528 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the shore of Carnarvon bay, and comprises a small mountainous district, the entire surface of which is dreary, rugged, and barren; and the scenery derives the little interest it possesses from the vicinity of the bay. There is no village, the houses being entirely scattered. Near the church is a modern farm-house, built upon the site of an ancient mansion : the proprietor of this farm, comprising two hundred acres of land, pays only one shilling modus for tithes, in consideration of the smallness of which charge he is compelled to provide bread and cheese, with good ale, or mead, for every person who shall have crossed the pass leading through the mountains of Yr Eivl, on their way to the market town of Nevin. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the rectory of Edern, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Bangor. The church, in which divine service is performed only on every third Sunday, is a small edifice, situated under a high rock, and upon the verge of a precipice overlooking the sea. There are places of worship for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists : the former is situated at a place called Llithvaen, and the latter, to which a school is attached, stands near the church. To the east of the church is a small vale, called Nant Gwrtheirn, or "the Vale of Vortigern," to which that prince is said to have retreated for shelter from his infuriated subjects, and where he built a castle, which is said to have been destroyed by lightning. This narrow vale is situated between Craig y Linn and Yr Eivl, and is accessible only by sea; the sides are bounded by barren and rugged rocks, on which not a blade of vegetation is seen. At one extremity rises the loftiest peak of Yr Eivl, and the only opening is towards the sea, by which it is bounded on the north : the sole agricultural produce of this vale is oats. Near the shore is a small verdant mound, said to have been the site of Vortigern's castle ; and near it was formerly a tumulus, called Bedd Gwrtheirn, or " Vortigern's Grave," in which was found a stone coffin, containing human bones. No traces of these relics are now visible, but the spot is still pointed out where that unfortunate prince, who met his death in this retired spot, in 464, was interred. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor amounts to £ 119.15. (A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, 1833)
Plan of Pistyll Properties 1870 - details of extant records on Archives Network Wales
"Plan of Bryndwchwydd, Cae'rorsedd and Carreg y Dinas in Pistyll, Caernarfonshire"
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