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Llandygwydd - Extract from 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' by Samuel Lewis 1833

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"LLANDYGWYDD (LLAN-DYGWYDD), a parish in the lower division of the hundred of TROEDYRAUR, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 7 miles (N. W.) from Newcastle-Emlyn, containing 1131 inhabitants. This parish is pleasantly situated in the south-western part of the county, on the banks of the river Teivy, and is intersected by the turnpike roads from Cardigan to Newcastle-Emlyn, only four miles distant from the former, though the latter is the post town. The lands are enclosed and in a high state of cultivation ; and the soil is tolerably fertile. The scenery of the southern portion of the parish, bordering on the vale of Teivy, is finely diversified, and highly enriched with groves of stately oaks and other majestic timber; and the neighbourhood abounds with handsome seats and pleasing villas. Blaen pant, the residence of W. Owen Brigstocke, Esq., is a handsome mansion, beautifully embosomed in woods of majestic growth, and surrounded with flourishing plantations : in the house is an extensive and valuable library, principally collected by the ancestor of the present proprietor, Owen Brigstocke, Esq. ; and the grounds, which are judiciously and tastefully laid out, comprehend much pleasing and picturesque scenery. Stradmore Vale, an elegant modern mansion, the property of Dr. Sheriff, is finely situated on the banks of the Teivy: it is sheltered in the rear by a noble forest of oak, rising from the margin of the river, and forming an interesting and prominent feature in the scenery of this portion of the vale : the prospect from the house, though confined, is extremely beautiful. Noyadd Trêvawr , once a place of great importance, and at present the property and residence of Captain Parry,    R.N., C.B., G.C.S., is a good family house, pleasantly situated, and comprehending within the grounds some pleasing scenery; and Penllan, the residence of the Rev. John Jones, commands a rich and extensive prospect over the high grounds on the opposite side of the river. Park Gors, Cilluch, and Dôl, all within the parish, are also handsome residences on a smaller scale. The manor and lordship of Llan-dygwydd formerly belonged to the Bishop of St. David's, but were sold to the Rev. Thos. Griffith, together with the estate of Llwynduris, under an act of parliament for the redemption of the land tax, on which, near the site of the old episcopal palace, he subsequently erected the mansion now the property and residence of his son, John Griffiths, Esq. This parish constitutes a prebend in the collegiate church of Brecknock, to which it was transferred, at the dissolution, from Aberguilly: it is valued in the king's books at £ 10.12.8 1/2 and is in the patronage of the Bishop of St. David's. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of St.David's, endowed with £200 private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and £400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Prebendary of Llandygwidd. . The church, dedicated to St. Dygwydd, is a neat modern edifice, rebuilt about the commencement of the present century. There were formerly two chapels of case, one at Noyadd, of which some vestiges may still be traced in a field called Parc y Capel, and the other near Cenarth bridge, which has totally disappeared, the site having been levelled in the formation of the turnpike road. Here are National schools for the gratuitous instruction of children of both sexes, supported by subscription. To the east of the church are the remains of a small camp, called " Gaer," of which no historical particulars are recorded ; and within a quarter of a mile to the south of it is a barrow: there are also two barrows on an eminence in this parish, called " Pen y Bryn Bwa." The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £354.4."

[Gareth Hicks: 8 December 1999]