Carmarthenshire Contents

ABERGWILI

Parish based sketch map of the hundred

"ABERGUILLY (ABER-GWILI), a parish, in the union of CARMARTHEN, higher division of the hundred of ELVET . . 2 miles (E. by N.) from Carmarthen, on the road toLlandilo-Vawr; containing 2366 inhabitants. . . The village is pleasantly situated, and the meadows in the neighbourhood are watered by the rivers Towy and Guilly, over which last is a neat substantial stone bridge of three arches. The parish abounds with roofing slate of excellent quality, of which there are two quarries at present open, affording employment toabout fifty persons . . . The living is a discharged vicarage . . . The church, dedicated to St Maurice, and situated near the bank of the Towy, was made collegiate by Dr Beck, Bishop of St David's, in 1287, for twenty-two prebendaries, four priests, four choristers, and two clerks. . . .The church is a neat plain building, consisting of two aisles, without either tower or steeple . . . At Llanvihangel-uwch-Guilly is a chapel, formerly a chapel of ease . . . There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Methodists. A school is endowed with £6 per annum, arising from a bequest of Griffith Lloyd in 1713, for the instruction of 12 children, and in which 50 other children are taught at the expense of their parents. . . There are also three other schools supported by weekly payments from the children, in number about 90; and eight Sunday schools . . ." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

• Church History
• Church Records
• Description and Travel
• Directories
• History
• Land and Property
• Maps
• Occupations
• Public Records

Church History

LLANFIHANGEL UWCHGWILI, St. Michael   1838-1844    on the Church plans online site

Some church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by   I.G   Jones, & D. Williams. UWP,   Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

• Abergwili Parish Church
  " I cannot make these returns without expressing my decided conviction that no reliance whatever can be placed in the accuracy of the returns made in great many instances and stating my opinion that to publish them would not only tend to lead people to most erroneous conclusions. To ensure accuracy at any future time, two conditions are absolutely necessary. The condition is that the enumeration be entrusted to disinterested persons. This would prevent wilful exaggeration of which I could give shameful specimens in dissenting localities, as published in Welsh Periodicals.
  The other condition referred to is that the day on which the enumeration is to take place be not made known beforehand. This could do away with the unseemly and irreligious plan of persons leagued together to run from Chapel to Chapel on a particular day for the special object of cramming different Chapels. By this plan, which has been put into operation by dissenting bodies before the 30th instant, when they have been making returns to answer their own purposes, the same person is made to represent three or four different persons according to the number of chapels he has attended on a particular Sunday and in this manner the numbers of dissenters are unduly multiplied."        Enoch Pugh. Vicar.
• Llanfihangel-Uwch-Gwili Chapel of Ease       Without a District Assigned to it        [contains comments in the same vein as above]         Enoch Pugh, Incumbent
• St David's Church, (Carmarthen)              Consecrated in 1842             D A Williams, Incumbent, Picton Terrace
•  
• Ebenezer  Ind                  Erected in 1815                    David Thomas, Deacon
• Nantgaredig    CM       Erected in 1765           William Thomas, Deacon, Tynewydd, Llangwad
• Glanyranell, White Mill    Baptist            Erected in 1835        David Griffiths, Deacon, Capeldewilsha, Llanarthney
• Pantteg   Ind                          David Davis, Minister
• Salem    CM             Erected before 1800         Edward Edwards, One of the Deacons, Pantyglien Farm, Abergwilly
• Nebo, Penyrheol       Ind             Erected in 1840              Enoch Davies, Deacon, Penllwynionwg, Abergwilly
• Peniel   Ind               Erected in 1809                     David Davies, Minister, Pantteg

Parish entry for Abergwili with Llanfihangel-Uwch-Gwili from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by (Archive CD Books)).

• St David
• &
• St Michael (Llanfihangel-Uwch-Gwili)
• Incumbent and Curates; D Jenkins (D J Davies)
• Rural Deanery of  Carmarthen
• Acreage 8,395 ; Population 1,528

 

Huws, Richard E. Eglwys Capel-y-Groes: hanes yr achos ar achlysur dathlu canmlwyddiant 1888-1988. [Abergwili]: Eglwys Capel-y-Groes, 1988. 13p: ill, facsim, map; 21cm.

Griffiths, G. Milwyn. A Visitation of the Archdeaconry of Carmarthen, 1710   National Library of Wales journal. 1974, Summer Vol XVIII/3. Includes the parish of Aber Gwili

Jenkins, D. Abergwili and its parish church of St.David's, Carmarthen, pr. by W. Spurrell & Son (1936) 63 p., [6] leaves of pl., ill.

Church Records

Dyfed FHS have photographs and data relating to various churches and chapels on their site

Parish registers: Christenings and Burials (1661-1902) and Marriages (1661-1934) are at the National Library of Wales with copies at Carm.RO.

An index to Christenings (1813-75), Marriages (1661-1875), and Burials (1813-75), is available on microfiche from DFHS.

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1672, 1674-6, 1680, 1684, 1694, 1698, 1703-5, 1717-18, 1721, 1724-5, 1727-41, 1743-59, 1763, 1765-1800, 1802-35, 1837-52, 1856-82, 1884-91, 1893-4) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by the LDS.

Marriage index for this parish - see Dyfed Marriages, 1813-1837, Vol. 15 - Elvet Hundred (Dyfed Family History Society, c1989) .

Nonconformist Chapels:

• Salem (Baptist, c1824)            On Dyfed FHS as Salem, Felinwen Baptist
•  
• Nantgaredig CM chapel      On Dyfed FHS
• Salem (Calvinist, 1799), Pantgwyn     Births and baptisms (1814-37) at PRO (LDS Film no 828108)         On Dyfed FHS                   Salem Pantgwyn, White Mill, Carmarthen  CM chapel  - still open in 2006     
•  
• Ebenezer (Independent, 1829), Abergwili village       On Dyfed FHS  it is shown as a Baptist chapel       Welsh Ind on Coflein at SN43742110  with comment "The chapel was built in 1765 and rebuilt in 1825. Status (2000):Chapel."                      Shown as still open on the Union of Welsh Independents site (Dec 2006)
  Rees, Thomas & John Thomas. Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). Here is the entry from this book for this chapel (in Welsh ) 
• Pantteg (Independent, 1669), Llygadcatty          On Dyfed FHS             Pant-teg Ind chapel (no parish) shown as still open on the Union of Welsh Independents site (Dec 2006)
  Rees, Thomas & John Thomas. Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). Here is the entry from this book for this chapel (in Welsh ) 
• Penuel (Independent, 1809) - with Pantteg records       Sited at Rhydraw Farm       On Dyfed FHS                Peniel Ind chapel (no parish) shown as still open on the Union of Welsh Independents site (Dec 2006)
  Rees, Thomas & John Thomas. Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). Here is the entry from this book for this chapel (in Welsh ) 
• Libanus Ind chapel, Cwmgwili          SN57311040       Chapel built 1880, rebuilt 1912. Status (1998): in chapel use.   Coflein            Shown as still open on the Union of Welsh Independents site (Dec 2006)

Description and Travel

Places, villages, farms etc within Abergwili parish  as shown on the parish map on the CD of  Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Mary Greatorex)

• Abergwili (33): Aber-dauddwr, Abergwili, Allt-y-gog, Bishop's Palace, Black Bush, Blaen-cwm, Bryngwyn, Bryn-Myrddin, Capel Gwyn, Careg-llys, carn, Castell-pigyn, Cefn-henllan, Cwm, Cwm-Gwili, Cwm-rhapant, Cwm-rheiddol, Dol-Gwili, Fachrhos, Felin, Felin Gelli, Gilvach-y-rhiw, Glan-Towy, Glan-Towy-lan, Hendre-hedog, Hengil-isaf, Inn, Lan, Llanfihangel-uwch-Gwili, March-Olws, Merlin's Hill, mills, Mynydd Ystefflan, Nant Felus, Nant Pen-y-crwys, Pan-teg,  Pant-y-glien, Pen-tref-ynys, Pen-y-banc, Pen-y-bryn, Pen-y-bwlch-isaf, Pen-y-crwys, Pen-y-graig, Pen-yr-allt stn, Rhiw-sywyll, Rhyd-y-fwyalchen, River Towy, R. Wyth, Sarnau, Sarn Helen, Tref-ynys, Ty-newydd, weir, Wenallt, Wern-drefi.
• Abergwili (33) detached: Afon Gwili, Bettws, Bryn-cenau, Bwlch-gwyn, Conwil Station, Cwm-dwfn, Ffos-y-maen, Inn, Lleiniau, Llethr, Llwyn-croes, Pant-glas, Pant-iaiawr, Pen-llwyn-uchel, Pen-y-graig

Place names from the C19th Tithe Apportionment schedules. Contributed by Darris Williams

Llandeilo to Abergwili Railway Line - on the Llanegwad site

Abergwili - on Wikipedia

Abergwili - on CADW

Directories

Pigot & Co. South Wales Directory for 1830. Here are Extracts relating to Carmarthen [with the village of Abergwilly and neighbourhoods]

Pigot & Co. South Wales Directory for 1844. Here are Extracts relating to Carmarthen [with the village of Abergwilly and neighbourhoods]

History

Lloyd, Sir John E., (Ed.). A History of Carmarthenshire (2 vols.), Cardiff, London Carmarthenshire Society (1935, 1939). Extracts from this book can be accessed on some parish pages, see here for this parish.

Land and Property

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Barnsfield collection 1615-1893     "Barnsfield (or Troedyrhiw), Abergwili, Carmarthenshire, was first owned by John Lewis in the 17th century......................"
• Morris of Bryn Myrddin deeds and documents 1654-1979      "The Morris family, descended from a line of landowners at Llanstephan, Carmarthenshire, were prominent private bankers in the town of Carmarthen. Thomas Charles Morris (1808-1886), sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1866, who succeeded to his father's estate, purchased Penybanc Ucha, Abergwili, from Richard Poole, a London lawyer in 1848 ........."  
• Cwmgwili Estate Records     "Title deeds, of the Cwmgwili estate, Carmarthenshire, 1576-1936, owned by the Philipps family of Abergwili............"
• Cwmgwili letters and papers  "Letters of the Philipps family of Cwmgwili,1675, 1714-1946, many relating to the municipal life of Carmarthen, British politics, Carmarthenshire politics and elections, and to service in the army and navy; journals of Grismond Phillips, 1832-1849, and Cwmgwili estate rentals, 1725-1732, 1764-1772."

Maps

Occupations

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Davies, David, of Rhywdwyll, records 1870-1879     "David Davies farmed at Rhywdwyll, Abergwili ............"

Public Records

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Abergwili Civil Parish Council and Community Council Records 1889-1981

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[Gareth Hicks : 6 April 2008]

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