Carmarthenshire Contents

CONWIL ELFED [CYNWYL ELFED]

Parish based sketch map of the hundred

"CONVIL, or CYNWYL, a parish, in the higher union of the hundred of ELVET, union and county of CARMARTHEN, SOUTH WALES, 6 3/4 miles (N.N.W.) from Carmarthen, on the road to Newcastle: containing 1651 inhabitants. This is a place of great antiquity . . . Henry, Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VI., is supposed to have marched through it, on his way to meet Richard III . . . The small rivers Bala and Gwili run through this parish; the neighbouring district is comprised of deep dingles and dorsal hills, which converge in a point at this place. A fair is held on November 21st. . . the church is dedicated to St. Michael. There are two places of worship for Independents, and one each for Baptists and Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. . . There are various tumuli in the parish, within which also is a mineral spring, strongly impregnated with iron, and formerly held in considerable repute for its efficacy in the cure of certain diseases . . ." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

• Business and Commerce Records
• Cemeteries
• Church History
• Church Records
• Description and Travel
• History
• Maps
• Public Records
• Schools

Business and Commerce Records

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

• David Evans, Blacksmith, of Cynwyl Elfed Accounts 1904-1908  
• Alaw Cowyn (Jacob Davies) [blacksmith] papers 1883-1952 (accumulated [early 20th century]-1975)   Include;  "Account books, 1883-1940, of Jacob Davies and his predecessor at Felinfach Forge, Blaen-y-coed, Cynwyl Elfed; a volume containing a history of Blaen-y-Coed Congregational church.............."

Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions for St. Cynwyl, Cynwyl Elfed, are available on microfiche from Dyfed FHS.

Church History

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

• Conwil Parish Church                 "On account of some peculiar local circumstances the attendance on the 30th March was unusually small "                Henry Jones Davis, Curate
• Fennon Henry     Baptist                   Erected in 1731          David Evans, Baptist Minister, Conwil
• Hermon   Ind                        Erected in 1825            David Morgan, Deacon, Llain, nr Conwil Elvet
• Blaenycoed    Ind                       Erected in 1807         John Jones, Elder, Drysgolgoch
• Bethel, Conwill Elvet Village     CM         Erected in 1792      John Jones, Deacon, Penddol

Parish entry for Abernant with Conwil Elvet from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by (Archive CD Books)).

• St Lucia
• &
• St Cynwyl (Conwil Elvet)
• &
• Cwmduad St Alban
• Incumbent and Curates; D Evans (P Jones)
• Rural Deanery of  Carmarthen
• Acreage 6,458 & 13,100 ; Population 1,772

 

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 Cynwyl Elfed

Thomas, Stephen. Canmlwyddiant eglwys Annibynol Blaenycoed: sef ei hanes o'i chychwyniad hyd y flwyddyn 1901, (Pencader, 1901), 46p.

Church Records

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

Parish registers: Christenings (1743-1968), Marriages (1743-1896), Banns (1842-94) and Burials (1743-1982) are at the National Library of Wales with copies at Carm.RO

Copy ts PR index  M 1743-1875 B 1813-75 at NLW and Carm.RO

An Index to Christenings (1813-1875), Marriages (1743-1875) and Burials (1813-1875) is available on microfiche from Dyfed FHS.

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1672-3, 1676, 1681-2, 1684, 1686, 1689-91, 1693-8, 1700-3, 1707-8, 1711, 1713, 1716-18, 1720-1, 1724-6, 1728-34, 1736-M, 1742-6, 1748-68, 1770, 1772-4, 1779, 1783-4, 1799-1800, 1802, 1805-64) 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:

• Ffynnonhenry (Baptist, 1730), Ffynnonhenry, east part of parish                   Register (1808-42) NLW Ms 122378, LDS 829068/2               Capel Ffynnon-Henry   SN395301  Coflein
• Hebron Baptist             [see under Llanfihangel-ar-Arth parish although both Rawlins &  Dyfed FHS  list under Conwil Elfed]
•  
• Bethel (Calvinistic Methodist, 1790), village of Conwil Elfed                Births and baptisms (1806-37), burials (1833-7) PRO RG4/3862, LDS 82808, IGI.        On Dyfed FHS          Bethel Cynwyl Elfed CM chapel - still open in 2006
•  
• Blaenycoed (Independent, 1805), Blaenycoed                    Records with those of Blaenycoed (Trelech a'r Betws)              On Dyfed FHS               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 ) 
• Hermon (Independent, 1799), Hermon                    Accounts (1876-1925) Carmarthenshire R.O.; also see Saron (Llangeler) and Bwlchnewydd (Newchurch)              On Dyfed FHS    SN36333076 Coflein                     Hermon Ind chapel, Cynwyl 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 )  - with translation by Gareth Hicks (Oct 2008)
•  
• Bryn Iwan (Independent, 1852), Crug Evan     [see under Cilrhedyn parish]
•     
• Bryn Moriah, Bryn Iwan Evangeslists                   On Dyfed FHS                                    SN32003181  Bryn Moriah Pentecostal Church, Bryn Iwan    Coflein

Description and Travel

Places, villages, farms etc within Conwil Elfed  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 Merv Thomas)

• Conwil Elvet [36]; Bedw-hirion, Beili, Blaen-cynllaith, Blaen-pant, Blaen-waun, Blaen-y-coed, Bryn-ceirch, Calcut, Cil-machau, Clyn-bach, Clyn-bach, Clyn-coch, Clyn-maen-llwyd, Conwil-Elvet, Cwm-duad, Dany-goilan, Drysgol-goch, Esgair, Feddy-gan, Felin-fach, Ffos-Sand, Fron-goch, Gilfach-Jestin, Gilfach-main, Gilfach-y-gwnda, Glan-neuadd, Glan-y-rhyd, Iet-y-ffin, Lan, Llain-wen, Lleithr-moel, Maerpwll, Nant-bendigaid, Nant-coch, Nant-cwn-Rhys, Nant-dawdd-isaf, Nantgerdinen, Nant-glas, Nant-gronw, Nant-y-cast, Nant-y-cerig, Nant-y-gelle, Nant-yr-herwydd, Nant-yr-hyddod, Newton Park, Pant-hwdog, Pant-roity, Pant-y-ffynnon, Parc-y-mynydd, Pen-ddol, Pen-foel-caru, Pen-lan, Pen-parc, Penrhiw-gwial, Pen-rhiw'r-onw, Pen-y-graig-fach, Pen-y-graig-fawr, Pen-yr-allt-ddu, Trafel-y-pwll, Tre-daren, Tryal, Ty'r-parc, Waun-deg

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

Rowlands, J. Conwil Elfed. In Historical Notes of the Counties of Glamorgan, Carmarthen, & Cardigan, and a list of the Members of Parliament for South Wales, from Henry VIII, to Charles II., Cardiff, Hugh Bird (1866), pp.51-52.

Maps

Public Records

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

• Cynwyl Elfed Parish Council and Community Council records 1848-1981

Schools

Davies, Jacob. HANES YSGOL NANTCWMRHYS . 1957 . [Nantcwmrhys  School was situated near the village of Hermon, Carmarthenshire. It closed in 1956].

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[Gareth Hicks : 23 Oct 2008]

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