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Llanstephan

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"LLANSTEPHAN (LLAN-STEPHAN), a parish, in the higher division of the hundred of DERLLYS, union and county of CARMARTHEN, SOUTH WALES, 8 miles (S.S.W.) from Carmarthen; containing 1253 inhabitants. . . The parish . . . comprises by admeasurement 5000 acres, of which 2500 are arable, 2000 pasture, and the rest wood, rocks, and waste. . . The surrounding scenery is highly pleasing, and in many parts of the parish beautifully picturesque; the views over the fine open bay are interesting and extensive. . . The appearance of the village is particularly interesting; but, from its retired situation, being distant from any great thoroughfare, it is not much frequented by visitors: it unites all the advantages of a maritme situation with the tranquil retirement of an inland village, and has a greater number of opulent families resident in it than any other in the neighbourhood of Carmarthen. . . The church, dedicated to St. Stephen, is an ancient structure, with a lofty tower . . . In the hamlet of Llanybree was formerly a chapel of ease, which, in ancient records, is called the Marble Church, and is now appropriated to the use of a congregation of Independents. There is also another place of worship for Independents, and one each for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists; and two day and Sunday National schools . . ." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

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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

  • Llanstephan Parish Church Benjamin Evans, Perpetual Curate
  • Wesleyan Methodists Erected in 1808 Henry Dawkins, Union Hall, Llanstephan
  • Old Chapel, Llanybri Ind Erected before 1800 Josiah Thomas Jones, Minister, Blue St, Carmarthen
  • New Chapel of Llanybri Ind Erected in 1814 William James, Minister, Llanstephan
  • Mispa Baptist Religious Erected in 1833 David Davies, Manager, Dyffryntawel
  • Moria CM Erected in 1804 John Thomas, Elder, (?Moele)

Parish entry for Llanstephan from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by (Archive CD Books).

  • St Stephen
  • Incumbent and Curates; J Rowland-Thomas
  • Rural Deanery of Carmarthen
  • Acreage 5,135 (inc Llandilo Abercowin) ; Population 824

Parish entry for Llanybri with Llandilo Abercowin from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by (Archive CD Books).

  • Parish Church & St Teilo (Llandilo Abercowin)
  • Incumbent and Curates; D Williams
  • Rural Deanery of Carmarthen
  • Acreage 821 ; Population 307 & 46

    See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of Llanstephan Church

      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 Llan 'Stephan and chapelry of Llan y Bre

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        Church Records

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

        Parish registers: Christenings and Burials (1762-1812) and Marriages (1756-1812) are at the National Library of Wales.

        Parish registers: Christenings (1697-1762, 1813-88), and Marriages and Burials (1697-1762, 1813-1982) are at the Carmarthenshire Record Office.

        Facsimile Parish registers: Christenings, Marriages and Burials (1697-1762) are at the National Library of Wales.

        Facsimile Parish registers: Christenings and Burials (1697-1812) and Marriages (1697-1812) are at the Carmarthenshire Record Office.

        Copy ts PR index M (1755-1875) at NLW

        Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1671, 1677, 1680, 1682, 1684, 1687, 1690, 1693, 1695-8, 1703, 1707-8, 1711, 1713-18, 1720, 1724-62, 1764-1800, 1802-81, 1884) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

        Marriage index for this parish - see Dyfed Marriages, 1813-1837, Vol. 14 - Derllys Hundred (Dyfed Family History Society, c1989)

        See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

        Nonconformist Chapels:

        • Bethany (Baptist, 1831), Water Lane, Llanstephan village Records with those of Ebenezer (Llangynog) SN35211100 Built 1833/4, rebuilt/enlarged 1866 & 1896 Still open 1998 Coflein On Dyfed FHS
        • Moriah (Calvinistic Methodist, 1803), Llanstephan village Births and baptisms (1816-36) PRO RG4/3862, LDS 828108, IGI. On Dyfed FHS Moriah CM chapel, Old School Road, Llansteffan is still open in 2006
        • SEION CALVINISTIC METHODIST SUNDAY SCHOOL, LLWYN GWYN - built in 1899.... By 1998 the builing had been converted for residential use.  coflein
        • Bethel (Independent, bef 1865), Bethel Terrace, Llanstephan village On Dyfed FHS
        • Capel Newydd (Independent, 1813), Llanybri Births and baptisms (1814-37) PRO RG4/1688, LDS 828113, IGI 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 ) - translation by Gareth Hicks (Dec 2008)
        • Old Chapel (Independent, 1665), Llanybri SN33711256 Hen Gapel, Llanybri Built pre-1800 (1688?), recorded as medieval chapel of ease 1388. Rebuilt/restored 1862 & 1879, closed in 1962 and dismantled in 1974, save for the tower and part of the nave walls. Independents took it over in 1690 Coflein
          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 ) - translation by Eleri Rowlands (April 2009)
        • Chapel (Wesleyan Methodist, c1807), Llanstephan village Records with those of Ebenezer (Carmarthen) SN34821069 Built 1808/1810, rebuilt/modified 1859 Coflein

        Llan-y-bri [formed out of Llanstephan in 1863. The ancient chapel here passed in the seventeenth century into the hands of the Independents. The present church and parish are of mid-nineteenth century origin.
        Registers : Christenings and Burials (1861- with incumbent), Marriages (1863-1970) at Carm.RO
        BTs: 1861-81 at NLW

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        Description & Travel

        The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales., byJones, I.G. & Williams, D. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. These statistics for this parish are extracted from this book which in turn got them from the 1851 census itself;

        • Area 6710 acres; Population 597 males, 680 females, total 1277

          Llanstephan Castle. on Castle Wales

          Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

          • Various landscapes
          • Llanstephan Castle
          • Llanstephan [village] c1855
          • South Pier Llanstephan
          • The sands at Llanstephan, Caermarthenshire
          You can see pictures of Llanstephan which are provided by:

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          Gazetteers

          The transcription of the section for Llanstephan from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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          History

          King, D.J.C. Llanstephan castle, Dyfed, London, Dept. of the Environment (1977) 31 p.

          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.

          Waters,William. History of Llanstephan past and present. 1881 (Spurrell, Carmarthen). 56pp. frontispiece engraving. contains great amount of genealogical information, inc. copies of all inscriptions in church.

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          Land & Property

          William Abel, farmer of Llanybri, Parish of Llanstephan: prosecution by him for forcible ejectment against Evan John farmer of the Parish of Llanstephan, William Williams the Elder farmer of the Parish of Llanstephan and William Williams of the Parish of Llangunnock, 3 January 1814.  National Library of Wales File Number 4/759/4, Document 72.  Transcribed by Gail Thomas, March 2020

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

          • Plas Llanstephan Additional Papers "Estate papers of the Lloyd, Morris, Philipps and Fisher-Hoch families of Plas Llanstephan, Carmarthenshire, 1646-1982......................"
          • Plas Llanstephan Muniments 1630-1956 "Most of the archive relates to properties in Carmarthen town and the parishes of Llangynog and Llansteffan. There are few, if any, pre-1920 papers relating to Plas Llansteffan.........."
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          Maps

          Llanstephan parish, Carmarthenshire - on the People's Collection Wales site

          Parish map(Kain/Oliver)

          You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN344123 (Lat/Lon: 51.784719, -4.402514), Llanstephan which are provided by:

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          Names, Geographical

          Places, villages, farms etc within Llanstephan as shown on the online parish map from 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 Gareth Hicks)

          • Llanstephan (68); Black Scar; Castle; Craig Ddu; Cwm-llyfrau; Down Fm.; Ferry Fm.; Ffordd; Hendre; Lan; Laques; Llanstephan (village); Llanybri; Llwyn-gwyn; Lord's Park; Mache; Maen Llwyd; Maen Melyn; Maes-gwyn; Mill(2); Morfa-bach; Pant-yr-athro; Parc-y-Ficer; Pentowyn; Plas; Pentre-wyn; Plas-newydd; River Taf; River Towy; Rooks; St Anthony's Well; The Green; Tre-huddion; Wharley Point
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          Occupations

          Ferryside & Llanstephan Salmon Boats c1910  - on the People's Collection Wales site