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Llangernyw

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"A parish in the Union of Llanrwst, partly in the hundred of Isaled, and partly in that of Isdulas, county of Denbigh, 8 miles (W by N) from Denbigh, containing 1036 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the banks of the river Elwy, and comprises a large portion of one of the most rugged and mountainous parts of the county. ..... Several attempts to procure lead and copper-ore have been made, but the quantity found has been considered insufficient to afford an adequate remuneration to the adventurers." [A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1833 & 1849, Samuel Lewis]

The ancient parish of Llangernyw originally comprised the nine townships of Bodrach, Nannerth, Pantymanus, Pentrewern, Rhanhir, Hafodunos, Dwyafon, Branar, Marchaled and Bodgynwch, with a total area of 7200 acres. In 1867, the first three, and parts of the next three, with an area of 3100 acres, went to create the new parish of Llanddewi.

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Church History

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of St Digian Llangernyw Ordnance Survey reference SH 875674.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Digain, is believed to date from the thirteenth century. Considerable restoration work took place in 1849, and again in 1881.

The Clwyd FHS website has a photograph of the church.

Various items   - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Y Cwm Chapel, Llangernyw
  •  St. Digain's Church, Llangernyw 
  •  Eglwys Llangernyw
  •  Llangernyw chapel (CM) and deacons, Llangernyw (1895)
  •  Calvinistic Methodist deacons, Llangernyw (1895)
  •  St. Digain’s Church Sunday School Trip, circa 1930s
  • St. Digain’s Church Choir, ...circa 1930s. The church ground contains one of the 50 oldest trees known in the world; it's a 4000 year old Yew tree, planted during the Bronze age

 

Nonconformist Churches

"Welsh Church Commission - County of Denbigh - The Statistics of the Nonconformist Churches for 1905" lists the following nonconformist places of worship in the Civil parish of Llangernyw :

Name of ChapelDenominationNumber of "adherents"
BethebaraBaptists70
BodgynwchBaptists50
Cefn CochCalvinistic Methodists100
Not namedCalvinistic Methodists130
Pandy TudurCalvinistic Methodists246
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Church Records

Parish Registers

  • The following Parish Registers have been deposited at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
    They may be viewed on microfilm at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
    These microfilms are not available elsewhere.
BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1570 - 18961570 - 18971570 - 1897
  • Clwyd FHS has published full transcriptions of the registers (complete with indexes) for the following years :
BaptismsMarriagesBurials
1569 - 18121570 - 18121570 - 1812

Bishop's Transcripts

  • Bishop's Transcripts for the years shown below have been deposited in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
    Around the year 1951, most of the Bishop's Transcripts which had been deposited at that time were microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and the films are available on request at Family History Centres of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
    The films may also be viewed at the Denbighshire and Flintshire Record Offices, and at the National Library of Wales.
    In general, the Bishop's Transcripts are less complete than the parish registers.
Deposited at the National Library of WalesMicrofilmed copies
1667 - 18421672 - 1842

I.G.I.

  • There are no official I.G.I. entries for St. Digain, Llangernyw.
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Civil Registration

When Civil Registration was introduced (on 1 July 1837), the parish of Llangernyw was assigned to the No. 1 ("Llanrwst") sub-district of the Llanrwst Registration District; which was co-extensive with the Llanrwst poor law Union.

In the GRO indexes to civil registration, entries for Llangernyw are in the format :

  • Years 1837 - 1851: Llanrwst XXVII.nnn
  • Years 1851 - 1930: Llanrwst 11b.nnn

(GRO index references have no relevance at the local Superintendent Registrar's Office)

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Description & Travel

Various landscapes/buildings  - on the People's Collection Wales site

You can see pictures of Llangernyw which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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

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Maps

North-East Wales Churches and Ancient Parish Boundaries" produced by Clwyd Record Office in 1994, published by Genuki with the permission of Flintshire Record Office and Denbighshire Archives

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Plan of the parish of Llangerniew in the County of Denbigh, made for the Commission of the tithes  
  •  Llangernyw map c. 1920  
  •  Tithe map of Llangernyw, Denbighshire

View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SH869670 (Lat/Lon: 53.188142, -3.69441), Llangernyw which are provided by:

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Occupations

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Robert Manod Owen, Director of Llangernyw Cheese Factory and Staff, circa 1910 (yn y canol gyda gwallt gwyn) 
  • Workmen fixing Cefn Coch road, circa 1910s 
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Population

  • In 1831- the population was 1036.
  • In 1901- the population was 398.
    [Royal Commission on the Welsh Church - October 1907]
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Schools

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Children of Llangernyw School, circa 1930s
  •  School, Llangernyw
  •  Pupils, Llangernyw school [1899]
  •  Hafodunos Hall Boarding School [various]
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Social Life & Customs

Nash, Roy.  Family and Economic Structure in C19th Wales : Llangernyw and Gwytherin in 1871   (NLW's site)  Welsh History Review 11

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

  • Llangernyw Cricket Team, circa 1930s 
  • Hendre Ddu, Llangernyw, circa 1930s [Group] 
  • Llangernyw T-Total Society with their President Mrs Manod Owen, circa 1920s
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Statistics

  • Archdeacon Thomas gives the area of the parish as 4100 acres.
    [ The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph , 1908-1913, Ven. D.R. Thomas]