Llanilid - Gazetteers

Extract from A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis.

"LLANILID (LLAN-ILID), a parish in the hundred of COWBRIDGE, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Cowbridge, containing 119 inhabitants.

The name of this place is derived from the dedication of its church to St. Ilid, an Israelite, who, having embraced Christianity, is said to have accompanied Bran ab Llyr, the deposed prince of Siluria, from Rome, about the year 70, for the purpose of introducing the Christian faith into Britain.

The parish is situated under the lofty ridge which extends from east to west through the county, and on the east bank of the river Ewenny, which has its source in the vicinity, and joins the Ogmore near its influx into the Bristol channel. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified, and the higher grounds command some fine views over the channel and the adjacent country. The land is all enclosed, and by far the greater part is in a state of good cultivation. Coal abounds in the parish, and in the northern part of it have been discovered some strata, which are about to be worked.

The living is a discharged rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Llanharan consolidated, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaf, rated in the king's books at £7. 15. 7 1/2., and in the patronage of the King, as Prince of Wales. The church is an ancient edifice, possessing no architectural claims to notice.

Mr. Charles Price, about the year 1703, bequeathed £ 50; and Mr. William Thomas, in 1737, bequeathed £ 10, the interest of which, together with that of several smaller benefactions, amounting in the whole to about £ 120, is annually distributed among the poor.

At the distance of about thirty yards to the north of the church are the remains of an ancient encampment, of which neither the origin nor the history is known.

The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is £ 90. 12." 

Llanilid - Lewis 1833 [Last Updated : 11 Oct 2002 - Gareth Hicks]