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Llanfawr / Llanfor

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"LLANFAWR, (or Llanfor), a parish in the hundred of Penllyn, county Merioneth, 2 miles N.E. of Bala, and 20 from Llangollen. Corwen is its post town. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Dee, in the vicinity of a lake, and includes the townships of Bettws, Garn, Penmaen, and Rhlwaedog. The Welsh, under the aged chief, Llywarch-Hên, had an encounter with the Saxons near this place. The princely bard, having lost most of his friends in the engagement, retired to a hut at Aber-Ciog, now called Dol-Giog, where his harp discoursed mournfully his woes. He died about the year 634, aged nearly 105, and was buried at Llanfawr. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of St. Asaph, value £224, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Deiniol. There are also two district churches, viz: Fron Goch and Trinity, the livings of both perpetual curacies value respectively, £125 and £100, in the patronage of the' bishop. The charities produce altogether about £70 per annum. Fairs are held on the 20th May and 14th August." [From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

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Census

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Church History

Church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 11, North Wales. Ed. by Ieuan Gwynedd Jones, UWP, 1981. The names given towardsthe end of each entry are those of the informants.

Parish statistics; Area 20030 acres; Population 869 males, 850 females, total 1719

  • Llanfawr Parish Church Attendance - morning 35 + 45 scholars, afternoon 30 "The Parish Church is situated about 8 or 10 miles distant from the majority of the Population and there is a Chapel of Ease, the Holy Trinity, also in the Parish" Services in Welsh Thomas Griffiths, Minister
  • Trinity Church Chapel of Ease Consecrated in 1849 as an additional church Attendance - morning 25 + 25 scholars, afternoon 35 + 20 scholars, evening 32 Morning and evening services in Welsh, afternoon in English John Williams, Minister
  • Gwige Llanfor, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Erected 1843 Attendance - afternoon 33, evening 34 scholars Edward Lancaster, Elder, Painter
  • Pantyglas Chapel, Penmaen Township, Calvinistic Methodist Erected 1836 Attendance - afternoon 72 William Jones, Superintendant or Steward, Taidraw, Bala
  • Llwyneinion Chapel, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Erected before 1800 Attendance - morning 58 scholars, afternoon 119, evening 63 Lewis Jones, Minister, Llwyneinion, Bala
  • Glan yr Afon Chapel, Calvinistic Methodist Erected before 1800 Attendance - morning 86, afternoon 123 scholars, evening 105 Henry Davies, Minister
  • Rhydwernau, Independents Erected 1827 Attendance - morning 35, afternoon 39, evening 47 Thomas Jones, Deacon
  • Chapel of Tanybont, Independent Erected 1741 Attendance - morning 50, afternoon 43, evening 63 Edward Jones, Farmer, Garneddlwyd

Rees, Thomas & John Thomas Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). The Tynybont section (in Welsh) has been extracted  (with translation by Eleri Rowlands 7/2020)      Also Rhydywernen chapel (with translation by Eleri Rowlands 26/7/20)

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Church Records

Joyce Hinde has supplied a list of Parish Registers held at Merioneth Record Office.

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

  • Capel Llwyneinion, Llanfor, cofnodion (records) "Capel Llwyneinion was a Calvinistic Methodist chapel located in Llanfor, near Bala, Merionethshire. The chapel was built before 1800, and closed in about 1967." "Records include ..... annual reports of Llwyneinion and other local chapels, 1918-1967....."
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Description & Travel

 Various landscapes - on the People's Collection Wales  site

You can see pictures of Llanfawr / Llanfor which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Genealogy

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

  • Rhiwlas estate papers 1794-1950 "The Price family of Rhiwlas, Llanfor, Merionethshire, claim descent from a distinguished line of uchelwyr who settled in south-west Denbighshire........"
  • E. Wynne Evans, Arthog, papers "Include ; ....... newspaper cuttings relating to Sarnau, Llanfor, 1877-1890......"
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Land & Property

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

  • Frongoch Whiskey Distillery, Llanfor, deeds 1889-1900 "In 1889, Edward Charles Nicholls, Esq., of London, purchased land at Frongoch, LLanfor, Merionethshire, from Richard John Lloyd Price of Rhiwlas, with the aim of establishing a distillery called the 'Welsh Whiskey Distillery Co. Ltd....."
  • Tan-y-garth Documents c. 1866 - 1908 "The farmhouse known as Tan-y-Garth is located in the parish of Llanfor in Merioneth..."
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Maps

Gwynedd Family History Society have a diagram of the ecclesiastical parishes of Merionethshire (under Parishes) - with some links to photographs of parish churches

Map of the parish of Llanfor in the County of Merioneth  - on the People's Collection Wales  site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SH917368 (Lat/Lon: 52.917442, -3.612613), Llanfawr / Llanfor which are provided by: