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St Dogmaels

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"DOGMAEL'S, ST. (ST. DOGVAEL'S), a parish in the hundred of KEMMES, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 1 Mile (W.) from Cardigan, containing 2109 inhabitants. . . The village is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Teivy, and is intersected by a small rivulet . . . The surrounding scenery is pleasant, and in some instances picturesque and the view, embracing the course of the river Teivy from its influx into the sea, with the town of Cardigan and its ancient bridge, is exceedingly interesting. The lands are all enclosed and in a good state of cultivation, and the soil is fertile and productive. A salmon fishery is advantageously carried on during the summer, and a herring fishery in the autumn and winter, affording employment to such of the inhabitants as are not engaged in agricultural pursuits. A small portion of the town of Cardigan, called Bridge-End, which has been very recently built, extends into the hamlet of Bridge-End, in this parish, and has, by the late Boundary Act, been included within the enlarged limits of that borough . . . The church is dedicated to St. Thomas. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents. A Sunday school, which is said to be the oldest in the principality, is supported by subscription." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1833).]

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Cemeteries

A full transcript of the M.I. Survey of Blaenwaen, St. Dogmael's, is available from the Dyfed Family History Society.

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Census

The 1851 census for this parish has been indexed by Dyfed Family History Society.

Census Returns for this parish have the following LDS Call Numbers:

  • 1841 Census - 0464343
  • 1851 Census - 0104239
  • 1861 Census - 0543246
  • 1871 Census - 0850859
  • 1881 Census - 1342309
  • 1891 Census - 6099653/4
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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

  • No return for Parish Church
  • Blaen y Waun Baptist Erected in 1745 John Phillips Williams, Minister
  • Bethsaida Baptist Erected in 1813 John Phillips Williams, Minister
  • Capel Degwell Ind Erected in 1820 Daniel Davies, Minister
  • Sion CM Erected in 1838 Thomas Davies, Elder, Farmer, Penywern
  • [Illegible] chapel Ind Erected in 1835 It is used as a place of worship and a Day School David M Evans, Minister
  • Gerezim Baptist Erected in 1848 John Phillips Williams, Minister

Parish entry for St Dogmael's with Llantwyd and Monington from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

  • St Thomas & St Illtyd (Llantwd) & St Nicholas (Monington)
  • Incumbent and Curates; J G Hughes (L J Edwards)
  • Rural Deanery of Kemes
  • Acreage 6,285 & 1,843 & 1,028; Population 2,248

    Aerial photograph of St Dogmaels Abbey/Priory on the People's Collection Wales site

    Exterior of vicarage and garden; man standing in front of vicarage -  on the People's Collection Wales site

    Hilling, John B. (John Bryan). Cilgerran Castle, St Dogmaels Abbey, Pentre Ifan burial chamber, Carreg Coetan Arthur burial chamber.Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments, 1992. 52p : col ill, geneal table,maps,plans ; 21cm.

    Rees, Benjamin. Hanes Eglwysi Bedyddwyr yn Blaenywaun, Gerazim, Penuel Cemmaes a Tabernacl [A History of the Baptist Churches at Blaenywaun, Gerazim, Penuel Cemmaes and the Tabernacl]. W Williams,1899. Here is the author's obituary which is of general interest for the local information it contains.

    Pritchard, Emily M. The history of St. Dogmaels Abbey : together with her cells, Pill, Caldey and Glascareg, and the mother abbey of Tiron .London : Blades, East & Blades, 1907. 241p,[22]leaves of plates : ill, folded map ; 26cm. Includes index

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    Church Records

    Parish registers: Christenings (1699-1967), Marriages (1699-1762, 1791-1970) Banns (1823-97, 1957-93), Burials (1699-1952) at NLW with Mf copies [except Banns] at Pem.RO

    Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1674-5, 1679-87, 1689, 1691-2?, 1703, 1705, 1757, 1799-1804, 1806-38, 1845-7, 1849-60, 1865-76) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Call Number: 0105205.

    See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

    Nonconformist Chapels:

    • Bethsaida , in St Dogmaels town [Baptists, 1813]. Records ; See Blaenywaun SN1652146000 Built 1813, modified, altered or rebuilt in 1832, 1838, 1858 and 1936 Still open 1993 Coflein On Dyfed FHS
    • Blaenywaun , in Blaenywaun [Baptists, 1745]. Records ; 1. Church registers, 1795-1815, 1794-1931; minute book, 1898-1904 ; account book, 1897-1913, at NLW Ms 505-508; 510 , and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Call Number: 105103 ; account book, 1911-34 at NLW Ms 646. 2. Register of births, 1793-1837, at NLW. 3. See Cilfowyr/Manordeifi parish for records before 1795 See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph On Dyfed FHS
    • Gerazim, near Cippin [Baptists, 1848]. Records ; See Blaenywaun for period pre 1848 See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph On Dyfed FHS
    • Soar Baptist chapel, Ty'r Bont, Cippyn SN14264790 Small medieval single-chamber structure, disused by 1904 Coflein
    • Sion, in St Dogmaels village [Calvinistic Methodists, c 1800] On Dyfed FHS
    • Capel Dogwel [Independents, 1828]. Records ; See Capel Mair/Cardigan 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 ) - with translation
    • Bryn Salem chapel, Cippin, near Trecwn [Independents, 1852]. Records ; See Bethel Moylegrove SN13744819 Built 1850 Not still open 1993 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 ) - with translation by Maureen Saycell (Jan 2009)
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    Description & Travel

    Various landscape photographs of the area and surrounds on the People's Collection Wales site

    In the Western Mail April 2002:

    Village to be made whole once more, 170 years on;
    "170 years after it was first torn apart, St Dogmaels is to be made whole again. Traditionally belonging to Pembrokeshire, the village of St Dogmaels on the banks of the Teifi was split into two in 1832 when a chunk of it was taken out of Pembrokeshire and given to Cardiganshire. The National Assembly has now approved a Boundary Commission recommendation to unify the village within Pembrokeshire. Historically always part of Pembrokeshire- the river traditionally acted as the boundary marker between it and Cardiganshire-it was first divided up in 1832 for electoral reasons when a third of the village moved into Cardigan. Today there are 307 villagers living in the Cardigan section and 777 in Pembrokeshire. Villagers first asked to be reunified in 1885 and again in 1976 but were turned down. The Boundary Commission has also decided to swap over 2200 hectares of land around Clunderwen, presently in Carmarthenshire, into Pembrokeshire."
    You can see pictures of St Dogmaels which are provided by:

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    Directories

    Pigot & Co South Wales Directory for 1830.

    Pigot & Co. South Wales Directory for 1844. Here are some Extracts relating to Cardigan with the village of St Dogmells and Neighbourhoods

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    Gazetteers

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

    Transcript of complete entry in Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Wales of 1833.

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    History

    The Coach House, St Dogmaels - "As well as the facilities available, The Coach House is home to a number of important locally based projects. We have ...... our heritage officer, on staff who is actively engaged in heritage projects and is currently developing a major database of historic records, documents and photographs pertaining to St Dogmaels and the surrounding area. He is also curating exhibitions exploring social history and is actively engaged in supporting other heritage projects within the county - such as Nevern Castle."

    Mock auction of sewin outside the Teifi Inn, St Dogmaels, c. 1900s - on the People's Collection Wales site

    Jones, Harry Longueville. The Sagranus stone at St. Dogmael's, Pembrokeshire : (read at Cardigan).[Tenby] : [R. Mason], [1860] 8p ; 22cm. 'Reprinted from the "Archaeologia Cambrensis," April 1860' - t.p. An article in the series 'Early inscribed stones of Wales'.

    Mytum, H. C. (Harold C.) . Mariners at St. Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire : the evidence from gravestones . Maritime Wales = Cymru a'r Môr 13 (1990), p. 18-32

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    Land & Property

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

    • Kyle deeds "Deeds relating to Cardigan, and St Dogmaels,Pembrokeshire, 1537-1804, predominantly of the property of the Weilshe family, 1563-1676, and the Davies family, 1676-1804; and deeds relating to Swansea, Glamorgan, 1821-1895."
    • Penrhyn Castle papers "Deeds and documents, 1774-1933, relating mainly to farms called Penrhyn Mawr and Penrhyn Fach, and in particular to a parcel of Penrhyn Fach called Park y Quay on which Penrhyn Castle was built in the parish of St Dogmaels, co Pembroke, with also related maps, correspondence, and sales catalogues"
    • James, William Charles Wilson, of Pantyphillip, papers "Papers of William Charles Wilson James, 1708-1983, including deeds and related records involving lands in St Dogmaels 1708-1808;............................"
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    Maps

    Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

    You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN150466 (Lat/Lon: 52.086854, -4.702105), St Dogmaels which are provided by:

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    Names, Geographical

    Places, villages, farms etc within St Dogmaels parish 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)

    • Cippin (1); Allt-y-goed; Cemmaes Head; Cippin; Coastguard Station; Esgyrn; Gernos; Granant; Lookout; Pant-tirion; Pen-garn-fawr; Penryn Castle; Pen-yr-Afr; Rock's Ho. ?; Tre-cwn
    • Abbey (2); Clawdd-cam; Manian-fawr; PA Inst; Ty-hir
    • Pant-y-groes (3); Abbey; Brynews; Burial Ground; Caerau; Castell; Ceibwr Bay; Colwyn; Cragiau; Cwm-conell; Cwm Tegwel; Foxhill; Hendre; Pant-Saeson; Pant-y-Groes; Penwern; Pwll-y-Granant; Rhos-y-moiled; St Dogmells; St Dogmells Rural; Tre-Rhys; Tre-widwal
    • Bridgend (4); Afon Piliau; Bridgend; Cwm Tegwel; Glan-pwll-afon; Mill; Pant-y-grwndy; Parc-y-pratt; Pentood-isaf; Pentood-uchaf; Pen-waun; Plas-newydd; Tre-newydd
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    Social Life & Customs

    Cule, John. Some Early Hospitals in Wales and the Border. National Library of Wales journal. 1977, Winter Volume XX/2. Here is an extract relating to this parish;
    "The monks of St. Dogmael's Abbey in Pembrokeshire had much in common with the Cistercians who sought to re-introduce the purity of the original rule of St. Benedict. It was a daughter house of the French abbey of Tiron, lying between Chartres and Le Mans, that had its inspiration from the Benedictine St. Bernard of Abbeville. The 'Congregation' of Tiron, unhappy at the extent to which the observance of the rule had fallen, began to live apart. Although never finally forsaking the allegiance to St. Benedict, they distinguished themselves by changing the black habit for grey. The monastery of St. Dogmaels or Cemais was founded about 1115 by Robert FitzMartin, Lord of Cemais on the site where an older Welsh monastic community, a clas, had once been. In the latter half of the thirteenth century, an infirmary was added as a separate building, about 45 feet to the east of the abbey. When the abbey was suppressed in 1536 it had only an abbot and eight monks."