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Gazetteers - Llanfechell

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

  • National Gazetteer, 1868
  • Lewis 1833

    National Gazetteer (1868)

    "LLANFECHELL, a parish in the hundred of Tal-y-Bolion, county Anglesey, 3 miles W. of Amlwch, 5 N.W. of Llanerchymedd, and 9 from Gwindy, its post town. It is situated on the coast, and includes the township of Tregele. Soap-stone, and the valuable serpentine marble called verd antique, are obtained here. The village, which is considerable, was once a market town. Some of the people are employed in flannel-weaving, and others in the copper mines of the Parys Mountain. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Bangor, value £300, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Mechel. The charities amount to about £11 per annum, besides several cottages for the poor. Here are a broken cromlech, and other remains of antiquity. Fairs are held on Holy Thursday, 5th August, 6th and 21st September, 5th and 26th November."

    "TREGCLE, a village in the parish of Llanfechell, county Anglesey, 5 miles W. of Llanerchymedd."

    [Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
    Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

    A Topographical Dictionary of Wales
    Samuel Lewis, 1833

    LLANVECHELL (LLAN-VECHELL), a parish (formerly a market-town) in the hundred of TAL Y BOLION, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 5 miles (W.) from Amlwch, comprising the township of Llandugwell, which supports its own poor, and containing 976 inhabitants. This parish, which derives its name from the dedication of its church, is situated on a small stream which falls into the bay of Cemmes on the north ; and the village, which is of considerable size, is finely sheltered by a chain of hills on the south and west. The parish extends for three miles in length and two in breadth, and is divided into two unequal parts, called Llanvechell Caerdegog and Llanvechell Llawr y Llan. The surface is boldly varied, and the hills abound with mineral treasure : the lower lands are in a good state of cultivation. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified, and from the higher grounds are extensive views of the channel, and of the adjacent country, which in some parts is characterized by features of picturesque beauty. To the west of the church, and about a mile distant from it, are three upright stones, ten feet in height, disposed in the form of a triangle, twelve feet distant from each other, and supposed to be the remaining supporters of an ancient cromlech, which must, from the elevation of the stones, have been one of the loftiest monuments of that kind in the island ; the table stone, if ever there was one, has disappeared ; but the farm on which the upright stones are found still retains the name of the "Cromlech." The celebrated Mona marble called verd antique is found in this parish, in great abundance and of very superior quality; it is equal in the brilliancy and variety of its colours to the finest specimens of Italy, and was formerly a source of considerable wealth : the best is obtained from the quarries on Maes Mawr farm, and surpasses in beauty all that has hitherto been discovered in other parts of the island. On the same estate, and also in other districts of the parish, steatite, or French chalk, is found in profusion : this mineral has of late become more valuable and important since the discovery that chromate of iron, a pigment of great value, belongs to the same formation. Carding, spinning and fulling, and the weaving of stuffs and of coarse woollen goods, are carried on in the parish to a limited extent. The small creek of Cemmes, in the adjoining parish, affords an opportunity for transporting the produce of the quarries, and for landing coal and other necessary commodities for the supply of the inhabitants. The market, which was well supplied and numerously attended, was formerly held on Friday : fairs are annually held on Holy Thursday, August 5th, September 21st, and November 5th and 26th. The township of Llandugwell was formerly a parish of itself, and is exempt from the payment of church rates to the parish of Llanvechell: the church is now a ruin, and the rectorial tithes are taken alternately by the rectors of this parish and Llanrhyddlad. The living of Llanvechell is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Anglesey, and diocese of Bangor, rated in the king's books at £11. 11. 3., and in the patronage of the Bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Mechell, or Macutus, by whom it was originally founded, was rebuilt about the year 1533, and is a spacious and venerable structure, in the later style of English architecture, with a tower surmounted by a low spire : it consists of a nave, chancel, and south transept, and is ornamented with an cast window of elegant design, embellished with ancient stained glass of brilliant colour, and contains several good monuments. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A parochial school was founded in. 1723, by Richard Wynne, Esq., who endowed it with a farm called Nant Glyn, in the parish of Amlwch, for the gratuitous instruction of children of this and the adjoining parish of Llanbadrig : there are at present only four boys in the school. Mr. Owen Williams, in 1657, bequeathed £ 2. 14. per annum, payable out of the tithes of Llanbadrig parish ; and William Davies, in 1751, bequeathed £ 60, to be distributed in bread and coarse woollen cloth to the poor. David Lloyd, in 1689, gave a cottage and garden in this parish for the support of an aged and indigent man ; John Bulkeley, in 1754, bequeathed a portion of land to the poor; and Catherine Bulkeley, in 1764, bequeathed £ 100 for the relief of poor distressed widows, but the interest of this last bequest has not been paid for several years : there are also some other smaller donations for the relief of the poor. There is a mineral spring near the demesne of Cevn Coch, in this parish. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor amounts to £433. 13.

     

    LLANDUGWELL

    LLANDUGWELL, a township in the parish of LLANVECHELL, hundred of TAL Y BOLION, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 7 miles (W.) from Amlwch. The population is included in the return for the parish. This township was anciently a distinct parish, but the church, dedicated to St. Dogvael, having been allowed to fall into ruins, many years since, it ceased to be parochial, and the rectorial tithes are now taken alternately by the rectors of this parish and that of Llanrhyddlad. There is a separate assessment for the support of its poor : the inhabitants do not pay any church rates to Llanvechell parish.

    LLAWR-Y-LLAN

    LLAWR-Y-LLAN, a township in the parish of LLANVECHELL, hundred of TAL Y BOLION, county of. ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 6 1/2 miles (W. by S.) from Amlwch. The population is returned with the parish. A small stream, issuing from a lake in the adjoining parish of Llanvlewyn, flows through this township into the bay of Cemmaes : on the opposite side of the stream is a remarkable cromlech, now prostrate.

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