Llanwnda - Gazetteers

• National Gazetteer, 1868
• Lewis 1833

National Gazetteer (1868)

"LLANWNDA, a parish in the hundred of Uwch-Gorfai, county Carnarvon, 3 miles S. of Carnarvon, its post town. It is situated on the old Roman road, and includes the township of Bont-Newydd. Slate quarries are worked. The tithes were commuted in 1839. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bangor, value with the curacy ofLlanfaglan annexed, £270, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is a cruciform structure in the early English style of architecture, dedicated to St. Gwynday. There are two Calvinistic Methodist chapels. The charities produce about £6 per annum. There are traces of two British camps."

"BONT-NEWYDD, a village in the parish of Llanwnda, hundred of Uwch-Gorfai, in the county of Carnarvon, 2 miles to the S. of Carnarvon. It is situated near the coast of the Menai Straits, and is a station on the Nantlle railway."

[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

LLANWNDA (LLAN-WYNDAV), a parish in the hundred of UWCHGORVAI, county of CARNARVON, NORTH WALES, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Carnarvon, containing 1264 inhabitants. The name of this place is derived from the dedication of its church to St. Gwyndav, who flourished during the sixth century. The parish is situated on the turnpike road from Carnarvon to Pwllheli, and comprises a very extensive tract of mountainous country, abounding with mineral treasures. Slate of excellent quality is found among the mountains, and very considerable quarries have been opened ; but from the difficulty of conveying the produce to any shipping-place, they are not worked to their full extent. Large quantities of copper-ore have also been discovered here, but so mixed with iron as to require great labour and expense in separating it. For this reason the works are not carried on to any advantage, especially as the low price of that metal is insufficient to remunerate the adventurers for the trouble of procuring it. The rail-road from Llanllyvni to Carnarvon passes near the south side of the churchyard, but does not appear to have been made available for the exportation of the mineral produce of this parish, by the construction of any collateral communication with the quarries or the mines. The village is small, being chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the quarries and in agriculture. The surrounding scenery strikingly combines objects of rugged grandeur with features of rural beauty ; and the distant views are interesting and extensive. The living consists of both a rectory and a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Bangor : the rectory, which is a sinecure, is annexed to the head-ship of Jesus' College, Oxford, and the vicarage, which is discharged, and to which the perpetual curacy of Llanvagdalen is annexed, is endowed with £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Bangor. The church is a venerable and beautiful cruciform structure, principally in the early style of English architecture, but in a state of great dilapidation : the chancel is lighted by three elegant lancet-shaped windows ; and the interior of the edifice displays in many parts fine specimens of architectural beauty : there are some good monuments of the Baron Hill family, but in a very neglected state, and the whole appears to be rapidly falling into ruin. There are places of worship for Independents and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A National school was maintained for many years at the sole expense of the curate of the parish, but has been lately discontinued. A school-house was built many years ago, on the north side of the church, and some bequests were made for teaching poor children of tbe parish, but they have been lost. Mrs. Ellen Williams, in 1714, bequeathed £200 for the augmentation of the vicar's stipend, and £ 100, the interest of which she directed to be distributed among the poor annually. The Rev. Lewis Jones, in 1692, bequeathed £63. 12., directing the interest to be annually divided among twelve aged men or women, and a rent-charge of £3, to be divided among twelve poor natives of the parish, or, in default of such, among inhabitants of seven years' standing. Near a farm called Bodaden some slight traces of a Roman road are still discernible, pointing to the ancient Segontium, near Carnarvon. There are likewise some remains of two ancient British fortifications, called respectively Yr Hen Gastell and Dinas Gorvan, or Gorvai, the latter probably deriving its name from its situation on the river Gorvai : of the former but very slight vestiges are discernible, and the latter, which is situated near Pont Newydd, has been so much damaged by the action of the rapid stream of the Gorvai, during times of flood, against its base, that the upper part has fallen, and only a portion of the foundations can now be distinguished. The Rev. Mr. Farringdon, who employed a considerable portion of his time in antiquarian pursuits, was for some years vicar of this parish. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor is £386.

 

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