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Betws Bledrws

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"BETTWS-BLEDRWS, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of MOYTHEN , county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES 3 1/4, miles (N. E.) from Lampeter, on the road to Trêgaron containing 235 inhabitants. At a short distance from the road is Dery Ormond, the seat of John Jones, Esq., an elegant modern mansion, erected in 1827, and beautifully situated under the shelter of a lofty hill covered with luxuriant plantations: the grounds, which are tastefully laid out, are ornamented with a small sheet of water, formed by the expansion of a rivulet by which they are intersected, and over which there is a bridge of handsome design. Though not upon a very large scale, this is one of the best houses in the county, and forms an interesting feature in the scenery of the place. Lead-ore is supposed to lie under the surface of this parish, but no attempt has been hitherto made to work it. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of St.David's, rated in the king's books at £4. 7. 8 ½ ., endowed with £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. David's. The church, dedicated to St. Bleddrws, is a very neat well-built edifice, altered and repaired in 1831, with a tower surmounted by a well-proportioned spire eased with slate: the interior is appropriately fitted up, and furnished with ranges of seats with high backs, elevated above each other, instead of pews, similar to the chapel of St. David's college, Lampeter, which were erected at the expense of John Jones, Esq., of Dery Ormond. There are places of worship for Baptists and Calvinistic Methodists. Between Dery Ormond and the Teivy there is an ancient intrenchment called Castel Goedtrêv, situated on a farm to which it gives name. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £89.17." [From Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833]

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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.

  • Bettws Bleddrws Parish Church Charles Lloyd, Rector
  • There is this footnote to the return;
    "According to Lewis the parish contained places of worship belonging to the Baptists and Calvinistic Methodists; these do not appear in the Census "

    Parish entry for Bettws Bledrws and Llangybi from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

    • St Bledrws & St Cybi (Llangyb)
    • Incumbent and Curates; D A Thomas
    • Rural Deanery of Lampeter
    • Acreage 1,580 & 2,502 ; Population 202 & 227

      St Bledrws Church - photograph on Dyfed FHS

      Davies, Evan, Cefnbysbach, Bettws Bledrws. Hen dy cwrdd a'r fynwent, typescript
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      Church Records

      See Notes on Church/Chapel Records page

      Parish Register;
      Baptisms 1813-1984. Marriages 1813-1970.Burials 1813-1984 NLW/CerRO
      PR CMB 1775-1812 recorded in 1831 seemingly lost.
      Bishops Transcripts;
      1801-2, 1804-8, 1810-14, 1816-17, 1819-20, 1822-9, 1831-8, 1840-2, 1844-5, 1847-55, 1857-80 NLW

      See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

      I.G.I; Baptisms 1801-80

      Nonconformist Chapels;

      Pen-y-coed Baptist chapel, Betws Bledrws (Pencoedgleision) SN58855201

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      Description & Travel

      The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales., by Jones, I.G. & Williams, D. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. These statistics for this parish are extracted from this book which in turn got them from the 1851 census itself;

      • Area 2216 acres; Population 119 males, 116 females, total 235

        With the kind permission of the publisher, these selected extracts below are taken from "The History of Cardiganshire" by S R Meyrick, 1810, specifically the reprint of the 1907 imprint published by Stephen Collard in July 2000.

        • "The word Bettws, most probably, is a corruption of 'Beatus', as there is no such Welsh word, and such title was frequently given to churches, and is still retained by many in this county. It is in the same manor as Llangyby, which is the property of Captain Powell, of Nanteos."
        • "The last two incumbents of the parish church were the Rev -. Davies and the Rev. Evan Griffiths."
        • Derry Ormond is mentioned as the seat of John Johnes Esq.
              You can see pictures of Betws Bledrws which are provided by:

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              Gazetteers

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

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              Land & Property

              Held at the NLW ;

              • Deeds deposited by D. Francis Lloyd relating to the parishes of Betws Bledrws and Llanddewibrefi, Cardiganshire, 1807-62.

              Evans, Anne Francis. Hanes y Dderi (Derry Ormond) (NLW's site) Ceredigion X

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              Maps

              Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

              You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN599535 (Lat/Lon: 52.161684, -4.050179), Betws Bledrws which are provided by:

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              Names, Geographical

              Places, villages, farms etc within Bettws Bledrws 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)

              • Bettws Bledrws (71); Bettws-Bledrws (village); Bwlch-wernen; Denmark; Derry Ormond; Gaer; Gelli-garneddau; Glan Denys; GWR Aberayron Light Railway; Monument; Olmarch