Trefilan - Extract from 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' by Samuel Lewis 1833

"TRÊVILAN (TRÊV-ILAR), a parish in the lower division of the hundred of ILAR, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 7 miles (N. by W.) from Lampeter, containing 313 inhabitants. This parish is pleasantly situated in the Vale of Aëron and on the high road from Lampeter to Aberystwith. The surrounding country is boldly varied, and the scenery is in some parts picturesque. In the southern part of the parish is the small village of`Talsarn, deriving its name from a branch of a Roman road or causeway which terminated here, and which is situated on the bank of the river Aëron .Fairs are held at this village on September 8th and November 7th. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of St.David's, rated in the king's books at £5, endowed with £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. David's. The church is dedicated to St. Hilary, from whom the parish is supposed to have derived the name  Trêv-Ilar, said to be its proper appellation. The old church, having fallen into a state of dilapidation, was taken down in 1806, and rebuilt : the present church is a neat edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel, but of much smaller dimensions than the original building : the ancient font, a square basin upon around pillar, has been preserved. A Sunday school for the gratuitous instruction of poor children is supported at the expense of the rector. Near the churchyard is a mound surrounded by a moat, called Castle Trêvilan supposed to be the site of a fortress of that name, which was begun by Maelgwyn ab Rhys and completed by his son Maelgwyn Vychan, in the year 1233. Here is a strongly impregnated chalybeate spring, which is occasionally resorted to for medicinal purposes. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor amounts to £82.13."

[Gareth Hicks: 17 December 1999]