TREGARON

"TREGARON, (or Tref-garon), a parish and market town in the hundred of Penarth, county Cardigan, 9 miles N.E. of Lampeter, and 5 from Strata Florida. Carmarthen is its post town. It is a station on the Manchester and Milford railway. The town is situated on the river Berwyn, about a mile above its confluence with the Teifi and contains the market town of Tregaron, the townships of Argoed with Ystrad, Blaen-Aeron, BlaenCaron, Croes with Berwyn, Tre-Cefel, Tref-Lynn, and Caron-Uwch-Clawdd. It contains about 800 inhabitants, and was once a corporate town and member of Cardigan borough, but was disfranchised in 1742 for corruption. The highest summit is Tregaron Hill, 1,747 feet above sea-level; and about two miles to the N. of the town is Maes-Myn, or "the Lake of the Field," where, says tradition, once stood Tregaron. It was in this neighbourhood that a conflict took place about 1040, between Gruffydd ab Llewelyn and Howel, in which the latter was defeated and slain. The parish is of very great extent, comprising an area of 39,138 acres.

Below the town is a spring, at which it is customary for young men and women to meet on Easter Sunday and present to each other a small white loaf, called "Bara-can," and a draught of the water from the spring. In the surrounding district are many antiquities. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. David, value £156, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Caron, stands on an elevated spot close to the river Brenig, which is crossed at this place by a wooden bridge. In the churchyard are some old tombs and pillar stones. Market day is on Tuesday. Fairs are held on 15th to 17th March, and on the first Tuesday in May.

"ABERCARFAN, near Tregaron in the parish of Tregaron and the county of Cardigan, 3 miles S. of Tregaron, and 6 N.E. of Lampeter; not far from Tregaron Hill, which rises to the height of 1,747 feet."

"ARGOED, a township united with that of Ystrad, in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, in the county of Cardigan, South Wales. It is situated on the river Teifi, and contains the township of Tregaron."

"BERWYN, a township united with Croes, in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, in the county of Cardigan, South Wales, 3 miles to the S.E. of Tregaron. It is situated in the valley of the river Berwyn, a branch of the Teifi. The scenery of the Cwm Berwyn is remarkably wild and impressive."

"BLAEN-AERON, a township in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, in the county of Cardigan, South Wales, 4 miles to the N.E. of Tregaron. It is situated, as its name denotes (Blaen, "head of a river"), at the source of the river Aeron."

"BLAEN-CARON, a township of Tregaron and parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, in the county of Cardigan, South Wales, not far from Tregaron. It lies at the source of the river Caron."

"CARON-UWCH-CLAWDD, (or Strata Florida), a chapelry in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, in the county of Cardigan, South Wales, 5 miles N. of Tregaron, its post town. It includes the village of Rhydfendigaed. It is chiefly interesting as the site of the famous abbey of Ystrad-Flur, or Strata Florida. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of St. David's, value £80, in the patronage of W. E. Powell, Esq., the lord of the manor. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The village is seated in a wild country near the source of the river Teifi and the Roman road called the Sarn Helen. The abbey was founded about the middle of the 12th century, for monks of the Cistercian order, by Rhys-ab-Gruffydd. It was burnt down, but restored near the close of the following century, and flourished till the Dissolution, when it had a revenue of £118, and was given to the Stedmans. The ruins consist of the gateway, in the Saxon style, with parts of the walls and buildings. Caron-Uwch-Clawdd House is the chief residence.

"CROES AND BERWYN, a township in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, in the county of Cardigan, 2¼, miles S.E. of Tregaron. It is situated on the river Croes, which joins the Teivi."

"RHYDFENDIGAED, a village in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, county Cardigan, 2 miles from Tregaron. The village, which is considerable, is situated near the river Teife and the Sarn Helen way."

"STRATA-FLORIDA, (or Ystrad Fflur), a township in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, county Cardigan, 5 miles N.E. of Tregaron, its post town, and 16 from Aberystwith. It is a station on the Manchester and Milford railway. The village is near the Sarn Helen Way and the head of the river Teivi. In the neighbourhood is the Saxon gateway, &c., of a Cistercian abbey, founded by Rhys-ab-Gruffydd in 1164, which was destroyed by fire, but rebuilt in 1294. Its revenue at the Dissolution was valued at £118, and it had several hospitia attached to it. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of St. David's, value £80. The church was built out of the ruins of the abovementioned priory.

"THE CEFEL, a township in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, county Cardigan, near Tregaron at the Teivi bridge."

"TREF LYNN, a township in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, county Cardigan, 2 miles from Tregaron, near the river Teivi, on the Sam Helen way."

"YSTRAD, a township in the parish of Tregaron, hundred of Penarth, county Cardigan, 3 miles from Tregaron. It is situated near the river Teifi, and the Sarn Helen way, and includes the hamlet of Argoed."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018