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Troed-yr-Aur - Extract from 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' by Samuel Lewis 1833

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"TROEDYRAUR (TROED-YR-AUR), a parish composed of the Upper and Lower divisions, in the upper division of the hundred of TROEDYRAUR, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 4 miles (N.N. E.) from Newcastle-Emlyn, containing 1064 inhabitants, of which number, 603 are in the Upper, and 461 in the Lower, division. The ancient name of this place was Llanvihangel Trêv-Deyrn and was derived from the dedication of its church to St. Michael, and from its having been the residence of some royal personage, perhaps a prince of Ceredigion. Its present name of Troedyraur signifying " the foot of gold," originated in an opinion that gold was formerly procured at the foot of the eminence on which the church is situated. The parish is intersected by the direct road from Lampeter to Cardigan, and comprises a very considerable tract of arable and pasture land, of which, with the exception of a comparatively small portion, the whole is enclosed. The surrounding scenery, though not distinguished by any peculiarity of features, is pleasingly enlivened with the grounds and plantations of some gentlemen's seats in the vicinity. Troedyraur House, the family seat of the Rev.Thomas Bowen, the present incumbent, who has distinguished himself as an enlightened and successful agriculturist, is a handsome and spacious mansion, beautifully situated. Alderbrook Hall the seat of John Lloyd Williams, Esq., by whom it was erected, is a handsome mansion, situated on an eminence above the church, commanding some good views, and is environed with thriving and extensive plantations, which are highly ornamental to the neighbourhood. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of St.David's, rated in the king's books at £13, and in the patronage of the King, as Prince of Wales. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a neat modern structure, erected in the year 1795, by subscription among the parishioners, under the superintendence of the rector, who has recently added to it a very neat porch at his own expense. Here was formerly an ancient chapel, called Capel Twr Gwynn upon the site of which a neat parsonage-house has been built by the present rector. There are two places of worship for Calvinistic Methodists, and one for Presbyterians. A school-house has been built at the expense of the parishioners, containing two rooms, in which about forty boys are gratuitously instructed, at the expense of the rector. A tumulus in this parish, called Crûg Mawr, was opened in the year 1829, under the direction of the Rev. Thomas Bowen, upon whose estate it is situated, and was found to contain two earthen vases, and two lachrymatories : one of the vases, soon after its exposure, crumbled to pieces ; the other, together with the lachrymatories, was presented to the museum at Oxford. This tumulus was situated on one side of a causeway, supposed to be part of a Roman road. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor amounts to £ 289.3."

[Gareth Hicks: 17 December 1999]