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Penarth - Gazetteers

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A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis 1833

"PENARTH (PEN-ARTH), a parish in the hundred of DINAS-POWIS, county of GLAMORGAN, SOUTH WALES, on the shore of the Bristol channel, 6 miles (S.) from Cardiff, containing 68 inhabitants. It is situated on the western side of the harbour or roadstead of Cardiff, formed by the junction of the rivers Ely and Taf, near their influx into the sea. A neat inn has been lately erected on the shore, by the Earl of Plymouth, for the convenience of mariners, or persons desirous of the sea air : the shore is pebbly, and the cliffs contain various strata of alabaster. Penarth Roads form an excellent haven during the prevalence of westerly winds, and five hundred sail may ride here in safety. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the rectory of Lavernock annexed, in the archdeaconry aud diocese of Llandaf, endowed with a rent-charge of £50 by Thomas Lewis, in 1716, and in the patronage of the Earl of Plymouth, as lessee of the great tithes under the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church, dedicated to St. Augustine, stands upon a rocky promontory at the mouth of the harbour, and serves as a landmark to vessels sailing up and down the channel. In this parish is a ruin, now converted into a barn, which was formerly a chantry chapel, probably connected with, or served by the monks of, the monastery of Llandough super Ely. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor is   £ 28. 14."

  [Last Updated : 28 Jan 2005 - Gareth Hicks]