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Llanfihangel-y-Traethau

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"LLANFIHANGEL-Y-TRAETHAU, a parish in the hundred of Ardudwy, county Merioneth, 3 miles N. of Harlech, 6 S.W. of Maentwrog, and 7 from Tan-y-Bwllch, its post town. It is situated on the S. side, and at the mouth of the river Dwyryd. The parish is partly hilly, and 4 ear the river the soil is marshy. Towards the latter part of the 11th century this place was the scene of a battle between the Welsh chieftains. The workhouse for the Festiniog Poor-law Union is situated in this parish. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Bangor, value with that of Llandecwyn annexed, £250, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Michael, and has a monumental stone to the founder of the first church. There is also a district church at Penryhyn Dendraeth. The charities are worth about £3 per annum. There are two chapels belonging to the Calvinistic Methodists." [From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

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Church History

Church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 11, North Wales. Ed. by Ieuan Gwynedd Jones, UWP,   1981. The names given towards the end of each entry are those of the informants.

Parish statistics; Area 7567 acres; Population 758 males, 829 females, total 1587

  • The returns for this parish are missing

"Places of worship for Baptists, Calvinists and Wesleyan Methodists"    (Lewis 1849)

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of

  • Talsarnau Christ Church                     (SH6337  has an entry on Coflein)
  • Talsarnau, Llanfihangel y Troethau Church

 

Rees, Thomas & John Thomas Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). The Talysarnau  section (in Welsh) has been extracted - with translation by Eleri Rowlands (7/2020)

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Church Records

Joyce Hinde has supplied a list of Parish Registers held at Merioneth Record Office.

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Capel Bethel [CM], Talsarnau, cofysgrifau (records) 1837-1865     "Sefydlwyd yr achos ym Methel, Talsarnau, ym mhlwyf Llanfihangel-y-traethau, Sir Feirionnydd, yn 1797. .................."
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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Llanfihangel-y-Traethau which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

LLANVIHANGEL Y TRAETHAU (LLAN - VI - HANGEL-Y-TRAETHAU), a parish in the hundred of ARDUDWY, county of MERIONETH, NORTH WALES, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Harlech, containing 1026 inhabitants. The name of this parish, which consists of the townships of Llanvihangel and Ynys, with part of that of Penrhyn, the rest of which is in the parish of Llandecwyn, is derived from the dedication of its church, and its distinguishing adjunct from its situation on the southern bank of the Traeth Bach, an extensive tract of sands, forming the wide aestuary of the river Dwyryd, which here pours its waters into the bay of Cardigan. In 1073, at a place called Bron yr Erw, in this parish, on the point of land which intervenes between the aestuaries of the Traeth Bach and Traeth Vawr, was fought a sanguinary battle between Trehaern ab Caradoc, Prince of North Wales, and a claimant of the sovereignty named Grufydd ab Cynan, in which the latter was defeated and compelled to return into Anglesey, from which island he had advanced into the heart of Trehaern's dominions. The road from Harlech over the sands to Tremadoc passes near the village ; and the parish, which includes also a tract on the northern bank of the Traeth, called Penrhyn-deudraeth, is also intersected by the road from Tan y Bwlch to the same town. An act of parliament was obtained in the year 1806, for enclosing the common and waste lands in this and the adjoining parish of Llandanwg, under the provisions of which one thousand three hundred and sixty-five acres were allotted to this parish, which comprises altogether between six and seven thousand acres of land, partly hilly and partly flat : some marshes, formerly subject to inundation by the waters of the Traeth Bach, have of late years been enclosed. Within the parish are several small lakes, the largest of which are Llyn y vedw and Llyn-eiddaw : Glynn, an ancient mansion belonging to Mr. Ormsby Gore, also forms an ornament to it. The soil is various, consisting on the higher grounds of a dark red substance, and in the lowlands of clay, sand, and peat. The scenery is pleasingly varied, and there are some good views, embracing on the West a portion of Cardigan bay, and on the south the stately remains of Harlech castle. Vessels of small burden can ascend the river as far as Ty Gwyn y Gamlas, within a few hundred yards of the church, where they receive or discharge their freight. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that of Llandecwyn, in the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and diocese of Bangor, endowed with £ 200 royal bounty : the tithes of the parish belong to the treasurer of Bangor cathedral, as rector of Llandecwyn. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure, appropriately fitted up for the performance of divine service. In the churchyard is a monumental stone, six feet high, bearing the following inscription : " Hoc est sepulchrum Will. Dermae de Deler, qui primus aedificavit hanc Ecclesiam, in tempore Ewini Regis." There are places of worship for Baptists and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. The Reverend John Jones, D. D., in 1719, bequeathed £ 50, the interest of which he directed to be appropriated to the instruction of ten poor children of this and of the adjoining parish of Llandecwyn. In that part of the parish called Penrhyn-deudraeth is said formerly to have stood a castle belonging to one of the sons of Owain Gwynedd. The Reverend Humphrey Humphreys, D. D., Bishop of Bangor, and afterwards translated to the see of Hereford, was born at Hendre Isa, in this parish : he died at Hereford, on the 20th of November, 1712, and was interred near the altar in the cathedral church of that city : he presided over the see of Bangor from 1689 till 1701, and over the see of Hereford from that time till his death. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £258.6. (A Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis, 1833)

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History

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Bob Owen's Llanfihangel-y-traethau Sources  c1930s   "Material collected by Bob Owen in preparation to writing a history of Llanfihangel-y-traethau, Merioneth. Amongst the sources used by him are Parochialia by Edward Lhuyd, vestry books, Welsh Piety by Griffith Jones and wills held at the probate office in Bangor in the 1930"
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Land & Property

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

  • Llanfihangel-y-traethau Deeds 1815-1898
  • Papers re Aberdyfi property of D. Lloyd Davies Esq.   "Deeds relating to Penbryn, Llanfihangel-y-traethau, Merionethshire, 1815-1898"
  • The Papers of Ty Cerrig, parish of Llanfihangel-y-traethau 1681-1949   "The Jones family came to live at Ty Cerrig farm in the parish of Llanfihangel-y-traethau, Merionethshire, in May 1794. In 1909 the Jones Morris family of Ty Cerrig moved to their newly built house at Gwrach Ynys"
  • Cefn Trefor Bach farm, records  "Deeds, mainly mortgages and associated documents, relating to Cefn Trefor Bach and other properties in the parish of Llanfihangel-y-traethau, Merionethshire, 1648-1878"
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Maps

Gwynedd Family History Society  have a diagram of the ecclesiastical parishes of Merionethshire (under Parishes)  - with some links to photographs of parish churches

 Map of the parishes of Llanfihangel y Traethau and Llandecwyn in the County of Merioneth in two parts  - on the People's Collection Wales  site

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SH615348 (Lat/Lon: 52.89308, -4.059964), Llanfihangel-y-Traethau which are provided by: