Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LLANDILO-FAWR

LLANDILO-FAWR, a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district in Carmarthen. the town stands on the river Towy, and on the Vale of Towy railway, at the junction of the lines toward Carmarthen, Llanelly, and Llandovery, 14 miles W by N of Carmarthen; is sitnated chiefly on the steep face of a high hill, rising on the right bank of the river; consists chiefly of one long street; is rather irregularly built, but contains some good modern houses; is a seat of quarter sessions and county courts and a polling-place; and has a post office‡ under Carmarthen, a railway station with telegraph, a bankingoffice, three chief inns, a town hall, a fine bridge, a church, four dissenting chapels, a mechanics' institute, a national school, and charities £42. The bridge was built in 1848, at a cost of £18,000; and has a span of 150 feet. The church was rebuilt in 1848; retains the steeple of the previous church; comprises nave, aisle, transept, and chancel; is one of the best churches in Wales; commands a very fine view both up and down the Towy's valley; and contains a remarkably good organ, and the reputed tomb and baptistry of St. Teilo. A weekly market is held on Saturday; another weekly market, for sheep and wool, is held, during the summer months, on Tuesday; and fairs are held on 20 Feb., the Monday before Easter, 5 and 12 May, 21 June, 23 Aug., 28 Sept., 12 and 22 Nov., and on the Monday before Christmas. Woollen cloth is manufactured; and tanning, to a considerable extent, is carried on. The pop. is short of 2,000. The parish contains also the chapelry of Taliaris, and the hamlets of Pentrecwm, Rhiwlas, Tachloyan, Tyrescob, Rhosmaen, Cwmcawlwyd, Lower Manordeila, Upper Manordela, Tregib, Trecastle, Manorfabon, Bryney-Beirdd, and Glynaman. Acres, 25,628. Real property, of Llandilo town, £4,205; of Taliaris, £1,112; of Pentrecwm, £1,508; of Rhiwlas, £662; of Tachloyan, £1,028; of Tyrescob, £3,621; of Cwmcawlwyd, £1,192; of Lower Manordeila, £2,187; of Upper Manordeila, £1,767; of Tregib, £1,274; of Trecastle, £1,153; of Manorfabon, £2,038; of Bryne-y-Beirdd, £921; of Glynaman, £522. Pop. of the whole, in 1851,5,758; in 1861,5,440. Houses, 1,210. The manor belongs to the Bishop of St. David's. Dynevor Castle, the seat of Lord Dynevor, and Golden Grove, a seat of the Earl of Cawdor, are principal residences, but have been separately noticed. Taliaris is the seat of W. Peel, Esq. CarregCennen Castle, 3¼ miles SE of the town, is a remarkable ancient ruin, but has been separately noticed. The road leading to it, from the town's bridge, commands a remarkably rich view of the vale of Towy, including all Dynevor park. Remains of a considerable mansion, nearly as old as Carreg-Cennen Castle, are about a milo S of it, at Cwrt-Bryr-y-Beirdd. Most of the parish, particularly the part immediately around the town, is richly beautiful and picturesque. The rocks are extensively of the kind called Llandilo flags, chiefly coarse dark-coloured slates, often calcareous, partly true limestone, and abounding in trilobites, and many lower silurian shells. ''Extending northward to Llangadock and southward to Carmarthen, these flag-stones rise in the form of a broken elliptical mass from beneath over-lying strata on both banks of the Towy, thus marking an extensive line of excavation in which that river flows. ''The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. David's. Value, £512. Patron, the Bishop of St. David's. The p. curacies of Cwmamman and Taliaris are separate benefices.

The sub-district contains the parish of Llandyfeisant, and the part of the parish of Llandilo-fawr lying N of the river Cennen, together with the hamlet of Pentrecwm. Acres, 20,909. Pop., 4,546. Houses, 1,024.—The district comprehends also the sub-district of Llandebie, containing the rest of the parish of Llandilo-fawr, and the parishes of Llandebie, Bettws, and Llanfihangel-Aberbythych; the sub-district of Llangathen containing the parishes of Llangathen and Llanegwad; the sub-district of Llanfynydd, containing the parishes of Llanfynydd, Brechfa, and Llanfihangel-Cilfargen; and the sub-district of Talley, containing the parishes of Talley and Llamsawe1. Acres, 97,207. Poor rates in 1863, £8,212. Pop. in 1851,17,968; in 1861,17,222. Houses, 3,695. Marriages in 1863,115; births, 504,-of which 49 were illegitimate; deaths, 279,-of which 63 were at ages under 5 years, and 22 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60,1,306; births, 5,321; deaths, 3,366. The places of worship, in 1851, were 18 of the Church of England, with 5,888 sittings; 22 of Independents, with 3,374 s.; 11 of Baptists, with 1,607 s.; 13 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 2,963 s.; 6 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 988 s.; 1 of Unitarians, with 100 s.; and 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 100 s. The schools were 22 public day schools, with 1,284 scholars; 9 private day schools, with 328 s.; 56 Sunday schools, with 4,477 s.; and 3 evening schools for adults, with 80 s. The workhouse is in the town division of Llandilo-fawr parish; and, at the census of 1861, had 33 inmates.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Llandeilo Fawr Urban CP       Llandilo Fawr RegD/PLU       Carmarthenshire AncC
Place: Llandeilo

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