Llanboidy (Llan-Beady) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849) LLANBOIDY (LLAN-BEADY), a parish, in the union of Narberth, Lower division of the hundred of Derllŷs, county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 6� miles (N. W. by W.) from St. Clear's; comprising the Upper and Lower divisions, and containing 1739 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the turnpike-road leading from Narberth to St. Clear's and Newcastle-Emlyn. It extends nearly nine miles from north to south, and five in a transverse direction; and contains, in rich meadow and arable land, 10,666a. 3r. 7p. The scenery, though not distinguished by any peculiarity of feature, is pleasingly varied; and from the higher grounds are obtained some extensive and interesting views: among the gentlemen's seats in the neighbourhood, Maes Gwyn, an elegant modern mansion, Glynt�f, and Nantyr-Eglwys, are the most conspicuous. The parish contains iron-ore, which is found in considerable quantity; and the springs in various parts of it are strongly impregnated with that mineral. A fair is held annually in the village on September 18th.
The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at �8, and endowed with �1000 parliamentary grant; patron, the Bishop of St. David's. The tithes have been commuted for �396. 12. 6. payable to the Earl of Lisburne, �137. 17. 6. to the vicar, and �80. 10. to All Souls' College, Oxford. In the hamlet of Regwm, in the parish, is a chapel dedicated to St. David, called Eglwys-Vair-Lan-T�f, pleasantly situated on the banks of the T�f, and on the border of Pembrokeshire: the living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with �800 royal bounty and �400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of Frederick Bludworth, Esq., who is owner of eleven-fourteenths of the tithes of the hamlet, of which the remainder belongs to the incumbent, and other impropriators; net income of the benefice, �66. There are two places of worship for Independents. Richard Lewis, in 1715, bequeathed �50 for the instruction of four poor boys; and the Rev. Walter Rice Howell, of Maes Gwyn, �20 for the erection of almshouses in the parish; but both these charities have been allowed to fall into neglect. Schools are supported in connexion with the Church, and a British school has been recently built; there is a Church Sunday school, and the Independents have five Sunday schools.
At Bronyskawen, in the parish, are some faint remains of a spacious camp, near the entrance of which, according to Camden, two leaden boxes were found by some boys, rudely formed, and each perforated with a hole nearly one inch in diameter, containing 200 silver coins of the Roman Empire, some of which were the most ancient ever discovered in the island: of thirty that were shown to Mr. Llwyd, the celebrated Welsh antiquary, the latest was one of Domitian in his fifteenth consulate, A. D. 91. At one extremity of the parish, in the grounds of Kilhernin, is a perfect cromlech, of which the table stone, supported on four perpendicular stones, is about ten yards in circumference and one yard in thickness: it is situated near the summit of a lofty eminence, overlooking one of the most luxuriant vales in the whole course of the river T�f. Near the village of Llanboidy is a large tumulus, flat on the summit, as if originally surmounted by some building; and on the opposite side of the river, and about a quarter of a mile higher up the stream, are the vestiges of a small encampment, probably intended to defend the passage of the valley. In the hamlet of Regwm was the residence of the famous prince and legislator, Hywel Dda. |