Rhiw - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
RHIW, a parish, in the union of Pwllheli, hundred of Commitmaen, Lleyn division of the county of Carnarvon, in North Wales, 11 miles (W. S. W.) from Pwllheli; containing 378 inhabitants. This place derives its name, signifying the ascent of a hill, from its situation on the acclivity of Mynydd Rhiw, a lofty eminence that rises above the village to an elevation of one thousand and thirteen feet above the level of the sea. The parish is situated on the western shore of the bay of Porthnigel in the great bay of Cardigan, and comprises about 900 acres of arable and pasture land; about two-thirds are ancient inclosure, and the remainder, which is mountainous, was inclosed by an act for that purpose in the year 1811. In the lower grounds the soil is a stiff clay, and in the higher lands gravelly, producing tolerable crops of barley and oats, and excellent grass; and the inclosed commons afford good pasturage for sheep and young cattle. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified, and is somewhat enlivened by several small rivulets which run through the parish. From the summit of Mynydd Rhiw the prospect is strikingly beautiful, embracing the whole range of the mountains of Snowdon, and extending over Cardigan bay, St. George's Channel, and a great part of South Wales. Plâs Rhiw, for many generations the seat of the family of Lewis, and now the property and residence of Lewis Moor Bennet, Esq., is an ancient and handsome mansion, comprehending within its grounds some picturesque scenery. Manganese, of very superior quality, abounds in the parish: the vein in which it lies, first discovered in 1827, has been worked since that time with great success, and about fifty persons are now employed in procuring it, the produce being principally sent to the Liverpool market.

The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Llandudwen annexed, rated in the king's books at £6. 14. 9½., and endowed with £200 royal bounty; present net income, £97; patron, the Bishop of Bangor: there is a glebe-house, with six acres of land, besides eleven acres purchased with the bounty money. The church, dedicated to St. Aelrhiw, is an ancient and spacious cruciform structure, in the early style of English architecture, and is in good repair; the length of the body of the edifice is sixtythree feet, the breadth twenty-one feet, and the transept measures twenty-two by eighteen. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans, and three Sunday schools, one of which is in connexion with the Established Church. A day school for the parishes of Rhiw and Bryncroes is noticed under the head of Bryncroes, where it is held. Some land in the parish, now producing £4 per annum, was bequeathed for keeping the church in repair.