Bethesda (; ) is a small village in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

Llawhaden Llawhaden ( cy, Llanhuadain) is a village, parish and community in the Hundred of Dungleddy ( cy, Daugleddyf), Pembrokeshire, West Wales. The community of Llawhaden includes the parish of Robeston Wathen, part of Narberth and the hamlet of Gel ...

, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on a bend of the B4313 road in the valley of the Eastern Cleddau river a few miles north north west of Narberth.

History

The village is marked on pre-1850 maps as situated in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Llawhaden.

Chapel

To the west of the village is a Welsh Independent (

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

) chapel, first built in 1797, rebuilt in 1848 and a graveyard added in 1849. It was restored in 1871 and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. A history of the chapel and details of the lives of the incumbents was published in 1871 when the congregation numbered 150. The chapel was still active in 2006.

Penllwyn

A short distance further west is the large, Georgian country house named ''Penllwyn'' (or ''Pen-llwyn''), also a Grade II listed building. It was built in the late 18th century on to a 17th-century farmhouse belonging to Dafydd Morris, a local Congregational minister. The farmhouse became the service wing of the main building.

Vaynor

To the southeast of the village, Vaynor is an estate with origins at least as early as the beginning of the 17th century, as the farmhouse carries the date 1707 and the initials ''WS''. It was at one time the home of the Skyrme family and is a Grade II* listed building. Comprehensive archive records and photographs are noted by Coflein. Further to the south is an earthwork, probably

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

, a scheduled monument. In 1960, evidence of occupation was turned up while ploughing.

References

{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire