Bronwydd is a village and a

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, tow ...

in the county of

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, Wales, situated about three miles north of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

in the valley of the

River Gwili : ''For the river which flows into the River Loughor see Afon Gwili (Loughor)'' The River Gwili ( cy, Afon Gwili) in Carmarthenshire, is a tributary of the River Tywi, the longest river entirely in Wales. Its headwater is found east of Llanllawdd ...

. Bronwydd community comprises the village of Bronwydd Arms, a couple of nearby

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s and a number of working

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

s in the surrounding area. In Census 2011, it had a population of 564.

Bronwydd Arms railway station Bronwydd Arms railway station, originally a stop on the now closed Carmarthen to Aberystwyth Line, is the headquarters of the preserved Gwili Railway. The station first opened on 3 September 1860 as part of the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railwa ...

is a halt on the

Gwili Railway The Gwili Railway (Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Gwili'') is a Welsh heritage railway, that operates a preserved standard gauge railway line from the site of Abergwili Junction (near Carmarthen) in southwest Wales along a section of the former Carmarth ...

Cwmgwili Cwmgwili () is a country house set in its own grounds approximately northwest of Abergwili in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was probably built in the late sixteenth century. History Cwmgwili is a country house, probably built in the late sixteenth c ...

mansion, home to a prominent local family, the Philipps, has 17th century features and is a grade II* listed building. Bronwydd Arms was one of six

broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

"not-spots" in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

- communities without high-speed internet access. In December 2008, the

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and BT confirmed that coverage in these areas would be upgraded in April 2009. The community is bordered by the communities of:

Llanpumsaint Llanpumsaint (; Welsh "Llan" church + "pum" five + "saint" saint(s)) is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In the 2001 UK Census, Llanpumsaint community had a population of 595. It is not to be confused with Pumsaint, a small vill ...

;

Llanllawddog Llanllawddog () is a community located in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2011 census was 703. Llanllawddog is bordered by the Carmarthenshire communities of Llanfihangel-ar-Arth, Llanfihangel Rhos ...

;

Abergwili Abergwili () is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the confluence of the rivers Towy and Gwili, close to the town of Carmarthen. It is also an electoral ward. The community includes the settlements of Peniel, Llanfihangel- ...

;

Newchurch and Merthyr Newchurch and Merthyr is a community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales including the villages of Newchurch (Welsh: Eglwysnewydd) and Merthyr. The community population at the 2011 census was 676. The community is bordered by the communities of: ...

; and

Cynwyl Elfed Cynwyl Elfed (; sometimes Conwyl and formerly anglicised as Conwil Elvet or Conwil in Elvet) is a village and community in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales. The community includes the villages of Cynwyl Elfed, Blaenycoed and Cwmduad. It is s ...

, all being in Carmarthenshire.

History

The village name is taken from the Bronwydd Arms Inn, which served until 1978 on the main road junction into the village. The public house and adjoining shop were demolished in March 1981. A slate engraving marking the site now stands on the A484 Cardigan road, opposite the B4301 that runs into the village. The current village pub, the Hollybrook, was opened on Easter Monday 1980 by locals Glyn and Maureen Evans. The name Hollybrook is an Anglicised version of Nantcelynen, the name of the

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

where the pub sits. The site is known to have housed a pub in 1851 by the name of 'Clothiers Arms' but by 1871 it was no longer open. A detailed history on Bronwydd Arms and surrounding areas was published in 2002 by Carmarthenshire County Council and written by local historian and resident Arwyn Thomas with the title 'Hanes Ardal Bronwydd - A History of the Area'

Notes

External links

Bronwydd CommunityThe Gwili Railway home page

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Bronwydd and surrounding areaBronwydd Cricket ClubHollybrook Country Inn & B&BWhite Water ConsultancyTimberman Ltd
Communities in Carmarthenshire Villages in Carmarthenshire {{Carmarthenshire-geo-stub