Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn () is an ancient

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 or m ...

in the upper division of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

of Ilar,

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

West Wales West Wales ( cy, Gorllewin Cymru) is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheuba ...

, 7

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

s south east from

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, on the road to Rhayader, comprising the chapelry of Eglwys Newydd, or Llanfihangel y Creuddyn Uchaf, and the township of Llanfihangel y Creuddyn Isaf. It was also known as Lower Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, Lower Llanfihangel y Croyddin and Lower Llanfihangel y Croyddyn. This parish is situated on the rivers Ystwyth, Mynach and Rheidol and intersected by various other streams.GENUKI: Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn Lewis
/ref> An ancient parish was a village or group of villages or hamlets and the adjacent lands. Originally they held ecclesiastical functions, but from the sixteenth century onwards they also acquired civil roles. The parish may have been established as an ecclesiastical parish. Originally a medieval administrative unit, after 1597 ecclesiastical units acquired civil functions with the Elizabethan

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

s, which made the parishes responsible for welfare. The civil function was exercised through vestry meetings which administered the Poor Law and were responsible for local roads and bridges.Ceredigion, A Wealth of History

History

The lands of the parish were part of the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

Strata Florida Strata Florida Abbey ( cy, Abaty Ystrad Fflur) () is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. is a Latinisation of the Welsh ; 'Valley of F ...

originally established in 1164. After the Dissolution of the monasteries by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

(1536-1540) during the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

, their holdings were divided and awarded to new tenants at the direction of the 1st Earl of Essex. Some of the Strata Florida lands were granted to the Herbert family, who came to Cardiganshire during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. One, Sir Richard Herbert of Pengelly and

Cwmystwyth Cwmystwyth (also Cwm Ystwyth, ; en, "valley of the River Ystwyth") is a village in Ceredigion, Wales near Devil's Bridge, and Pont-rhyd-y-groes. The Ordnance Survey calculates Cwmystwyth to be the centre point of Wales (; ). History Dis ...

was

High Sheriff of Cardiganshire The office of High Sheriff of Cardiganshire was established in 1541, since when a high sheriff was appointed annually until 1974 when the office was transformed into that of High Sheriff of Dyfed as part of the creation of Dyfed from the amalgama ...

from 22 November 1542. A rent roll dated 1540 for the granges of Mefenydd, Cwmystwyth and Hafodwen (‘newe leases’) reveals that W llia Herbert and Morgan Herbert were tenants of several properties formerly belonging to the Abbey of Strata Florida, including significantly: Havodychdryd Ceilliau Pantycrave Bwlch Gwalter parcell of Ty Loge ..4 parte of Pwll Piran parte of Pregnant and Blaenmerin and Alltgron Havodychdryd or

Hafod Uchtryd Hafod Uchtryd ( en, Uchtryd summer mansion) is a wooded and landscaped estate in the Ystwyth valley in Ceredigion, Wales. Near Devil's Bridge, Cwmystwyth and Pont-rhyd-y-groes, it is off the B4574 road. Hafod Uchtryd land was within the bounda ...

is the name of the house and demesne and the other properties. Llanfihangel is one of 53 villages in England and Wales (one of three in Wales) whose menfolk suffered no deaths during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Collectively they are known as the

Thankful Villages Thankful Villages (also known as Blessed Villages; ) are settlements in England and Wales from which all their members of the armed forces survived World War I. The term Thankful Village was popularised by the writer Arthur Mee in the 1930s; in '' ...

. It is also one of 14 villages that were "doubly thankful", in that it also lost no service personnel during World War II.

Present day

Trawsgoed Trawsgoed (Welsh for "Crosswood") is both a community and an estate in Ceredigion, Wales. The estate is southeast of Aberystwyth, and has been in the possession of the Vaughan family since 1200.

is the modern

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 ...

name. Llanfihangel translates as the church of St. Michael ( cy, Mihangel). The parish lies within the Cistercian Way. The area is now sparsely populated with only a few towns and villages such as

Ysbyty Ystwyth Ysbyty Ystwyth () is a small village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, southeast of Aberystwyth. Its church and the parish of the same name were the property of the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, hence the 'Ysby ...

, Pont-rhyd-y-groes,

Llanilar Llanilar is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, about southeast of Aberystwyth. It is the eponym of the hundred of Ilar. The population at the 2011 census was 1,085. The community includes Rhos-y-garth. Name In Welsh placenames, ma ...

and Llanfair. In the past area was relatively densely populated due to its mineral wealth. Silver, lead and zinc have been mined in the valley since Roman times, an activity that reached its peak in the 18th century. The largest of the very many mines was Cwmystwyth Mines. Within the boundaries of the parish lies the village of Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, the Hafod Estate and

Devil's Bridge Devil's Bridge is a term applied to dozens of ancient bridges, found primarily in Europe. Most of these bridges are stone or masonry arch bridges and represent a significant technological achievement in ancient architecture. Due to their unusua ...

. The linguistic (

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

dialects) border between North and South is officially held to be a line east–west passing through the public house Y Ffarmers (see Gallery) in the centre of the village. File:Llanfihangel_y_Creuddyn_viewed_from_the_north.jpg, Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn viewed from the north. Image:Parish_Church_Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn.jpg, Parish Church, Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn. Image:Close-up_of_the_sundial_on_Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn_church.jpg, Close-up of the sundial on Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn church. Image:Ystwyth_in_spate_at_Hafod.jpg, River Ystwyth in spate at the Hafod Estate Image:DSCN4297-strata-florida-arch.JPG,

Image:Devils-bridge-pano.JPG, Jacob's Ladder,

Devil's Bridge, Ceredigion Devil's Bridge ( cy, Pontarfynach, lit. "The bridge on the Mynach") is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales. Above the River Mynach on the edge of the village is the unusual road bridge from which the village gets its English name. ...

. Image:Hafod_mansion_fountain_mask.jpg, Fountain mask at the Hafod Estate Image: Y Ffarmers, Llanfihangel y Creuddyn.jpg, Y Ffarmers (the Farmers Arms) pub in Llanfihangel y Creuddyn.

In popular culture

*In the 1999 historical drama ''

Solomon and Gaenor ''Solomon & Gaenor'' ( cy, Solomon a Gaenor) is a 1999 Welsh film written and directed by Paul Morrison. It stars Ioan Gruffudd as an Orthodox Jewish man named Solomon Levinsky who falls in love with a gentile woman named Gaenor Rees, played by ...

'', Gaenor's parents are said to have come from Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, and some of the film's later scenes are set there.

References

External links

MapChurch Plans, 1874 Map of Cardiganshire Parishes circa 1830
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080907174723/http://archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/dogfennau/1301-Hafod-fonds.pdf The Hafod Collectionbr>St. Michael (Hafod), Eglwys Newydd, Llanfihangel y CreuddynPhotos of Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn and surrounding areaY Ffarmers - Farmers Arms
{{authority control History of Ceredigion Villages in Ceredigion