Manordeifi ( cy, Maenordeifi) is a

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 ...

and

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 hundred of

Cilgerran Cilgerran (previously Kilgerran or Cil-Garon) is both a village, a parish, and also a community, situated on the south bank of the River Teifi in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formerly an incorporated market town. Among Cilgerran's attractions ar ...

, in the northeast corner of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, Wales. The population of the community in 2001 was 478. It has an elected

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

and is part of the

electoral ward for the purposes of elections to

Pembrokeshire County Council Pembrokeshire County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Penfro) is the governing body for Pembrokeshire, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. Political control The first election to the council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authorit ...

. In addition to scattered settlement, the parish contains the villages of

Abercych Abercych (or Abercuch, ) is a small village in the community of Manordeifi, northeast Pembrokeshire in South West Wales, located approximately from the tripoint of the counties of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. The village devel ...

and

Newchapel Newchapel is a hamlet in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, close to Kidsgrove in Staffordshire, England. Newchapel was originally named Thursfield. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Turvoldesfeld. After the Reformation in th ...

( cy, Capelnewydd), and many

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 ...

s and structures.

History

Manordeifi's old parish church, situated in the edge of the

River Teifi , name_etymology = , image = File:Llyn Teifi - geograph.org.uk - 41773.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Llyn Teifi, the source of the Teifi , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

floodplain at , was abandoned in favour of a new church built on the hill top in the nineteenth century. The old church (mainly 13th-14th century) preserves many old features. A

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the West Country and in Ireland, particularly the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used of s ...

hangs in the porch, providing a means of escape during floods. Manordeifi (as ''Manerdve'') is marked on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire. The population of the parish was: 745 (1801): 956 (1851): 631 (1901): 602 (1951): 402 (1981). The percentage of Welsh speakers was: 87 (1891): 94 (1931): 74 (1971).

Notable houses

There is an unusually large number of substantial mansions in the parish. These included Clynfyw,

Ffynone Ffynone (Welsh: ''Ffynnonau'') is a mansion and estate near Boncath, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the parish of Manordeifi. The original Georgian design was by architect John Nash and later remodelled by Inigo Thomas. History The name predates t ...

(or Ffynnonau), Pentre and

Castell Malgwyn Castell Malgwyn (alternatively Castle Malgwyn or Hammet House) is a grade II listed Georgian-style country house standing in a landscaped estate in the community of Manordeifi, Pembrokeshire, lying on the south bank of the river Teifi opposite the ...

Ffynone

The Ffynone estate at

Boncath Boncath is a village, community and postal district in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about west of Newcastle Emlyn. The village stands at a cross-roads linking the nearby settlements of Newchapel (''Capelnewydd''), Eglwyswrw, Blaenffos and Bwlchy ...

belonged at one time to the Morgan family of Blaenbwlan, from whom it was purchased by Captain Stephen Colby in 1752. The Ffynone mansion, a Grade I listed building, was designed by architect John Nash and completed in 1799. It was passed down in the Colby family to John Vaughan Colby, whose wife in 1902 commissioned architect and garden designer

Inigo Thomas Francis Inigo Thomas (25 December 1865 – 27 March 1950) was a British artist and garden designer. Thomas was born in Warmsworth, Yorkshire, the fifth son of Rev. Charles Edward Thomas and Georgiana Mary Hely-Hutchinson, daughter of Hon. Henry ...

to improve the house and lay out the terraced gardens. John Vaughan died in 1919 and, having no sons, left the estate to his daughter Aline Margaret, who had married Captain Cecil John Herbert Spence-Jones, son of the Dean of Gloucester, in 1908; the marriage was a notable occasion, reported in great detail and an occasion for local celebration, despite there being no guests at the wedding and no reception owing to the bride's mother's state of health. Spence took the additional surname of Colby by royal licence in 1920 and subsequently sold the property in 1927 to a Glamorgan businessman. The house, in 20 acres of woodland, was bought and restored from 1987 onwards by

Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, DL (28 April 1924Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volum ...

and remains (2013) in the Lloyd George family.

References

External links

Manordeifi on Genuki
{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire Communities in Pembrokeshire