Penrydd (variously spelled Penrhydd, Penrhudd, Penrith, Penreth or Penrieth) is a former

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 ...

in 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 des ...

of Kilgerran, north Pembrokeshire, Wales. The parish's history is closely linked with that of Castellan, and included parts of the present villages of

Blaenffos Blaenffos is a small village of around 200 inhabitants in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the community of Boncath. It sits on the boundary between the former parishes of Llanfihangel Penbedw and Castellan Chapelry (part of Penrydd parish). ...

and

Crymych Crymych () is a village of around 800 inhabitants and a community (population 1,739) in the northeast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated approximately above sea level at the eastern end of the Preseli Mountains, on the old Tenby to Cardigan ...

History

Church

The parish, in the 1530s, was unique in Wales in furnishing the title of a

suffragan see A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, ...

, namely

Bishop of Penrydd The Bishop of Penrydd (originally spelled Penreth) was a suffragan see in the Church of England (then covering England and Wales) named in the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534. Only one bishop was appointed by Robert Holgate, Bishop of Llandaff from 1 ...

, and an Inventory of Ancient Monuments explains how this may have come about. The parish is marked (as ''Penrith'') on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire. Penrydd Parish Church - geograph

The parish church of St Cristiolus (

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

) existed at least as early as 1799, the earliest date from which parish register information has been garnered. From 1799 to 1858 the parish register is "Penrhydd with Castellan", Castellan being a chapelry at that time. The living in 1870 was described as ''"...a rectory in the diocese of St David's. Value £100. Patron, the Lord Chancellor"''. The church had been rebuilt in 1841 and restored in 1911; in 1914 it was described as "plain" and "whitewashed". A survey by Dyfed Archaeological Trust for Cadw in 2011 describes the present churchyard as ''"...suboval/subrectangular, now poorly defined..."'' and the church as "''...small, comprising chancel, nave and west porch. It is now in private hands..."''. The church was described in about 2012 as abandoned.

Population and property

The annual value of the Real property of the parish, including Castellan, was £756 in 1815 when the joint population was 273. By 1821 and 1831 the population of Penrydd parish alone was 190 and 219 respectively. In 1831-33 the parish (including the chapelry of Castellan) was home to 346 inhabitants and included both enclosed arable land or pasture and unenclosed moorland. About 70% of males over 20 were involved in agriculture with the rest in retail or manufacturing trades. Of those in agriculture, the majority farmed in their own right, as opposed to labouring for others.

Tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

apportionments of 1837 and tithe maps of 1844 are held at the National Archives. By 1881 the majority of males (about 60%) were still in agriculture, but there were more involved in other occupations such as quarrying. There is an Ordnance Survey-marked disused quarry close to Castellan Farm. Penrydd was included in the National Farm Survey of 1941-3 during World War 2, the records of which are held at the National Archives.

Today

Penrydd was absorbed in 1974 into 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, ...

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 Bwlch ...

References

{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire