Bridges over the Cothi river at Pontargothi - geograph

Pont-ar-gothi (otherwise Pontargothi or Cothi Bridge) is a village in

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 ...

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 ...

. The village takes its name from the bridge where the

A40 Road A4 most often refers to: *A4 paper, a paper size defined by the ISO 216 standard, measuring 210 × 297 mm A4 and variants may also refer to: Science and mathematics * British NVC community A4 (''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae - Stratiotes aloide ...

trunk road crosses the

River Cothi The Afon Cothi ( en, River Cothy) is the largest tributary of the River Tywi in south Wales. It is noted for its trout and sea trout (sewin) fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from t ...

. It lies some east 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, ...

Cothi Bridge Show

Cothi Bridge Agricultural Society was established in 1898. The Cothi Bridge Show contains breeders and exhibitors and attracts visitors from a large area. It also has a ladies section that was introduced in 1972.

Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church is almost entirely due to the work of one man, Henry Bath, whose family made a fortune as Cornish tin producers and then, when the tin ran out, exported coal from Swansea and imported copper ore and guano. The coming of the railway to the Tywi Valley had allowed Bath to buy land to build a mansion and commute to Swansea. Alltyferin, a substantial Victorian house, was completed in 1868. An ardent churchman, Bath did not want to enforce English services on the parish church in

Llanegwad Llanegwad () is a community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The population taken at the 2011 census was 1,473. Llanegwad is built up mainly of small farms and detached homes. The community is bordered by the communities of: Llanfihangel Rhos ...

but was unwilling for his household to attend services in Welsh. Construction of Holy Trinity Church began in 1865, but it was not dedicated until 1878.Works at Church of the Holy Trinity, Pont-ar-gothi, Carmarthenshire in Stained Glass in Wales
/ref> It is a

Grade II* 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 ...

-listed building The church was built on land which had belonged to

Talley Abbey Talley Abbey ( cy, Abaty Talyllychau) is a ruined former monastery of the Premonstratensians ("White Canons") in the village of Talley in Carmarthenshire, Wales, six miles (10 km) north of the market town of Llandeilo. It lies in the River C ...

, half-a-mile from the mansion and linked to it by a wooden bridge over the Cothi.Pontargothi's 'Painted' Church
/ref> The bridge was later taken down at the same time as Alltyferin Mansion. The architect was

Benjamin Bucknall Benjamin Bucknall (1833 – 16 November 1895) was an English architect of the Gothic Revival in South West England and South Wales, and then of neo-Moorish architecture in Algeria. His most noted works include the uncompleted Woodchester Mansi ...

, who was a friend of the Baths and had worked with them on

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Docks. Bucknall employed his friend Alfred Stansell to paint murals and the interior is richly decorated. Biblical scenes form a frieze and the ceiling, and the walls are covered in Gothic patterns. Over the years fumes from a coke heater blackened every surface until the paintings were hardly visible. In 2007, the interior was restored to the original colours. The restoration uncovered a further signature near the roof, "Rawlins, Taunton", who was presumably an assistant to Stansell. Bath only ever saw the plans of the church, as he died on a voyage home from Chile in 1875 at the age of 54. His nephew, Edward, inherited and continued the work. Bath and his wife, having no children, had been generous benefactors to the locality, building a school so that the tenants' children did not have to walk to

War Memorial Hall

The village hall was built in remembrance of local men who died in

WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Hall is used for a wide range of activities and events.

References

External links

Aerial photographPhotos of Trinity ChurchMore photos of Alltyferin Mansion
{{authority control Villages in Carmarthenshire