St Elvis ( cy, Llaneilfyw, ) 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 ...

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, about east of St David's. At it is one of the smallest parishes in Wales but its

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

was previously the superior of the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of the church at Solva (today dependent upon nearby Whitchurch instead). The parish of Whitchurch and St Elvis together form 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, tow ...

of Solva.

Name

The name is a Latinized form of the

Welsh saint 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 ...

Eilfyw, also well known by his

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

name Ailbe. Former forms of the name include Llanelvewe and Llanailfyw. According to Rhyddferch's 11th-century ''Life of Saint David'', Elvis

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Saint David Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; la, Davidus; ) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail ab ...

in AD 454 at

Porth Clais Porthclais (also known as Porth Clais) is a small sheltered inlet harbour near St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. History Porthclais harbour was built in the 12th century, importing coal a ...

in Dyfed. (Note, however, that this dating seems unlikely.)

History

A 5000-year-old

cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an ...

—including two early British tombs—lies nearby, although they were damaged by a tenant farmer in the 19th century who removed two of the stones.

GENUKI GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emphas ...

notes church and chapel records dating from the 19th century, with two farms. There is still a St Elvis farm (''Vagwr Eilw''"Saint Elvis"
in Terry Breverton's ''Wales: A Historical Companion'', pp. 164 f. Amberley Publishing (Stroud), 2009.) and the ruins of the earlier monastery and church, covered with blackthorn. St Elvis's Well is also nearby and continued to produce 360 gallons an hour amid the 1976 drought.

Religious sites

There is a shrine to St Elvis, located at .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Elvis, Pembrokeshire Villages in Pembrokeshire