Talsarn is a hamlet in 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 ...

Nantcwnlle Nantcwnlle is a community in 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 ...

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 ...

, Wales. It lies some 16 miles (26 km) south of

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 ...

, 64 miles (103 km) north-west of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, and 178 miles (286 km) from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It is situated almost half-way between the towns of

Lampeter Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, ...

and

Aberaeron Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community, and electoral ward between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, in Ceredigion, Wales. Ceredigion County Council offices are in Aberaeron. The name of the town is Welsh for ''mouth of ...

on the

coast. The

River Aeron The River Aeron ( cy, Afon Aeron) is a small river in Ceredigion, Wales, that flows into Cardigan Bay at Aberaeron. It is also referred to on some older maps as the River Ayron. Etymology The name of the river means "battle" or "slaughter" and ...

passes close to Talsarn as it makes its way to the sea at Aberaeron. Notable archaeological discoveries have been made in the district, including Stone Age tools and a medieval convent, cemetery and Tudor mansion. Talsarn boasts four mansions in its vicinity: Llanllyr, Abermeurig, Plas Trefilan and Plas Gelli, as well as Ty Mawr, a substantial 17th C. farmhouse which sits at the centre of the hamlet, and Trefilan Castle “a strong castle mound that can be associated with a princely house” of the medieval period. Little remains of the castle, except its mound, which is close to St. Hilary's parish church in Trefilan. Capel Hermon Methodist Chapel lies outside Talsarn, just off the road from Trefilan to Cilcennin. The hamlet's name may derive from the Roman road Sarn Helen, which runs nearby, though it's also been noted that where a medieval road crossed soft ground, a "''sarn'' of logs and rushes were required. Places that bear such names as ''Sarnau'', ''Pensarn'' and ''Talsarn'' denote spots that topographically conform to this description.” The W00002862 Output Area's (which includes Talsarn) population can be found here:

Dylan Thomas

Plas Gelli is a Grade II listed building, comprising the original Jacobean farmhouse, built in the 1680s, with a four-room cross-wing added to the farmhouse in the late 18th C. The farmyard comprised stabling for four horses, as well as the Ty Pair, the outdoor servants' quarters. Gelli also has a walled garden and an octagonal thatched lodge at the head of the drive, of the kind often associated with John Nash. The writer and poet

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

lived at Gelli from 1941 to 1943, though he was frequently in London during this period. Dylan and his wife Caitlin shared the cross-wing of the house with his childhood friends from Swansea, Vera and Evelyn Phillips. Dylan and Caitlin's daughter, Aeronwy, was named after the river Aeron. The farmhouse part of the mansion was lived in by Thomas and Mary Davies (who farmed Gelli's 75 acres) and their granddaughter, Amanda Williams, who has provided a vivid account of Dylan's time at Gelli. The journalist, Lyn Ebenezer, has also interviewed Talsarn residents about Dylan's time in the village. Some of Dylan's colourful letters from Gelli can be found in his ''Collected Letters''. There are also a handful of poems associated with Dylan's residence at Gelli. In Dylan's time, there were some twenty-six people living in Talsarn itself, whose facilities included a school, shop, garage, post office, blacksmith and the Red Lion pub. Dylan, Caitlin, Vera and Evelyn left Gelli in 1944 and moved a few miles away to

New Quay New Quay ( cy, Cei Newydd) is a seaside town (and electoral ward) in Ceredigion, Wales, with a resident population of around 1,200 people, reducing to 1,082 at the 2011 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay with a harbour a ...

. The

Dylan Thomas Trail The Dylan Thomas Trail ( cy, Llwybr Dylan Thomas) runs through places associated with the poet Dylan Thomas in Ceredigion, west Wales. It was officially opened by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan's daughter, in July 2003. It also featured in the celebrat ...

passes through the grounds of the mansion on a public footpath.

Talsarn poets

Talsarn and its hinterland was once the centre of a thriving group of country poets (''beirdd y wlad'' ). They included John Davies (1722-1799), John Jenkins (1825-1894) and his brother Joseph Jenkins (1818-1898), Jenkin Jenkins Felincoed (1845-1892), William Lloyd (d.1911, Llundain Fach), Dinah Davies Tynrhos (1851-1931), David Davies (Perthneuadd) and Dan Jenkins Pentrefelin (1856-1946) Joseph Jenkins also wrote for agricultural journals, as well as writing a book on his travels in Australia.

Talsarn horses

Talsarn hosts the annual Lampeter Stallion Show, established in April 1962, which attracts entries and spectators from far and wide, including mainland Europe. The artist

Aneurin Jones Aneurin M. Jones (1930 – 25 September 2017) was a Welsh painter. Life and work Jones was born in Cwm Wysg on the Brecknockshire/Carmarthenshire border to a farmer's family. He studied Fine Art at Swansea College of Art from 1950 to 1955. He ...

has produced a number of works portraying Talsarn horses, such as ''Sioe Feirch Llambed Talsarn'' (Lampeter Stallion Show Talsarn) and several other works titled ''Talsarn'', showing both horses and farmers, including ''Bois Talsarn''. The events of the Talsarn Harness Racing Club are also popular, and attract a regular television audience. The first trotting race in Talsarn was held on April 13, 1876.''Cambrian News'', April 21, 1876.

Reading

*L. Ebenezer (1967) ''Dylan at Gelli'', ''Cambrian News'', February 24. *L. Ebenezer (1978) ''Local interviews on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Dylan Thomas’ death'', ''Y Cymro'', November 7 *Dinah Davies (1912) ''Llinellau Gwasgaredig'', James *D. Islwyn Edwards (1994) ''Cerddi Cerngoch'', Y Lolfa *John Jenkins (Cerngoch) (1904) ''Cerddi Cerngoch'', Cwmni y Wasg Eglwysig Gymreig *Joseph Jenkins (1975) ''Diary of a Welsh Swagman 1869-1894'', Macmillan * L. Jones (1989) ''History of Talsarn Show and Fair'', Levell and Evans *A. Leech (2007) ''Dan Jenkins: A Biography'', Y Lolfa. *D.N. Thomas (2000) ''Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow'', Seren *D.N. Thomas (2002) ''The Dylan Thomas Trail'', Y Lolfa

References

External links