Cenarth () is a village,

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

, on the border between

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. Cer ...

and Carmarthenshire, and close to the border with Pembrokeshire, Wales. It stands on the banks 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 ...

, east of Cardigan and west of

Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenar ...

, and features the

Cenarth Falls The Cenarth Falls is a cascade of waterfalls just upstream of the road bridge in the village of Cenarth in Ceredigion, bordering Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, Wales. They are notable as the first significant barrier on the River Teifi that ...

, a popular visitor attraction, and several other listed structures including an 18th-century corn mill incorporating the National Coracle Centre.

History and governance

The ancient

extended south of the river, and included the town of Newcastle Emlyn. In 1934, it annexed the adjoining parish of East Cilrhedyn, and the enlarged parish corresponds with the modern community, which had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,022 in the 2001 census. With the community of

, it makes up the Carmarthenshire electoral ward of Cenarth, which had a population of 1,995 in 2001, with 60 per cent

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

speakers. The ancient parish (less Newcastle Emlyn) had an area of . Its

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

populations were: 672 (1801); 897 (1851); 638 (1901). The percentage of Welsh-speakers was 98 (1891); 96 (1931). The enlarged parish (post-1934) had an area of . Its census populations were: 1098 (1951); 1066 (1961); 926 (1971); 971 (1981). The percentage of Welsh-speakers was 92 (1951); 91 (1961); 82 (1971); 69 (1981). The

is bordered by the communities of:

;

Llangeler Llangeler () is a hamlet and community located in north Carmarthenshire, Wales. The name is believed to refer to St. Gelert. Llangeler parish covers a wide area including to the west, the textile village of Drefach Felindre, Waungilwen, Cwmpen ...

;

Cynwyl Elfed Cynwyl Elfed (; sometimes Conwyl and formerly anglicised as Conwil Elvet or Conwil in Elvet) is a village and community in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales. The community includes the villages of Cynwyl Elfed, Blaenycoed and Cwmduad. It is si ...

; and

Trelech Trelech (Welsh: ''Tre-lech'') is a village in the parish of Tre-lech a'r Betws, Carmarthenshire, in south-west Wales. It is also the name of the community. Trelech is located some 10 miles north-west of Carmarthen and 6.5 miles south of Newcastle ...

, all being in Carmarthenshire; by

Clydau Clydau (sometimes Clydaï or Clydey) is a community and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Name The meaning of the Welsh placename is uncertain, although the church is now dedicated to St. Clydaï, an alleged daughter of Brychan. History During the ...

and

Manordeifi Manordeifi ( cy, Maenordeifi) is a parish and community in the hundred of Cilgerran, in the northeast corner of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The population of the community in 2001 was 478. It has an elected community council and is part of the Cilgerra ...

in Pembrokeshire; and by Beulah, Pen-y-wenallt, and

Llandyfriog Llandyfriog is a community in Ceredigion, Wales. It includes the Adpar part of Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. I ...

Features

East of the village, the River Teifi emerges from a deep

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

when the river is in full spate and this attracts many visitors throughout the year. A dramatic painting of the falls was made by

Frank Miles George Francis Miles (22 April 1852 – 15 July 1891) was a London-based British artist who specialised in pastel portraits of society ladies, also an architect and a keen plantsman. He was artist in chief to the magazine ''Life'', and between 1 ...

and is now at Nottingham City Museum. Miles's father inherited Cardigan Priory from his father, Philip John Miles, but lived in Nottinghamshire as Rector of Bingham. Cenarth Bridge - geograph

A dominant feature of the village is

Cenarth Bridge Cenarth Bridge ( cy, Pont Cenarth), also spelt Kenarth Bridge, is a three arch bridge which spans the River Teifi at Cenarth, Carmarthenshire in Wales. The bridge was built between 1785 and 1787 and designed by David Edwards, the son of Willia ...

over the Teifi west of the falls; the bridge was built in 1787 by William Edwards of Eglwysilan and his son David. The bridge features their trademark series of circular holes (perforated

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s that allow the weight of the structure to be reduced without losing strength. The bridge is a Grade II*-

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

structure and is partly in Carmarthenshire and partly in Ceredigion. Other visitor attractions are a seventeenth-century

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

and

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 ...

museum. The village is home to the National Coracle Centre.

Worship

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

is dedicated to the local saint, St Llawddog. Although the present building is relatively modern, it is on an important ancient site, and was the "bishop house" of the cantref of

Emlyn Emlyn was one of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed, an ancient district of Wales, which became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the northern part of Dyfed bordering on the River Teifi. Its southern boundary followed the ridge of the ...

References

External links

Cenarth on GenukiPhotographs of Cenarth and surrounding area on Geograph
{{authority control Communities in Carmarthenshire Villages in Carmarthenshire