Llandre, or Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, is a village 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 been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...

, Wales. It lies 5 miles north of Aberystwyth in the north-west of the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, on the road from Rhydypennau to

Borth Borth ( cy, Y Borth) is a village and seaside resort in Ceredigion, Mid Wales, 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberystwyth on the Ceredigion Coast Path. The community includes the settlement of Ynyslas. The population was 1,399 in 2011. From be ...

. To the north of the community lies the village of Dôl-y-bont. 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, ...

is called Geneu'r Glyn.

Toponymy

The traditional

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

of the village was Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn ( en, St Michaels at the Mouth of the Valley), which derives from its location in the old

cwmwd A commote ( Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wal ...

of Genau'r Glyn, part of the cantref of

Penweddig Penweddig was a medieval cantref – a Welsh land division – of the kingdom of Ceredigion and later of the kingdom of Deheubarth) which is now in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The community secondary school Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig is ...

. Before that, the name was Llanfihangel Castell Gwallter. The name changed to Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn in the 16th century. When the railway station opened in 1864 the nameboards read simply "Llanfihangel", but in 1916, at the request of Cynnull Mawr Parish Council "as Llanfihangel is a very common place name in Wales and much confusion is causing considerable inconvenience", the name was changed to Llandre ( en, Churchtown). The old name of Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn still occurs frequently in books of Welsh history.

Local sites

Among the

antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...

of the district are Castell Gwallter ( en, Walter's Castle), a motte-and-bailey castle built by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

in around 1110. This stood around half a mile to the west of the village. An

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

stood on the hill to the east of the village. St Michael's Church in the centre of the village is open every day and has useful information on the area for visitors. There is a holy well just below the

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

and an ancient yew tree to the northeast of the church which has been estimated as being 1800 years old.

Station

Llandre railway station Llandre, or Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies 5 miles north of Aberystwyth in the north-west of the county, on the road from Rhydypennau to Borth. To the north of the community lies the village of Dôl-y-b ...

, formerly named 'Llanfihangel', was opened on 23 June 1864 on the Cambrian Line between

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a pop ...

and Aberystwyth. It closed on 14 June 1965. Between 1897 and 1899 this was the interchange with the

Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a gauge narrow gauge railway in Cardiganshire (now Ceredigion) in Mid Wales. It ran from (later renamed ''Llandre station'') on the Cambrian Line, through the village of Tal-y-bont and the valley of t ...

Notable residents

* Tom Macdonald (1900-1980), journalist and novelist *

Cynog Dafis Cynog Glyndwr Dafis (born 1 April 1938) is a Welsh politician and member of Plaid Cymru. Born Cynog Glyndwr Davies at Treboeth in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales, he was initially a school teacher and researcher before entering politics. Ed ...

(1938–present), politician and member of

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

. * Gwenan Jones (1889-1971), Welsh cultural historian and member of Plaid Cymru * (1947-present), artist and entrepreneur

References

External links

Llandre village websitewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llandre and surrounding areaHistorical information
at

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 ...

{{authority control Villages in Ceredigion