Rhoshill (also known as Rhos-hill) is a hamlet on the

A478 road The A478 road is a major road in Wales. The route is from its junction with the A487 at Cardigan, Ceredigion, to Tenby, Pembrokeshire. It crosses the Preseli Hills and winds through farmland for almost all of its route. The road just touches t ...

, 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, ...

and

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 ...

Cilgerran Cilgerran (previously Kilgerran or Cil-Garon) is both a village, a parish, and also a community, situated on the south bank of the River Teifi in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formerly an incorporated market town. Among Cilgerran's attractions a ...

, in Pembrokeshire, South-west Wales. The hamlet is situated at the crossroads between the A478 road and the unclassified road from

Eglwyswrw Eglwyswrw is a village, community and parish in the former Cantref of Cemais, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village lies between Newport and Cardigan at the junction of the A487 road and the B4332 at an altitude of . The village is in the heart ...

, and includes the Rhosygilwen estate.

Description

Rhoshill is a collection of about twenty houses at an elevation of , surrounded by farmland, and the local name given to the hill which runs westwards from the hamlet. On some maps the hill to the south of Rhoshill is marked as Windy Hill. An area of the hill is marked as ''Mynydd Crogwy'', but the significance of this is not clear as there is no direct translation (although ''crogwyr'' means hangman). Rhoshill is in the parish of Cilgerran and is administered by Cilgerran Community Council. It is home to an agricultural engineering company and a number of other business including a herb grower (medicinal and culinary) and holiday lets.

History

The north–south road (now the A478) running through Rhoshill formed part of a

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove ''roador droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of unknown age; ot ...

moving local and Irish livestock as far away as England, a practice driven by demand for centuries. Even after the coming of the railways, stock would still have been moved from farms to Cilgerran or

Crymych Crymych () is a village of around 800 inhabitants and a community (population 1,739) in the northeast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated approximately above sea level at the eastern end of the Preseli Mountains, on the old Tenby to Cardigan ...

railway stations by road. A pre-1850 parish map shows an inn at Rhos-hill, while later 19th century Ordnance Survey maps show that Rhoshill had two pubs, the ''Foundry Arms'' and the ''Bronwydd Arms'', and a post office, all of which have since closed and become private dwellings. The ''Bronwydd Arms'' was subject to a

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

order in 1891.

Chapel

Ty Rhos Chapel is to the northeast of Rhoshill. It was built in 1815, rebuilt in 1859 and is a Grade II listed building.

Rhosygilwen

The estate of Rhosygilwen, covering , is a cultural venue, retreat and events centre. ''Neuadd y Dderwen'' (''The Oak Hall'') is a

carbon neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...

250-seat building that has attracted such performers as

Catrin Finch Catrin Ana Finch is a Welsh harpist, arranger and composer. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. ...

and

Shân Cothi Shân Margaretta Morgan (born 25 October 1965), known professionally as Shân Cothi, is a Welsh singer-songwriter, television and radio presenter. Early life Cothi was born in Ffarmers, Carmarthenshire, the younger of two children of Dai an ...

and is supported by Western Solar whose CEO, Dr Glen Peters, is the owner of Rhosygilwen. In 2011 the first solar energy farm in Wales was installed at Rhosygilwen, with 10,000 panels in a field of . The estate hosts the annual ''Penfro Book Festival''. Rhosygilwen was owned by the Jones family until 1697, when it passed to the Colby family who owned it until the 20th century;

Thomas Frederick Colby Thomas Frederick Colby FRS FRSE FGS FRGS (1 September 17849 October 1852), was a British major-general and director of the Ordnance Survey (OS). A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and Royal Society, Colby was one of the leading geogra ...

was raised there. His father Thomas Colby was

High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilitie ...

in 1771. The house was rebuilt in the 1830s. The main house, coach house and main gateway are Grade II

listed building 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 ...

Notable people

Stephen Varney, international under-20

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player

References

{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire