Leckwith () is a small village in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

, just west of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Historically, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Leckwith also included land on the east side of the

river Ely The River Ely () is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail, rising in the e ...

that is now part of

itself. This area is also commonly known as Leckwith.

Etymology

The name ''Leckwith'' is an anglicisation of the Welsh ''Lecwydd'', with the common replacement of Welsh <-dd> by English <-th> (as in ''Gruffudd''>''Griffith''). ''Lecwydd'' probably derives from the

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Helygwydd'' (possibly the name of a local holy man or Welsh

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

). The change from <-gw-> to <-cw-> may be compared to that in the personal name ''Tecwyn'' (<''Tegwyn''). Since at least the nineteenth century ''Lecwydd'' sometimes appears in Welsh as ''Llechwydd'' or ''Llechwedd''. These forms have been linked to the common Welsh noun ''llechwedd'' (hillside, slope), which has been taken to refer to Leckwith Woods, which rise up steeply from the river Ely. Linguistically, however, there is no relationship between ''Lecwydd'' and ''llechwedd'', and the connection is probably a result of

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

. This explanation of the name ''Lecwydd'' is still sometimes seen, however.

Landmarks

The old stone triple-arched

Leckwith Bridge Leckwith Bridge, can refer to the medieval Grade II* listed stone bridge over the river Ely at Leckwith, Cardiff, or its 20th century replacement. Old bridge The old Leckwith Bridge dates from at least the early 16th century, referred to in 1 ...

crosses the

River Ely The River Ely () is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail, rising in the e ...

to the east. It is Grade II* listed and dates from before 1536. The historic church of St. James, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, like several others around Cardiff, was abandoned and fell into ruin in the second half of the twentieth century.

Politics

Leckwith is part of the

Michaelston-le-Pit and Leckwith Michaelston-le-Pit () is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, just to the west of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is part of the Michaelston-le-Pit and Leckwith community. The community population taken at the 2011 census was 309. To the sout ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

together with the neighbouring village of

Michaelston-le-Pit Michaelston-le-Pit () is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, just to the west of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is part of the Michaelston-le-Pit and Leckwith community. The community population taken at the 2011 census was 309. To the sout ...

. The two villages elect a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

.Michaelston-le-Pit & Leckwith Community Council
Michaelston-le-Pit & Leckwith Community Council website]. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Leckwith and surrounding area
Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan {{ValeofGlamorgan-geo-stub