Llanbadarn Fawr () is a village and

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 ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, Wales. It is on the outskirts of

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

next to Penparcau and Southgate. It forms the eastern part of the continually built-up area of Aberystwyth. It holds two

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

s, Padarn and Sulien which elect a

Ceredigion County Council Ceredigion County Council () is the governing body for the county of Ceredigion, since 1996 one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The council's main offices are in Aberaeron. History The current council was created on 1 April 1996 under t ...

lor each and several Llanbadarn Fawr Community Councillors. At the 2001 census its population as a community was recorded at 2,899, increasing to 3,380 at the 2011 census.

Attractions, history and amenities

Llanbadarn Fawr is named after the church of Padarn (the great church of Padarn), and dates from the sixth century. It predates Aberystwyth, whose castle was originally named after Llanbadarn. Notable buildings include Saint Padarn's Church, a fine, partly Romanesque

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

on the site of the mother church founded by Padarn (Paternus) in the 6th century and which contains notable 18th-century wall monuments. The Garreg Fawr stone slab, reputed to be the capstone of a now-vanished

chamber tomb A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave (burial), grave. Built from Rock (geology), rock or som ...

, is mounted on a plinth in Llanbadarn Fawr Square. This slab once stood on four upright stones before being fractured by fire in the 19th century, after which it was reassembled and mounted in its present location. There is also a windmill in Llain-y-gawsai. Llanbadarn Fawr has two

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, ''The Black Lion'' and ''The Gogerddan Arms'', and the University's Llanbadarn campus, which concentrates on subjects such as

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

and information science, and Coleg Ceredigion's Aberystwyth campus. Padarn United F.C. play their

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in the Cambrian Tyres League. In the spring, summer and autumn months the village has train services provided by The Vale of Rheidol Railway to

Devil's Bridge Devil's Bridge is a term applied to dozens of ancient bridges, found primarily in Europe. Most of these bridges are stone or masonry arch bridges and represent a significant technological achievement in ancient architecture. Due to their unusu ...

, Capel Bangor and

. File:Gogerddan Map 110, A map of the Borough of Llanbadarn.png, A map of Llanbadarn Fawr, c.1800 File:Church of Llanbadarn Fawr, near Aberystwyth.jpeg File:Egwys Llanbadarn Fawr, Abersytwyth.JPG File:TrenLlanbadarnFawr.JPG File:Gogerddan Arms, Llanbadarn Fawr.jpg

Governance

Much of the community falls within the

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

named Llandbadarn-Fawr-Padarn and Llandadarn-Fawr-Sulien. The total population of these wards is 3,380

Dyfi Biosphere

In March 2024, the town joined the Dyfi Biosphere.

Notable people

* Tradition has it that the poet

Dafydd ap Gwilym Dafydd ap Gwilym ( 1315/1320 – 1350/1370) is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and among the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Dafydd’s poetry also offers a unique window into the transcultural movement of cultural pract ...

(ca. 1315/1320 – ca. 1350/1370) was born within Llanbadarn Fawr parish, as it stood in the fourteenth century, at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch. He wrote about the parish church in his poem " The Girls of Llanbadarn". This church can still be visited today. * John Rowlands (1824–1891), pen name, ''"Giraldus"'', was a Welsh antiquary and educator. He was born at Nanteos Arms.

Notes

External links

Llanbadarn Fawr Community Council websitewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llanbadarn Fawr and surrounding area
{{authority control Villages in Ceredigion Aberystwyth