Swyddffynnon 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. C ...

, Wales, situated 3.75 miles (6 km) to the north of

Tregaron Tregaron ( "town of St Caron") is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales, astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi. Tregaron is northeast of Lampeter. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the ward of Tregaron w ...

, near the northern edge of

Cors Caron Cors Caron is a raised bog in Ceredigion, Wales. Cors is the Welsh word for "bog". Cors Caron covers an area of approximately .The Ramsar site is 874 ha. Cors Caron represents the most intact surviving example of a raised bog landscape in the Un ...

(Tregaron Bog). Swyddffynnon lies within the

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 or ...

Lledrod Lledrod is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales. The village is situated on the A485 road from Llanilar to Tregaron, where it crosses the valley of the River Wyre (Welsh: Afon Wyre). The parish is divided into Lledrod Isaf (Lower Lledrod) ...

Uchaf (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

: Upper Lledrod).

Geology

The solid geology of the area comprises

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoi ...

mudstone of the Derwenlas Formation. Part of the village lies within the valley of the Camddwr Fach stream, the floodplain of which contains

superficial deposits Superficial deposits (or surficial deposits) refer to geological deposits typically of Quaternary age (less than 2.6 million years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated sediments may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beac ...

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

( Devensian

diamicton Diamicton (also diamict) (from Greek ''δια'' (dia-): through and ''µεικτός'' (meiktós): mixed) is a terrigenous sediment (a sediment resulting from dry-land erosion) that is unsorted to poorly sorted and contains particles ranging in size ...

History

The name Swyddffynnon is a contraction of Swydd-y-ffynnon-oer (

: administrative area of the cold well/spring). The 'swydd' element being added to its earlier name 'Fennanoyr' (English: cold well/spring), which is first mentioned in the late 12th century, when the area was granted by

Rhys ap Gruffudd Rhys ap Gruffydd, commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh ''Yr Arglwydd Rhys'' (c. 1132 – 28 April 1197) was the ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197 and native Prince of Wales. It was believed that he ...

Strata Florida Abbey Strata Florida Abbey ( cy, Abaty Ystrad Fflur) () is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. is a Latinisation of the Welsh ; 'Valley ...

. Fennanoyr may have been a bond settlement or an administrative focus for the

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largel ...

of Mefenydd. After the

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

all of Strata Florida's lands were granted to the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

. Soon after, the land around Swyddffynnon appears to have been purchased by the Lloyds o
Ffos-y-bleiddiaid
(English: moat/ditch of the wolves) and later acquired by the Vaughans of

Trawscoed Trawsgoed ( Welsh for "Crosswood") is both a community and an estate in Ceredigion, Wales. The estate is southeast of Aberystwyth, and has been in the possession of the Vaughan family since 1200.

(English; Crosswood). The nature of the settlement prior to the 18th century remains obscure, but the fact that it does not appear on

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.S. Bendall, 'Speed, John (1551/2–1629), historian and cartographer', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (OUP 2004/2 ...

's 1610 map of

Cardiganshire 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 ...

suggests that at the time it was very small. Later 18th and early 19th century maps depict the area very much as it appears today with scattered farms and small enclosures that give little indication as to when they were established.

Religion

There are two dissenting chapels in Swyddffynnon, the earliest of which is the Welsh

Calvinistic Methodist Calvinistic Methodists were born out of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival and survive as a body of Christians now forming the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Calvinistic Methodism became a major denomination in Wales, growing rapidly in the ...

Chapel. This denomination started meeting in 1743; the chapel was built ''c'' 1753, and rebuilt in 1783, 1809 and 1837. The second institution is the Bethel

Welsh Baptist The Baptist Union of Wales (Undeb Bedyddwyr Cymru) is a fellowship of Baptist churches in Wales. History The General Baptist minister Hugh Evans was one of the first Baptists to preach in Wales around 1646, in the parishes of Llan-hir, Cefnllys ...

Chapel, which was built in 1824, rebuilt 1859 and modified in 1868 and 1898. Both chapels remain open.

Education

In the early 19th century

Sunday Schools A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. S ...

were held in the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel. The only formal school was Ysgol Swyddffynnon (Swyddffynnon Primary School), which opened in 1896 and closed in 2006 due to a lack of pupils.'School Closes After 110 Years',''Cambrian News'' 27 July 2006
/ref> The nearest alternative primary school is now Ysgol Gynradd Gymunedol

Pontrhydfendigaid Pontrhydfendigaid () is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies on the western flank of the Cambrian Mountains, between Devil's Bridge and Tregaron. The village lies on the River Teifi, whose source is just 3 miles (5 km) to the east at L ...

(Pontrhydfendigaid Community Primary School).

References

{{authority control Villages in Ceredigion