Cellan
CELLAN, a parish, in the union of Lampeter,
Upper division of the hundred of Moythen, county
of Cardigan, South Wales 3 miles (E. N. E.)
from Lampeter; containing 475 inhabitants. This
parish is situated in a mountainous district, on the
banks of the river Teivy. The living is a discharged
rectory, rated in the king's books at £5. 7. 8½., and
endowed with £200 royal bounty; present net income, £83, with a glebe-house; patron, the Bishop
of St. David's. The church, dedicated to All Saints,
is an ancient edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel;
it contains two piscinæ, and the font is supported on
a square pillar, on which is carved the face of a male
saint. There are places of worship for Independents
and Presbyterians, with a Sunday school held in the
former building. The Rev. Moses Williams, F.R.S.,
who distinguished himself as a Welsh scholar and
antiquary, by the share he took in the publication of
Dr. Wotton's edition of the Laws of Hywel Dda, was
a native of this place. He also compiled a catalogue
of the books in the Bodleian library at Oxford, and
wrote his own biography, which is now deposited in
manuscript in that library. At his death, he bequeathed his books and manuscripts, which were of
considerable value, to the Earl of Macclesfield.
The parish is remarkable for the number of intrenchments, cist-vaens, carneddau, and monumental
stones comprised within its limits. The Roman road
leading from Loventium, now Llanio, to the station
at Llanvair-ar-y-Bryn, in Carmarthenshire, has been
traced through it, from the banks of the Teivy to
the mountains which form the line of boundary
between that county and Cardiganshire. On a
circular tumulus surrounded by a moat, is a stone,
thirty-three feet in diameter, called Llêch Cynon, the
burial-place of a person of that name, from whom a
stream in the vicinity was called Frwd Cynon. On
the mountain north of this river, are two cist-vaens,
called beddau, signifying "graves," and two others
on the mountain to the south, one of which is styled
Bedd y Vorwyn, or the "Virgin's Grave;" they are
all oblong, and consist each of four stones, placed in
the centre of a small barrow, or sepulchre of earth
and stones. Of the carneddau, the most conspicuous
are two very large ones on a lofty mountain near the
road leading from Llanvair to Llanycrwys; there is
also one called Tair Carnau, all of them consisting
of heaps of large stones, and supposed to be the
graves of warriors. On the confines of the parish is
another stone, termed Carreg tair croes, not sepulchral, but a boundary mark. There are also two
very large stones on the mountain to the south of the
river Frwd, which are supposed to have been placed
there in commemoration of some great victory: one,
called Byn, fifteen feet in length, and four in
width and thickness, now lies prostrate on the ground;
but the other, called Hirvaen Gwyddog, sixteen feet
in height, is still standing. On another tumulus,
surrounded by a moat, lies a very large stone, sixteen feet in length, termed Maen-y-Prenvol, or Maen
Prenvol Gwallt Gwyn; and near it, on the same
tumulus, stands another, about eight feet high. There
are also three intrenchments in the parish; one on
the top of a hill beneath which flows the river Frwd,
called Gaer Morrice; another on the farm of Glanfrwd, which is exactly oval; and the third, which is
circular and of a large size, between that farm and
the parish of Pencarreg.
Cellywyon (Celliwion)
CELLYWYON (CELLIWION), a hamlet, in
the parish of Llantrissent, union of Cardiff,
hundred of Miskin, county of Glamorgan, South
Wales, adjoining the town-hamlet of Llantrissent:
the population is returned with the parish. Coal is
procured here.
Cemmes (Cemmaes)
CEMMES (CEMMAES), a township, in the
parish of Llanbadrig, hundred of Tàl-y-Bolion,
union and county of Anglesey, North Wales, 5
miles (W. by N.) from Amlwch; containing 909
inhabitants. The parochial church, which stands
on a cliff near the sea, is situated in this township.
Cemmes creek forms a natural harbour, which has
been greatly improved by the erection of a breakwater at an expense of £500 or £600, affording protection to a considerable number of small craft.
Here also is a large village with a good inn and
several respectable shops; the place is become much
noted for ship-building, and a little increased expenditure would render it one of the safest harbours
in North Wales. At present it affords facility for the
exportation of the serpentine, or Mona marble,
called by statuaries "verd antique," which is quarried
in the adjacent parish of Llanvechell; and for landing
coal and other commodities of general consumption.
The township formerly maintained its own poor;
but it is now united for that purpose with the
township of Clygyrog, these two constituting the
parish.
Cemmes (Cemmaes)
CEMMES (CEMMAES), a parish, in the
union and hundred of Machynlleth, county of
Montgomery, North Wales, 7 miles (N. E. by E.)
from Machynlleth; containing 935 inhabitants, and
comprising 9247 acres. The name of this place
signifies a circle, or amphitheatre for games. The
village is pleasantly situated on the southern bank
of the river Dovey, and on the road from Welshpool
to Machynlleth and Aberystwith, which, from a
short distance north of it, runs parallel with the river
for the remainder of its course. From Moel Eiddan
is a fine view of the Vale of Cemmes and Mallwyd,
bounded by the extended bases and lofty summits of
Cader Idris, Aran Mowddy, Plinlimmon, and other
hills. About one-third of the parish consists of sheepwalks belonging to the adjoining landowners: peat
for fuel is obtained within its limits. Fairs are held
on May 1st, September 9th, and November 24th.
The living is a rectory, rated in the king's books at
£7; patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph: the tithes
have been commuted for a rent-charge of £340; and
there is a glebe of four acres, with a glebe-house.
The church, dedicated to St. Tydecho, is in the
early style of English architecture; the gallery is
adorned with fine carvings of flowers, &c., in wood:
in the churchyard are four large yew-trees. There
are places of worship for Calvinistic Methodists, Independents, and Wesleyans. A Church school was
resumed in 1847, and a British school established in
the same year: five Sunday schools are also held,
one of them in connexion with the Established
Church. A small plot of ground was bequeathed
to the poor of this parish and that of Dârowen, by
Derwas Griffith, in 1669: the income is £7 per
annum, a moiety of which is distributed in small
sums at Christmas, as are in like manner the proceeds of a benefaction of £20 by Grace Pryse, in
1784. Upon the summit of Moel Eiddan are the
remains of a Roman encampment: and in a turbary
near it, a brazen celt, and a circular ornamented
brooch of brass, about three inches in diameter, were
found, in 1824.
Cenol (Canol)
CENOL (CANOL), a parcel, in the parish of
Llanvihangel-Cwm-Dû, union and hundred of
Crickhowel, county of Brecknock, in South
Wales, 5 miles (N.) from Crickhowel; containing
246 inhabitants. It forms the middle portion of the
parish, as the name signifies, and is intersected by the
small river Rhiangol, which is here crossed by a
bridge: an ancient Roman road formerly passed
through it. There are a few agreeable residences
scattered in different parts of this pleasing little vale.
A portion of the tithes belong to the Vicar of St.
John the Evangelist's, in Brecknock, having been
granted to the prior and monks by Pycard, a Norman
knight.
Cerrigceinwen (Ceryg-Ceinwen)
CERRIGCEINWEN (CERYG-CEINWEN), a parish, in the hundred of Malltraeth,
union and county of Anglesey, North Wales,
3 miles (S. W. by W.) from Llangevni; containing
550 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road
leading from Bangor to Holyhead, and is bounded
on the north-east by Llangevni, on the south-east
by Llangrystyolys, on the south-west by Trêvdraeth
and Aberfraw, and on the north-west by Hêneglwys.
It comprises by admeasurement 1296 acres, of which
36 are waste, and the remainder chiefly arable. The
soil is rather wet and clayey, but produces oats and
barley in abundance; and at the south-western extremity of the parish is some fine pasture land: the
scenery is uninteresting, except in the immediate
vicinity of the church, where is a group of porphyritic rocks of a singularly wild and romantic
appearance, which are the out-crop of a vein of
coarse porphyry. A vein of iron-ore has been
worked, but without success. In the parish is the
house of Bodswyn, which was built by Mr. Hughes,
about eighty or ninety years ago, and is now occupied by a farmer: the feoffees of Beaumaris free
school are the chief landowners, and Lord Dinorben
is lord of the manor. Mona Inn, the half-way hotel
between Bangor and Holyhead, is situated in the
parish.
The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that
of Llangrystyolys: the rectorial tithes have been
commuted for a rent-charge of £129. 3., and the
rectorial glebe consists of three acres, valued at £5
per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Ceinwen,
is supposed to have been founded originally about
the year 450, but it is uncertain at what time the
present edifice was built. It is a small low structure,
of plain appearance, measuring forty-six feet long by
twenty feet wide externally, with a single bell-gable
at the western end, on the wall beneath which are
some characters faintly visible but not legible. A
small decorated-English doorway, under a modern
porch, leads into the church on the southern side;
and over this doorway is a crossed tombstone, of early
date, used as a lintel. The eastern window, though
small, is one of the purest models, as to proportions
and workmanship, extant in this part of Wales. In
the church is a monument to Morris Lloyd, of Plâsbâch, in the parish, who was buried on the 3rd of
October, 1647: tradition represents him as a gallant
royalist, who defended his house against a party of
thirty parliamentary soldiers, eight of whom he
killed, before he surrendered his own life. In the
churchyard, on the southern side, is a holy well,
formed naturally in the rock, and once much resorted
to as a spring that could cure many diseases.
The Rev. Dr. Lewis, a native of this parish, and
rector of Allhallows, London Wall, in 1681, bequeathed £3000, with which an estate was purchased
in the parish of Llanelhaiarn, in the county of Carnarvon. This estate now produces about £200 per
annum; but with accumulations in the three per cent.
consols, the whole income amounts to about £260,
for several benevolent purposes. Among these he
directed that £25 per annum should be paid for a
sermon every Sunday in each of the churches of
Llangrystyolys and Cerrigceinwen; £5 to the poor
of the two parishes, being 50s. to each; £10 for
teaching two boys of the latter parish; £10 to each
of eight exhibitions, in preference from the county of
Anglesey, for four years at the Universities, but at
present limited to Jesus' College, Oxford; £5 for
the same number of years to each of four widows of
clergymen; and £15 for the benefit of Beaumaris
school; nearly all of which charities are now in full
operation, under the sanction and superintendence of
respectable trustees. By an inclosure act, passed in
1812, for this parish, and those of Llangevni, Llanddyvnan, and Pentraeth, it was provided that six
acres should be allotted in each place for supplying
the poorer inhabitants with peat for fuel, and if there
should be no peat in the parish, the allotment to be
let, and the rent accruing to be appropriated to a
similar purpose. On the inclosure in this parish,
under the act, an allotment of four acres and four
perches was made, whereon the parish built two
cottages, in which two poor families are permitted to
reside rent-free; the remainder yields a rent of 18s.
per annum, which is carried to the aid of the poorrates. A cottage and several small pieces of land,
containing in the whole about four and a half acres,
and producing £3 per annum, exclusive of the cottage,
which is occupied by the parish-clerk rent-free, were
left by unknown donors for the repairs of the church.
A bequest of £4 by the Rev. Dr. Roberts, formerly Bishop of Bangor, has been lost.
Cerrig-Y-Druidion (Ceryg-Y-Drudion)
CERRIG-Y-DRUIDION (CERYG-Y-DRUDION), a parish, in the union of Corwen,
hundred of Isaled, county of Denbigh, in North
Wales, 10 miles (W. N. W.) from Corwen; containing 1039 inhabitants. The name of this place signifies "the stones of the daring ones," and not "of
the Druids," as some have interpreted it; and is in
allusion to a vast heap of stones, minutely described
in Bishop Gibson's additions to Camden's Britannia,
in a communication by Mr. Llwyd, but which are
now entirely dispersed. Several of them have been
used in constructing the stone fences of the adjacent
fields; the largest has been removed to a considerable
distance, and now serves as a gate-post: the site has
been broken up by the plough. Local tradition represents this collection of stones to have been the
rude prison in which Cynvrig Rwth, a lawless chieftain, confined his captives: among them were some
of a superior size, forming a cist-vaen, or stone
chest, but every vestige has been removed. The
parish is situated on the high road from Shrewsbury
to Holyhead, and contains about 20,000 acres, including a large tract of dreary mountain and moorland. The breeding of cattle and sheep, the digging
of peat for fuel, the spinning of woollen yarn, and
the knitting of stockings, form the principal occupations of the inhabitants. The neighbourhood abounds
with good grazing land, a great portion of which is
let by the proprietors to the Anglesey dealers, for
the pasturage of cattle, on their way from that isle to
the midland counties of England. The village is
situated on a gentle eminence, and was formerly a
thoroughfare on the great Irish road, which, by an
improvement in the route, was afterwards diverted to
a short distance from it, but still passes for several
miles through the parish. The traffic on this line of
road has much diminished since the opening of the
Chester and Holyhead railway, in 1848. A postoffice has been established here. A market was at
one time held on Friday, but it has fallen into disuse: fairs take place on March 14th, April 27th,
August 24th, October 20th, and December 7th.
The living is a rectory, rated in the king's books
at £10. 8. 1½.; present net income, £500, with a
glebe-house; patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The
church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, is a spacious structure, consisting of a nave and chancel,
with a lofty chantry chapel adjoining the south side.
There are three places of worship for Calvinistic,
and two for Wesleyan Methodists, two for Independents, and one for Baptists; also four Sunday schools,
conducted gratuitously by the dissenters. Ellis
Davies, in 1689, bequeathed an estate in the parish
containing about ninety-one acres, towards the relief
and better maintenance of poor people, not being
paupers, and the rent was for a number of years
so administered according to the will of the donor;
but about 1790, the property was sold by a descendant of one of his nephews, who acted as trustee,
when a suit was instituted in chancery which extended over many years, and was attended with considerable expense to the parish and all the parties
interested. At length it was terminated in favour of
the parish, and an order was made to have all the
arrears paid up. These amounted to nearly £2000,
and were vested in the three per cent. consols, and
three per cent. reduced annuities; the land is let at
a rent of £42, and the whole income from rent and
stock is about £110 per annum. Within the last few
years, a sum of £200, forming part of this charity,
was sold out of the funds, for the purpose of defraying
the expense of building a school-house; £30 are applied annually from the income of the charity towards
the salary of the schoolmaster, and £5 for books and
premiums for the scholars, leaving at the same time
a sufficiency for distribution among the poor.
An almshouse for six aged men was founded in
1716, by Robert Price, Esq., Chief Baron of the
Exchequer in the reign of William III., who endowed it with property in the parishes of Denbigh
and Henllan, consisting of twenty-two acres and a
quarter, now producing an income of £97. 10. per
annum. From an increase of the funds of the original
endowment, which was only £20 per annum, three
almsmen have been added, and the income of the
whole number of nine extended from 4s. per month
to 14s.; also they receive 1s. each on the festivals
of Christmas, Easter, St. Mary Magdalene, and
Whit-Sunday, a pair of shoes annually, and a great
coat of the value of a guinea every two years. The
almshouses are in good repair, and have a garden
attached: the inmates, who possess a vote for the
county, are selected by Sir Robert Price, of Foxley,
Herefordshire, Bart., who is the sole trustee. In
1689, Thomas Parry bequeathed £100, the interest
of which is distributed among the poor on the 6th
of December, in sums varying from 1s. to 5s.; and
they also receive the interest of a bequest of £5
by Rowland Edwards in 1722, annually, in bread.
The above-named Mr. Price, whose memorable
speech in the House of Commons against the grant
of the lordship of Denbigh and other property in Wales
to the Duke of Portland, drew upon him the especial
notice of his sovereign, was born at Giler, in the
parish.
Ceulan
CEULAN, with Maesmawr, a township, in the
parish of Llanvihangel-Geneu'r-Glyn, union
of Aberystwith, Upper division of the hundred of
Geneu'r-Glyn, county of Cardigan, in South
Wales, 8 miles (N. E.) from Aberystwith; containing
597 inhabitants. It appears to derive its name from
the rivers Ceulan and Maesmor, the former of which
runs through the township, and joins the river Lery
within a short distance, whilst the latter runs along
the northern extremity of it: the road from Aberystwith to Machynlleth crosses at the point of junction
of the Ceulan and the Lery, where the neat village
of Tàl-y-bont is situated. At this place the partial
views of the ocean, on one side, and on the other
the stream tumbling over rocky precipices, in picturesque cascades, overhung with a great variety of
trees and shrubs, are peculiarly enlivening. An
ancient seat, belonging to the family of Price, stands
here between the right bank of the Ceulan and the
high road, and within its grounds are some fine fullgrown oak and fir trees. On a mountain in the
neighbourhood, called Pen Sarn Ddû, is that ancient
monument termed Gwely Taliesin, or "Taliesin's
Bed," a more particular description of which is given
under the head of the parish.
Cevn
CEVN, a hamlet, in the parish of Kîlken,
union of Holywell, Northop division of the hundred
of Coleshill, county of Flint, North Wales, 3½
miles (N. W. by W.) from Mold; containing 302 inhabitants. It occupies a lofty mountain, as the name
implies, on the left bank of the river Alyn; and the
road from Hawarden to Denbigh passes along the
northern side of it.
Cevn
CEVN, a hamlet, in the parish of Gellygaer,
union of Merthyr-Tydvil, hundred of Caerphilly, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 5
miles (S. S. E.) from Merthyr-Tydvil; containing
611 inhabitants. It is partly situated on the declivity of the lofty mountain from which the parish
takes its name, and the Bargoed Tâf forms the boundary between it and Merthyr-Tydvil. There are
several neat residences in the hamlet, and some parts
of it are ornamented with plantations, though other
portions are bleak and barren.
Cevnllys
CEVNLLYS, in the county of Radnor, South
Wales.—See Kevenlleece.
Cevnpawl
CEVNPAWL, a hamlet, forming that part of
the parish of Abbey Cwm Hîr which is in the hundred of Kevenlleece, in the union of Rhaiadr,
county of Radnor, South Wales, 7 miles (E. by N.)
from Rhaiadr; containing 130 inhabitants. It is
situated on the left bank of the Clywedog brook, in
a fertile, pleasant, and well-wooded valley, near Llanbadarn-Vawr church. One of the most perfect carneddau in the county, consisting of about thirty or
forty cart-loads of stones, thrown loosely together,
with a hollow in the centre, is observable on a hill a
short distance south-west of this place.
Cevnpennar (Cevn-Pennar)
CEVNPENNAR (CEVN-PENNAR), a hamlet, in the parish of Aberdare, union and borough of
Merthyr-Tydvil, county of Glamorgan, South
Wales, 2½ miles (E. S. E.) from Aberdare: the
population is returned with the parish. This hamlet,
which is well wooded, is situated on the western declivity of the Twyn-Mawr mountain: and the Aberdare canal passes close to, and parallel with, the river
Cynon, in the lower part of it.
Chapel-Ilterne
CHAPEL-ILTERNE, county of Glamorgan,
South Wales.—See Llanilterne.
Cheriton
CHERITON, a parish, in the union and hundred of Swansea, county of Glamorgan, South
Wales, 13½ miles (W.) from Swansea; containing
282 inhabitants. This parish, according to some,
derived its name from the quantity of cherries
abounding in the neighbourhood, and which formerly
grew wild in the hedges. It is situated on the
southern shore of the Burry estuary, and contains the
villages of Cheriton, and Landymor or Llandemore.
Landymor Castle, called by the country-people Bovehill Castle from the farm on which it is situated,
stands on the side of a hill, overlooking a small valley;
it was originally an important edifice, and though
the remains consist of little more than a rude curtainwall, foundations are to be traced as far as a bold
rock that overlooks the Burry. The parish is destitute of wood, and the only stream running through it
is Cheriton brook: there are some quarries of limestone. The living is a rectory, rated in the king's
books at £9. 7. 3½., and in the patronage of the
Crown; present net income, about £160. The
church, dedicated to St. Catwg, is a small venerable
edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel, between
which rises a square embattled tower: the churchyard is bounded on one side by the brook. A dayschool in connexion with the Church of England was
established in 1846 at the village of Landymor, where
also are two Sunday schools on Church principles.
The Calvinistic Methodists, likewise, have a place
of worship in the parish, with a Sunday school held
in it.
Cheriton
CHERITON, county of Pembroke, South
Wales.—See Stackpool-Elidur.