LLANNEFYDD.ORG

A Brief History of Llannefydd

 

By Gwyn Lloyd Jones.

 

The grammatically correct form of the name Llannefydd is Llanefydd with a single ‘n’, though the historical spellings are variant forms, Lanudid, Llanufudd, Llanyfydd, Llanyfudd or the English Llanyfith or Llanheueth. The double ‘n’ began to appear in the1840’s as people argued that the patron saint was St. Nefydd, though this dedication seems unclear due to a lack of real evidence. Llan means an enclosure, and ufudd, if this is the correct form means dutiful or compliant.

The Rev. Wade Evans suggested the name Tefydd as the parton saint of the parish, Tefydd being the father of St Winifred of Holywell.

Llannefydd is located on the slopes of the Vale of Clwyd, about five miles from the town of Denbigh in north Wales, the United Kingdom and surrounded by the parishes of Henllan, Llansannan, Llanfair Talhaearn, Abergele and Cefn Meiriadog. The parish varies in height from 200 to 1,125 feet above sea level. The village looks towards the sea and the costal resorts of Towyn, Rhyl and Prestatyn. From the tops of Mynydd y Gaer and Foel Fodiar, the two mountains in the parish, there are magnificent views of the Vale of Clwyd and the bleak but romantic Denbigh Moors. Apart from the village, there are districts or hamlets known as Ffynhonnau, Cefn Berain, Pentref Uchaf, Pentref Isaf and Bont Newydd.

Agriculture is the main industry of the parish, though only a small number of people are now employed in farming, therefore in comparison to a century ago its contribution to the economy is small. People travel elsewhere to work and are involved in various professions: the law, finance, teaching, administration, clerical work, trade etc.

The land is fertile, but can be heavy, cold and wet with shale and limestone rocks. The parish measures 7,605 acres, and there is geological evidence of glaciers shaping the landscape as they moved from Snowdonia towards the sea. The rivers Aled, Elwy, Meirchion and Asa flow through the parish. Some of these rivers form the natural boundaries of the parish.

Evidence of Neanderthal man from 250,000 years ago has been found just outside the parish at Bont Newydd Cave and further evidence, possibly Neolithic, has been discovered within the parish at Brisgyll cave.

A mile or so from the village lies the Iron Age hill fort of Mynydd y Gaer (Fortres Mountain) or Dinas Cadfael (Cadfael’s Fort). Cadfael, meaning ‘dog of war’, was probably a chieftain. The ‘fortress’ comprises of a ditch, which once would have had a wooden palisade on top of a bank created from the excavated soil. The site has two entrances and covers an area of about 10 acres. This is but one hill fort in the area, a chain of six forts is to be found along the Clwydian Range. The function of these forts is unknown, the growing of crops and rearing of stock would have been conducted elsewhere. The fort was unfortunately badly damage when stone was carried away for building purposes.

The Romans were also active in a near by parish, building a road known as ‘Sarn Ellen’ via St. Asaph between Chester and Caernarfon.

The old Welsh administrative system was based on the hundred, commote and township, and there are eight townships in the parish: Carwed Fynydd, Dinas Cadfael, Myfoniog, Bodysgaw, Tal y Bryn, Berain, Llechryd and Pen Porchell.  The parish was in the commote of Isaled in the hundred of Rhufoniog. These townships continued to be the basis of sub dividing the parish for various purposes until well into the twentieth century.

Leland describes lower Isaled in the late 1530’s as being a productive corn growing area and the higher portion of the commote hilly and good for goats. The idea of a parish as an administrative unit developed under the Tudors. The ‘ecclesiastical parish’ is an area that a church administers to its people and a cleric has the ‘cure of souls’. The civil parish (secular) might or might not have the same boundary.

There was some discussion in the late 1870’s and early 1880’s of transferring parts of the parish i.e. sections of the townships of Berain, Tal y Bryn and Bodysgaw to the ecclesiastical parish of Cefn Meiriadog, whilst parts of Carwedfynydd and Dinas Cadfael were to go towards creating a new parish centred on the newly constructed Pont y Gwyddel Church to which would be added portions of the parishes of Abergele and Llanfair Talhaearn. The vicar, Ebenezer Jones, objected to this as it would have reduced his stipend.

The area was under Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln as Lord of Denbigh after 1282, and wealthy men had to undertake castle guard and pay various dues to their lord. The administrative centre of the Lordship of Denbigh was the castle at Denbigh. De Lacy also moved some native Welsh people from Llewenni, a township near Denbigh, for the benefit of his English followers. A few of these natives were moved to Berain township, as well as Taldrach in the adjoining parish of Henllan. Township residents, customary dues and payments for these townships are recorded in the Survey of the Honour of Denbigh prepared by Hugh de Beckle in 1334.

Sporadic epidemics of the blackdeath in the fourteenth century brought about the demise of the feudal system, when the population was dramatically reduced. People were gradually released from various dues, some of these had already been commuted for cash payments.

The population relied on good weather to produce crops for their survival, and a poor harvest could mean starvation or death. There was bad weather in 1739-40 when farmers held their grain back so that prices increased. This resulted in artisans and colliers from Flintshire rioting as they searched grain stores for grain to make bread. At one confrontation in the parish a resident died as a result of a gunshot wound fired by a member of the invading mob and parishioners had to defend themselves with rakes, forks, scythes and sickles. The mob went on to plunder the granary of another farm and there was rioting in the adjoining parish of Henllan and elsewhere. There was also rioting in Denbigh in 1795 as a result of naval conscription during the Napoleonic Wars.

The growth in population brought with it a demand for housing. Place names and buildings suggest that the population was based in the lower regions of the parish and moved further into the commons and further up land as the population expanded, bringing virgin land into cultivation. The old tradition of transhumance disappeared. Summer pastures of hafod, hafoty & lluesty became permanent and separate homesteads by the seventeenth century.

The considerable encroachments made on the commons during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century deprived people of their rights to cut turf, of common grazing and pannage. They enclosed a few acres to build two or three roomed houses. Land enclosure could lead to confrontation, even between landowners. Humphrey Griffith of Garn, the son of a local estate owner, protested and made threats to the agent of Lord Dinorben about the encroachments that Dinorben was undertaking in the parish in the early nineteenth century.

Like other parishes, life was hard in Llanefydd after the prosperity of the Napoleonic Wars. Economic depression, bad weather and poor harvests didn’t help matters as people struggled to survive. The Corn Laws, the potato famine of the 1840’s and the Crimean War were other influential factors in the locality. It was about this time that the agricultural pattern of the parish changed resulting in a greater emphasis on pastoral farming rather than corn growing. The result of this were fields being laid down as permanent pasture involving less work looking after horses, ploughing, cutting and threshing corn. During the late nineteenth century the corn mills of the district gradually closed or were in sporadic use. Potatoes had grown in importance in the diet of ordinary people since the late eighteenth century. A labourer lacking sufficient land would come to an agreement with a farmer regarding growing sufficient potatoes for his family, the farmer keeping a portion of the crop as payment.

Agriculture was the main employer, particularly of the labouring classes. A frequent question asked when making enquiries about a potential employer was ‘is he benevolent towards the poor’. There was a gradual increase in mechanisation during the nineteenth century e.g. horse drawn hay mowers, horse power thus further reducing the need for labour. The custom of undertaking to thrash a barn of corn by flail over the winter months came to an end as thrashing and winnowing machines grew in popularity, though the smaller farmers continued the practice. The size of a barn is indicative of the amount of corn grown on a farm.

The dependence on agriculture further decreased after the Second World War with increased mechanisation and scientific improvements enabling farmers to undertake work quicker without the need of a farm hand. These improvements resulted in better yields and stock. Labourers no longer wanted to work long hours when better paid jobs and housing and amenities were to be found elsewhere. Government encouragement during the Second World War led to prosperity in the post war period and some farmers increased their land holding by buying another farm but disposing of the farmstead or handing the farmhouse to a son. The process of farmers becoming owner-occupiers or freeholders began after the First World War as local estates began to suffer from the change in the economic climate.

Today small agricultural units are no longer economically viable, and over the past twenty-five years there have been some considerable changes as small farmers gave up milk production whilst larger farms have increased their herds. Pig rearing was abandoned in the 1970’s as it became unprofitable and little if any corn or potatoes is now grown.

Farmers use the markets of Ruthin and St. Asaph to dispose of their stock. In the past there were four fairs held in the village between March and November when people came to sell their wares before the roads became untraversable during the winter months. Animals were sold at the markets of Denbigh or Caerwys, otherwise driven by drovers to Bala, Dolgellau or sent to England. The crops grown and stock reared in Wales was of a poor quality, farmers lacked the financial resources to undertake improvements, and distrusted their landowners fearing losing their tenancy having invested in land improvements. Changes in agriculture began to appear in the Vale of Clwyd from the late eighteenth century onwards.

Generally speaking the socking rates of the eighteenth century was very low in comparison to today, geared towards subsistence farming with surplus being sold to pay rent and buy necessities. A small farm would consists of about four cows, two or three calves, a dozen sheep, three or four horses, a few pigs, chickens and geese. A century earlier is was common for animals to be put out on loan and the provider of the land being allowed to keep some lambs, fleeces or a calf as payment. Gorse was grown as horse fodder in the early nineteenth century. Agricultural implements would have consisted of a wooden plough, perhaps a harrow, a tree trunk as a roller and a few hand tools. The use of oxen rather than horses was common until the early nineteenth century.  People possessed very little furniture in the eighteenth century, beds and their linen and blankets being the most valuable. Chests were numerous and common, perhaps a cupboard, with chairs or benches and a table and a few cooking utensils.

 

Architecture/Housing

Within the parish there are about a dozen houses and places of worship and a few agricultural buildings that are listed as of historical or architectural interest. These by law have to be maintained and must not be changed or adapted without prior listed building consent from the relevant planning authority or preservation body. Failure to comply with these rules could lead to prosecution.

The architectural styles of the parish are diverse but are typical of the locality. A few of these houses date from the sixteenth and seventeenth century, some were originally hall houses with oak post and panel screens and cross passages. Some might have started life as hall houses with a fire in the middle of the hall, the smoke escaping through louvers in the roof. Others might have commenced life as end chimney houses with an additional floor added when a central chimney was introduced when houses were being ‘modernised’ creating new bedchambers above what was once the hall. The staircase, usually of stone, was to be found to the side of the chimney breast. There is but one example of a lateral chimney house in the parish. 

Examples of unit planning are to be seen in some of these older gentry houses whilst one house has crow gables. These early houses have cyclopean or decoratively shaped doorways with Tudor or later segmental arches. Some also have evidence of seventeenth century stone mullioned windows. The grandest house of its period, though altered, is Berain, with a hammer beam roof to be found in the former hall and carved door heads. The house also has very tall chimneys, which are typical of the fashionable late sixteenth century style to be found in Denbighshire and Flintshire.

The early houses of ordinary people would have been of wood or cob, and evidently have not survived, though there was an example of a man in the nineteenth century who lived in a hole dug into the side of a hill.

One or two examples of cruck houses have also survived, and it is thought that the Welsh were keen on the gothic pointed arch. Archbraced trusses have also been found in houses in the area. There are also examples of houses with external stonewalls with oak framed internal dividing walls with wattle and daub infill.

Walls are generally built of limestone or rubble and at one time were lime washed both inside and out, with beaten earth or flagged floors, some used Nantglyn non-slip slate. There were within the parish a number of lime quarries and lime kilns which would have catered for both agriculture and house building. Houses were thatched at one period, some examples survived until the 1970’s & 80’s, though covered with corrugated iron. Penmachno and Ffestiniog slate became more common as a roofing material from the nineteenth century onwards.

The majority of the older housing stock is eighteenth and nineteenth century in origin, the result of an increasing population. Many of the houses constructed by the poor were two roomed ‘tŷ cegin a siambr’ (kitchen and bed chamber) with an attached cow house which falls within the long house variety of homestead. The rest were later four roomed houses of the Georgian type; kitchen and parlour with a dividing staircase between them, the external door opposite the stairs and a bedroom above the parlour and the kitchen with box sash windows.  It is unfortunate, like elsewhere, that during a period of ‘modernisation’ and prosperity in the 1970’s and later, the architectural integrity and character of these vernacular buildings has been compromised and now look similar to houses in any other part of the country. Some old homesteads have been entirely rebuilt from new. Changes in agricultural practices throughout the country means that traditional farm buildings have also become redundant, no longer practical and are now under threat.

About four council houses were built before the Second World War, the remaining council houses were built between the 1950’s and the early 1970’s, a period of national housing shortage and also when an effort was made to improve housing.

It was only in the early 1960’s that the parish benefited from mains water and electricity, some houses still have their own private water supply.

 

Population

It was estimated that there were 120-140 families in the parish in 1749. People were surviving better from the early seventeenth century onwards thus the population of the parish gradually increased, particularly during the eighteenth century.

By the time of the first census in 1801 the population had grown to 957, reaching a peak of 1,196 in 1841-61 diminishing to 771 by 1901. About 70 abandoned homesteads are recorded in 1900. People were forced to move to Liverpool, the costal areas, the coal and slate mines and other centres of industry to seek work due to agricultural changes from the 1850’s onwards.

Survival improved after early childhood and some people achieved a great age for the period. People found their future partners from within the parish, one of the adjoining parishes or whilst working elsewhere as servants. Some had to delay marriage due to a lack of money.

 

Crime

A policeman was based in the village between the late 1860’s and the early 1920’s. Various crimes are recorded for the area over the centuries some were petty whilst others were of a more serious nature. A kinsman of the Salusbury family of Llewenni, and heir of Bryn Cocyn was murdered as a result of one of the Salusbury family feuds in the early seventeenth century.

The goal files of Great Session of the 1750’s and 60’s reveal instances of petty crime such as theft and assault. Crime in the nineteenth century was also of a similar nature and included poaching, drunkenness, not sending children to school, feuds between individuals, assault, abuse, animals straying onto the road and riding horses without reins !

 

Trade & Industry

Parish trades for generations had met the needs of the agricultural community and the people allied to agriculture. Traditional crafts were to be found: sawyers, joiners, blacksmiths, stonemasons, straw joiners, weavers, tailors, dress makers, horse breakers, shoe makers as well as a few miners who worked in adjoining parishes. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century the Williams family were renowned blacksmiths and plough makers in the village. It was common for their ploughs to win ploughing matches in the locality.

There were a few short-lived coalmines in the 1830’s and 1890’s as well as a calamine mine in the eighteenth century. A diminishing population as well as the introduction of mass-produced machine goods meant a drop in demand and old traditional crafts such as weaving, tailoring and shoe making faded away. People had to be very self-reliant prior to the arrival of small shops in the village during the nineteenth century and goods were brought from Denbigh. Some of these necessities would have been hauled by weekly carts from Chester or Liverpool or brought by barge to the port of Rhuddlan before the arrival of the railway in the Vale of Clwyd. In c1910 there were four shops and a butcher. For a period during the nineteenth century there were three public houses, The Queen’s Head, the Cross Keys and the Hawk and Buckle, once known as the Falcon. The village in 1700 comprised of only six houses and the church.

There was also a smithy and public house at Bont Newydd in 1900 and the same at Pont y Gwyddyl in the mid nineteenth century. The provision at Pont y Gwyddyl would have catered for the needs of travellers on their way to Ireland, as this was, until 1763, the main road to Ireland. It came from London to Chester and onwards via Hawarden, Caerwys, Denbigh, (where the horses were changed) Henllan, then Llanefydd and on to Tal y Cafn. It was also the road the Viceroy of Ireland would have travelled as well as the Irish Mail. There were also two turnpike roads through the parish.

From the 1870’s onwards it was hoped to build a railway between Trefnant and Llanrwst, which would have gone through the parish and benefited the agricultural community and assisted with the development of the lead mining industry at Llanfair Talhaearn and the coalmine which had been opened in the parish in the 1890’s. A broad gage line had been originally envisaged, but was changed to a narrow gage railway when it was feared that landowners would object to losing too much land to the venture. However, the railway did not materialise due to the prohibitive costs, which were estimated at £1,000 per mile. After the First World War buses were introduced with calves, pigs, sheep and poultry also being taken to market by bus !

 

Society was very structured, though there was no resident landowner in the parish after the mid eighteenth century. Minor gentry such as the Hughes family of Myfoniog and Goedwig, and Foulkes of Tan y Gaer became increasingly impoverished from the seventeenth century onwards thus were unable to develop their wealth and land holding, only a very few were able to preserve their status and were no more than freeholders by the nineteenth century. Other small estates in the parish were absorbed into larger estates through marriage such as the Plas Isaf and Plas Uchaf estates which were absorbed into the Nercwys and Coed Coch estates.

Landowning estates were mainly based in the adjoining parishes, particularly Henllan. Social position relied on whether a man was a freeholder, a yeoman or on the size of his landholding. As elsewhere, there was a tradition for the leading gentleman / freeholder / farmer of the parish to rise from his seat and be the first to follow the vicar out of the church following the service on a Sunday. Even amongst the servant classes there was hierarchy, the unskilled labourer being the lowest, who did mundane work like ditch digging, carting muck or gathering the harvest.

 

Reservoirs

In 1868 a reservoir consisting of a puddled clay dam called Llyn Plas covering an area of 11 acres was built by a company of private individuals to supply water to Rhyl. The deepest point is 46 feet and when waters are at a depth of 44 feet the reservoir containes 50,000,000 gallons of water. In due course the shareholders sold the reservoir, reservoir keeper’s house, another house and the works in 1893 to the Rhyl Commissioners for £70,000 when the revenue of the water works was £2,300 a year. In the early twentieth century members of Rhyl Town Council used come up to the reservoir for an annual lunch.

In 1905-06 a second reservoir, Llyn Dolwen, was built by navvies who lodged in the area. There were complaints about their behaviour and their non-attendance at work, and a minister from Denbigh came to try to gain their interest in the religious revival that was taking Wales by storm. There were other complaints about steam traction engines damaging roads as they hauled materials for the construction of the reservoir. The reservoirs have proved popular with fishermen for many years.

 

Religion.

The most significant and influential development in the parish during the nineteenth century was the coming of nonconformity and education, which changed life dramatically as people became more literate. Like elsewhere in Wales, members of the Baptist denomination took the lead in parish life.

Some two or three families from Llanefydd were Methodists in the early 1750’s, attending meetings in Denbigh and the adjoining parishes, though they continued to attend services at the parish church as was customary.  They were sometimes called ‘jumpers’ due to their religious fervour, but were very law abiding despite people being very suspicious of them.  Some Methodists were persecuted by being physically and verbally abused and might even lose their tenancies. The vicar of the parish, Edward Chambres Jones took an oppressive attitude towards them.

The first Calvinistic Methodist chapel in the parish, Ffynhonnau, was built in 1795, being about the fourth earliest Methodist chapel in the district. The chapel saw an increase in attendance as the result of the cholera epidemic in the town of Denbigh and parish of Henllan in 1832. People believed that the disease was a warning from God and were chastised by one author for their ‘immoral behaviour’.

Ffynhonnau was followed by the building of the following chapels, Cefn Berain 1854, Capel Llan 1867, and finally Gwynfa in 1911. The parish was particularly influenced by the revival of 1859-60, which saw chapels filled to more than capacity, and the 1884 revival also had some influence on the area, but the revival of 1905 had less of an effect.

The Baptists are the youngest denomination in the area and began to meet at various houses in the parish from the mid 1790’s onwards, but established themselves at Bryn Canol. A rift occurred amongst some of the members when they adopted Scotch Baptist beliefs and the Particular Baptist left to build their own chapel called Penuel in 1815. The Scotch Baptists didn’t build Capel Bryn Deunydd until 1823, and built a new, larger chapel in 1877.

The Baptists drew their membership from a far wider area than the Methodists, and it was common for them to bring their lunch with them on a Sunday, hence members at Capel Bryn Deunydd were called Bedyddwyr Bara a Llaeth (bread and milk Baptists). Scotch Baptists are a far more unique denomination and were mainly to be found in Rhosllannerchrugog, Harlech and Trawsfynydd. Baptists conducted baptisms by total immersion, which were held in the river Elwy at Bont Newydd and Pont y Ddôl while the Scotch Baptists held their baptisms in a near by brook dammed up the previous evening. Some mischief makers used to release the water by demolishing the dam during the night !

A small Particular Baptist chapel was also built at Bont Newydd in 1826, following a period of disagreements between John Kelly and Ellis Evans, the minister of Penuel. John Kelly built the chapel mostly at his own expense and was also its minister. The chapel went on fire and closed in 1957.

The decline of nonconformity began in late nineteenth century Wales. Two World Wars, the progression of the twentieth century, other attractions and people moving away to find work have had an impact on attendance, so by now only Capel Llan, Cefn Berain and Bryn Deunydd chapels remain open.

 

Education

A small number of minor parish gentry were able to educate their sons and send them on to Oxford or the Inns of Court in London. However, in 1746-47 ordinary people had an opportunity to gain a limited amount of education. The circulating schools of Griffith Jones, Llanddowror of that season gave people of all ages in the parish an opportunity to gain very basic reading skills. Their textbook was the Bible, not the easiest of books, but it was the most widely available. The number of pupils who attended the ‘school’ varied in number from 34 to 51 at the various locations, usually held in outbuildings or a large kitchen at a convenient time.

Some form of school was active in 1749 and 1753, and there was a school at Pen Bryn Bach in the early nineteenth century, which taught reading. Ellis Evans, the Baptist minister also conducted a school at Penuel Chapel in c1817. It was common for ministers to combine the ministry with another occupation in this period. There is no reference to a school in the 1847 Royal Commission on Education, but a school was held at in the church vestry until about 1866. All these schools were woefully inadequate.

Frustrated with the situation, the nonconformists set about to establish a nondenominational school under the British and Foreign School Society, which opened in 1852, though was a continuous financial burden on its promoters. The school was initially located in a cottage called Sea View, since demolished between Plas yn Llan and Bryn Hyfryd.

Fearing the influence of the nonconformists, the vicar, Ebenezer Jones, in 1866 opened a National School, which had a profound effect on attendance at the British School which forced its closure in 1874. This together with the tithe revolt which followed some years later made the church in Llanefydd very unpopular until well into the twentieth century.

The National School was designed by Lloyd Williams & Underwood, the Denbigh architects and cost £854. The main donor was a sister of a former vicar, but local landowners made small donations and the vicar had to pay the balance of £350 from his own pocket or the school would not have been built. Children paid about 2d. a week for their education at the school.

Teaching was done by rote, and like other rural schools teachers only stayed a short time before moving to a better position elsewhere. It wasn’t unusual for the vicar to have to take over the school when there was no teacher and often paid out of his own pocket to ensure that the accounts balanced. There were frequent disruptions due to illness or some event being held elsewhere.

Some children attended Henllan school, and as a result a branch of Henllan school was held at Gwynfa Chapel between the two World Wars

Complaints were made by parents about the school’s condition and the lack of facilities during the 1930’s, they also threatened a strike and pressed the church and education authority for a new school, but had to wait until 1954 when a new school was opened.

 

Social Life.

As was common with other parishes, traditional games were held on Sundays on Bryn Deunydd common and there were also cockfights. At one time the village had its own mock ‘mayor’. There were also harpists. May pole dancing was also practiced in the parish during the early nineteenth century.

There were other customs such as collecting flour and eggs on Shrove Tuesday to make pancakes, collecting wool from hedges for knitting, target shooting. These customs and practices gradually disappeared during the nineteenth century as nonconformist influences and the pressure to be ‘respectable’, as elsewhere, increased.

The harp was frowned upon as the instrument of the tavern and debauchery, but there was also a reluctance to adopt the organ to accompany hymn singing in chapel, the old custom of ‘pricking the tune’ prevailed.

Cultural life flourished during the second half of the nineteenth century. Music and choirs became increasingly popular, particularly with the coming of sol-fa and the popularity of hymn singing. The first eisteddfod was held in 1859, which drew a huge crowd of people. In the early twentieth century the parish had its own ballad singers Dafydd Roberts, Bryn Glas and Isaac Jones, Nant. There were other occasional eisteddfodau until a series of eisteddfodau were held in a marquee during the years 1908-12 when chairs and crowns were offered. A chapel eisteddfod established in 1931 continues to this day.

A number of prominent speakers in the life of Wales such as the Revs. Owen Thomas, and Gwilym Hiraethog of Liverpool and Thomas Gee, Denbigh lectured in the parish during the nineteenth century on religious and literary aspects. There once existed a literary, Liberal, friendly, and temperance society, as well as a ploughing, hedging and ditching society. Jointly with Henllan, the parish had a nursing association between the two world wars and the church had a Girls Friendly Society. All of these together with the sheep dog trials have since come to an end.

Interest in politics increased from the second half of the nineteenth century when an increasing number of men were given the vote when the franchise was enlarged and people became staunch Liberal supporters.  Political influences further increased as people became increasingly literate.

 

The effects of the First World War were also evident with 46 men participating in the armed forces. Six were killed. There were shortages as well as rationing; a lack of palatable flour for bread in 1917, eggs also became expensive. There was a shortage of men to work the land for ploughing and gathering crops as they were conscripted into the army from 1916 onwards. In 1918-1919 the parish suffered from the devastating flu pandemic which swept the world.

 

Social change continues to this day with a lack of affordable housing for young local people who would like to remain in the parish. There are also pressures on the Welsh language and the Welsh way of life, the lack of facilities and changes in agriculture.

The chapels have and continue to play a central role in the cultural life of the parish. There was no village hall until a corrugated iron Nissan hut was purchased for £350 in 1950, which was superseded by a superior stone and brick building opened in 1966 with laminated pine crucks and copper roof. The hall has proved an invaluable asset to the parish.

 

Tithe War

The parish derived a great deal of notoriety during the tithe revolt of 1887-90 when parishioners firmly stood their ground against the payment of tithes. The tithe was a tax of a 1/10 of the produce of the land paid towards the stipend (salary) of ecclesiastical clergy and based on the average price of corn. Farmers in the Vale of Clwyd and elsewhere pressed for a reduction in the tithe as a result of the agricultural depression brought about by bad weather and cheap foreign imports. They also argued that it was unfair that they had to maintain a church, which they didn’t attend whilst having their own chapels and ministers to support.

There were other under laying complex issues relating to the relationship between the landlord and tenant. The landlord himself was suffering financially like the farmers. Some of these disputes related to damage done to crops by game and game shooters. There was a lack of compensation for improvements to buildings and land undertaken by a tenant when a tenancy was terminated. Another problem was the relationship between the estate agent and tenant. There were also cultural difference between the landlord and his tenant in religion, politics and language.

Thomas Gee of Denbigh, publisher of an influential Welsh newspaper took advantage of the situation and stirred this into a political protest, which sought to divide the Welsh Church from the state as one of its objectives. From 1886 onwards farmers began to make their discontent known by refusing to pay tithes. Landowners were shocked by the revolt, and they held a secret meeting in London to discuss the situation.

Some clergy and landowners were sympathetic towards the economic situation and allowed an abatement, whilst two landowners W.D.W. Griffith of Garn and Mrs A. M. Mainwaring, Galltfaenen, who had lands in Llanefydd, paid the tithe and reduced the rents of their tenants. The vicar, Ebenezer Jones also gave an abatement whilst the Ecclesiastical Commissioners absolutely refused to give a reduction.

Farmers continued their protest only to find notice of distrainment being sent to some of them and the arrival of bailiffs at their farms. These were usually tenants of small landowners or ordinary individuals who didn’t have the financial resources to assist their tenant farmers.

Farmers sent their animals onto the commons or locked them in buildings when they expected a visit from the bailiff. Farm lane gates were locked and covered with thorn bushes and tarred, all in aid of hindering the bailiff. 

On the appearance of a bailiff and his retinue, guns were fired, trays beaten and horns blown to draw a crowd, who would divert, obstruct and hinder the bailiffs’ work. Some paid their tithes in small change, which had been placed in a pan of boiling water on the fire to make the task of counting the money difficult ! There were many other humorous incidents.

Things came to a head in May 1888 when police and bailiffs faced determined resistance by the parishioners of Llanefydd. It is unclear what happened at a smallholding called Bryn Gwyn, but it seems that one of the parishioners either accidentally or intentionally pushed or struck the bailiff. The bailiff grabbed hold of the man who repelled fearing that he was about to be attacked by him. The crowd of about 150-200 people pushed forward fearing for the young man. The police thought that the crowd were about to attack the bailiff, and drew out their truncheons and attacked the crowd. About 25 people were injured, some seriously, which took a local doctor three hours to attend to their wounds.

Later that day, at another location, the crowd began to arm themselves with clods gathered from a ploughed field with the intention of revenge by hurling the clods at the police. The Chief Constable appealed for order by threatening to read the Riot Act.

The return journey of the distaining party to Denbigh that day was hindered by large stones, old tins and branches that had been thrown into the road to obstruct their horses. The incident involving the police was raised with the Home Secretary at the House of Commons. The result of this confrontation was the arrival of the military to assist the police with keeping the peace.

1889 was a quiet year, possibly due to an improvement in the market, but there were a few incidents in 1890. The matter faded away and neither the abolition of the tithe nor the disestablishment of the church was achieved for a number of years, thought there was a Royal Commission on Land in Wales. Three parishioners offered evidence at a sitting of the Commission held at Denbigh.

Opposition to the payment of tithes resurfaced in the 1930’s, though not on the same scale and a number of farmers were prosecuted for the non-payment of tithes. The payment of tithes was terminated in 1976.

 

© Based on Etifeddiaeth Bro written by Gwyn Jones and additional research.

 

 

 

Famous People

 

Over the centuries the parish has produced a good number of poets, men of letters, clerics and ministers. Some have made it to the history books whilst others were only  known locally for their talent, people like Robert Jones (Robat Jones, Llanufudd), a preacher, and his son, John Jones, (1836/7-1891) Blaen Llechau another Baptist minister and writer. Some were minor poets whose poems were popular in the district, Welsh poets such as Edward Williams (Nefydd Ddu), John Daniel (Nefydd Aled). His poems The Courtship of the Aled and Elwy and the Marriage by Fron Fawr were well known in the area. Another great leader in the parish was Isaac Ellis (Caerenydd) of Bryn Celyn, wit, lecturer, poet and essayist to whom we are indebted for recording so much of the history of the parish.

 

Iolo Goch c1320-c1398

Iolo is associated with the parish and remains one of the great Welsh medieval poets, his poem to the labourer being one of the most memorable. He was the son of Ithel Goch ap Cynwrig ab Iorwerth Ddu ap Cynwrig Ddewis Herod ap Cywryd, who had lands in the district. He wrote poems to the bishops of St. Asaph and the clergy of the diocese as well as to the nobility and Owain Glyndwr. He moved between gentlemen’s homes reciting poetry. Some 29 of his poems have survived.

 

Catrin of Berain c1540-1591

Catrin was born the daughter of Tudur ap Robert of Berain and Jane Velville. Jane’s father, Sir Rowland Velville was the illegitimate son of Henry VII, and appointed Constable of Beaumaris Castle and given the Tudor lands in Anglesey.

A child marriage was arranged between Catrin and John Salusbury, Lleweni in 1556/7 from which there were two sons, Thomas (1564-1586), who was implicated in the Babington plot and executed, and Sir John (1566-1612), the poet, who inherited the estate.

Following the death of her first husband she married Richard Clough of Denbigh, a merchant who also worked for Sir Thomas Gresham in Antwerp. She travelled and lived abroad with Clough in Antwerp and Hamburg before he died in 1570. There were two daughters from this marriage Anne and Mary.

Before 1573 Catrin married for the third time to Maurice Wynn of Gwydir, Llanrwst and a marriage was arranged between Catrin’s eldest son Thomas, and Maurice’s daughter. This union led to confrontation between the Wynns and the Salusburys. Maurice was said to have been a weak character, who was easily influenced by Catrin. However, he died in 1580 leaving two children from this marriage, Edward and Jane.

Catrin’s final marriage was to Edward Thelwell, Plas y Ward, Ruthin, a very cultured and learned man. They lived at Berain but moved to Plas y Ward upon the death of her father in law. She died at Plas y Ward in August 1591 and was buried at Llannefydd church.

 

Huw Llifon fl c1552-1607

Nothing is known about his life, but some of his literary works have survived and are preserved at the National Library of Wales and Cardiff Free Library. One poem is to the sacred tree at Meifod (probably at St. George, Abergele), whilst another is to St. Ufudd’s Well.

 

 

William Williams c1625-84

Born second son of Edward Williams of Carwed Fynydd. He was educated at Westminster School and graduated B.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1647 and M.A. in 1657.  He was given the living of Llandegfan and Beaumaris, in 1660 and later held the living of Llansadwrn, Anglesey. He accepted the living of Llangurig, Montgomreyshire. He was vicar of Northop, 1672-77, and Rhuddlan, Flints. 1678-84 also holding the sinecure of Llansannan 1663-78 and Bodfari 1672-81. He is best known for being a reliable antiquarian.

 

Humphrey Foulkes 1673-1747

A clergyman and antiquarian who graduated from Jesus College Oxford and became a Doctor of Divinity in 1720. He held various livings in the Diocese of St. Asaph during his lifetime. He wrote essays on Welsh medieval life, corresponded with the antiquary Edward Lhwyd, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

 

Peter Foulkes 1676-1747

Cleric, scholar, poet author and graduate of Christ Church, Oxford. Born the son of Robert Foulkes of Llechryd. He was educated at Westminster School and held various appointments in the Diocese of Exeter.

 

Thomas Edwards (Twm o’r Nant) 1739-1810

Born at Pen Porchell Isaf (there is a new house on the site), his family moved to Nant Isaf in the old parish of Henllan. He learnt to read at the circulating school of Griffith Jones, Llanddowror and had two weeks education at Denbigh. Aged nine he wrote an interlude and was performing in them by the time he was 12 years old. While living in Denbigh, he hauled timber but got into debt and wrote and performed more interludes.

He fled to south Wales when his uncle became bankrupt when Twm had promised to act as his guarantor. In south Wales he hauled timber, kept a turnpike and later kept a pub. In 1786 he returned north and settled at Denbigh spending the rest of his life as a stonemason, working for a period on constructing the cob at Porthmadog.

Eight of his interludes have survived where he criticises the social customs of the period, he was also quite a wit. A book of his poems appeared in 1790 and he was well known at eisteddfodau.

 

John Roberts 1775-1829

Born the son of John Roberts, Plas Harri, he was educated by the curate of Betws yn Rhos before going on to Jesus College, Oxford from where he graduated in 1796. He was appointed curate of Chiselhampton and Stadhampton near Oxford, where he was a diligent and popular cleric, and while here he corrected a new Welsh Bible and Common Prayer Book for the S.P.C.K. In 1807 he returned to the Vale of Clwyd, becoming curate of Tremeirchion, eventually succeeding to the living, which he held until his death. He opposed the dubious orthography of William Owen Pugh and is said to have started the Harvest Festival tradition in Wales. He saw merit in some Methodist ideas, supported the Sunday School and the Bible Society, published a hymn book, a book of homilies and a short lived journal. He is buried at Llanefydd.

 

Abel Vaughan 1784-1827

Born at Plas Buckley, he began to preach with the Baptists in 1806 becoming minister of Glyn Ceiriog and Ruthin in 1808. In 1815 he moved to Liverpool and later settled in the parish of Henllan. In 1825 he became minister of Cefn Bychan and Pencae, Wrexham.

 

Richard Foulkes (Seilas Glyndyfrdwy) 1784-1823.

He was descended from the Foulkes family of Llechryd and was born at Pen Bryn Mawr. He was a shoemaker by trade and joined the Independents, but later joined the Baptists, becoming the minister of Denbigh in 1810, moving to take charge of Cefn Bychan and Pencae chapels. He wrote articles for the influential Baptist publication Seren Gomer.

 

Ellis Evans 1786-1864

Born at Llanuchwllyn, he became a preacher and went on to be educated at Fenni later becoming an itinerant preacher and schoolmaster. In 1815 he was inducted as minister of Llanefydd, Llansannan and Llangernyw conducting a school at Penuel Baptist chapel, Llanefydd, where he was always in deep thought. He gained much praise in the locality when he visited people during an illness from which people died. He wasn’t a popular preacher but was better known as a theologian who published a few books, moving to become a minister at Cefn Mawr, Wrecsam.

 

Thomas Robert Jones (Gwerfilyn) 1802-56

A shoemaker born at Maes Gweirfyl, who over the years practiced his trade at Ruabon, Cefn Mawr and Llansanffraid Glyndyfrdwy. He was the founder of the humanitarian movement The True Iforians. He established Welsh societies in the above places and was a regular contributor to Welsh Baptist journals. He established another society at Wrexham to offer its members financial assistance and promote the Welsh language. Membership grew and other branches were established in Wales, but T.R. Jones and his followers fell out with them and founded another society. He died at Birkenhead.

 

 

John Williams, Pen y Geufron

He published a book of poems in 1836. Nothing else is known about him.

 

William Roberts (Nefydd) 1813-72

He was born the son of Robert Roberts, Bryn Golau, (long since a ruin) a shoe maker and entered the same profession. In 1834 he began to preach and went to Llansilin for a little education becoming the Baptist minister of Stanhope Street, Liverpool in 1837. From there he moved in 1845 to become minister of Salem, Blanenau Gwent, Monmouthshire where he died. He wrote the first book in Welsh on folklore and established his own printing press. He was well known on the eisteddfod stage, very active with the British and Foreign School Society in south Wales, a man of letters and had a library of 6,000 books.

 

Peter Williams (Pedr Hir) 1847-1922

Born at Llanynys, and having tried various professions he became a policeman at Llanefydd where he did a considerable amount of studying. He was a poet, writer, hymn writer and dramatist who used the rich language of the Vale of Clwyd. He was a familiar figure at eisteddfodau and became a Baptist minister at Abergele, moving to South Wales, and then invited to become the minister of Balliol Road Baptist chapel, Liverpool.

 

John Gwyddno Williams

Born at Eglwys bach in 1861, his family moved to Llangernyw and began to preach with the Baptists in 1880. He became minister of Ffynnon Groyw Chapel 1891-96, Bryn Siencyn 1896-1900 and Llanfair Caereinion 1913-13 from where he retired from the ministry to Caerwys. Fron there he moved to live at Llys Nefydd, Llanefydd in 1928. He had a considerable library.

 

Gruffydd John Roberts (1912-69)

A native of Afon Wen, Caernafronshire, and graduate of Bangor University. He was a lecturer there for a while before taking holy orders and becoming curate of Rhyl, and later priest in charge of Llanefydd 1941-45, living at the former Vicarage. He became rector of Nantglyn 1945-48, rector of Mellteyrn, Botwnnog & Bryncroes , 1948-51, vicar of Blaenau Ffestiniog 1951-56 & vicar of Conwy and Gyffin 1956.

He won the crown at the Colwyn Bay Royal National Eisteddfod in 1947 for a poem to Valley Crucis Abbey and came close to winning the chair at the Llanelli National Eisteddfod in 1962. He was a popular broadcaster on radio and also wrote plays and published a number of books.

 

Church History.

The church is described as a chapel under St. Asaph Cathedral and dedicated to St. Nefydd and St. Mary. It is unclear who Nefydd was and several suggestions have been made. One suggestion is that he was Tufydd, father of St. Winifred of Holywell, quite plausible in comparison to other suggestions.

To complicate matters even further, another source says that the church was founded by Ithel ap Tangno, a descendant of Marchweithian, Lord of Isaled, and that the church was known as Ithel’s Chapel.

The church was probably dedicated to the Virgin Mary during the fifteenth century when her cult was strong in Wales. Her festival was celebrated on the 8 September. Other saints are also associated with the parish, Asa whose name is preserved in Afon Asa (River Asa) and there is also a well called Ffynnon Asa. Asa was the founder of Llanasa, Flintshire and succeeded Cyndeyrn at St. Asaph. Another reputed local saint associated with the parish was Ffrymston, who is said to have been buried in a mound in the graveyard. Unfortunately, the mound was cleared in the 1890s due to a shortage of burial space. There once existed a field called Mynachlog (monastery) overlooking the Elwy Valley near Bont Newydd, hinting that there might have been a religious establishment here. Unfortunately, the field boundaries have since been cleared away.

A well is dedicated to Nefydd and tradition states that a cure could be obtained by washing in its waters on three consecutive Fridays. Tradition also says that the original church was built at Pant yr Hen Eglwys (Hollow of the Old Church), a narrow field on a farm lane behind the church.

There is reference to a church in 1291, though the current building dates from c1500 but there are remnants of medieval carved stone memorials which predate the present building. These are possibly products of a stone carving workshop based in the Vale of Clwyd, possibly Rhuddlan, in the medieval period.

Under an ancient arrangement granted in 1198 by Llewelyn ap Iorweth, one of the Welsh princes, Pentrefoelas also known as Capel y Fidog or Llanefydd Uwch Mynydd was part of the parish of Llanefydd. These lands had been granted to the Cistertian monastery at Aberconwy, and the monks of Ysbyty Ifan administered the sacraments and conduct other services for the benefit of the inhabitants until the monastic establishment at Ysbyty Ifan was dissolved by Henry VIII.

The church is a Grade I listed building. It is constructed of local limestone in the Perpendicular style with an oak cusped archbrace roof with wind braces. It is typical of the Vale of Clwyd style of church building as it is double naved with an octagonal columned stone arcade. It is a very simple building, white walls and light floods in through the large mullioned main windows. A few fragments of stained glass have survived, and it has been suggested that there was a stained glass workshop in the Vale of Clwyd in the fifteenth century. The work of these craftsmen was cruder and less refined. These artisans might have used drawings from York stained glass window makers.

Little is known of the history of the church until the twentieth century as records haven’t survived. A pew arbitration of 1636 refers to the ‘new’ and the ‘old’ church, which suggests an enlargement of the building at some point. Though the roof structure and the fenestration are consistent throughout the building, closer inspection of the stonework does suggest different styles of building.

A report of 1729 states that the plate for the communion bread was cracked, a pew obstructed the congregation from coming too near to the altar to receive the communion, part of the roof was in need of re-slating and the oak panels in the roof timbers above the chancel were in very poor condition. Otherwise the walls and windows were in good condition and the whole building kept clean and neat.

It is said that there once existed in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century a famous church ‘orchestra’ comprising of bassoon, viola and oboe.

The old traditional Christmas service, which was once widespread and known as the ‘plygain’ survived until the 1860’s. Its origins lay in the services of the Catholic Church. This was a special Christmas service, the only one held during the hours of darkness, early on Christmas morning. The vicar would conduct a short service and then the service was declared open. Various groups would come forward to sing a carol with some of the performers being paid with beer if they had come some distance. This plygain tradition was revived in the early twentieth century, but has since come to an end, but continues in local chapels.

In 1806 high box pews were introduced into the church, the wood was brought from Liverpool by barge as far as the port of Rhuddlan where it was unloaded and then hauled by horse and cart. The church was restored in 1859, when it was re-roofed, re-glazed and a new bellcotte erected. Further work was done during the restoration of 1907-08 when the box pews and gallery were removed, floors levelled, and a chancel, screen and open pews introduced. The old vestry at the rear of the church, where a school was held until 1866, was demolished. The architect was Harold Hughes of Bangor.

Between 1966 and 1972 the church was closed due to various problems - financial, structural and a dwindling congregation, and there was talk at one time of demolishing the building. However, the roof and windows were repaired, and electricity installed in 1972. The first service was harvest, held in the autumn of that year.

Another major restoration at a cost of £60,000 was undertaken in 1991 when the church was re-roofed and re-glazed. Very homely and atmospheric services were conducted at members’ houses while the work was being undertaken.

Since 1972, despite people moving in and out of the parish, whilst other members have died, attendance has remained surprisingly consistent in a predominantly nonconformist parish, which has seen a considerable decline in chapel attendance.

The majority of the clergy who have held this living have been graduates, many from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There have also been some examples of clergy who have been pluralists holding other livings or have combined the church with another living e.g. farming, teaching etc. John Brigdale, a native of Conwy was an approved preacher appointed by the Commonwealth following the Civil War whilst three others who held the living were natives of the parish.

The longest serving vicar was Ebenezer Jones, a native of Cardiganshire, who served the parish from 1864 until his death in 1907. Two vicars, Wharton Parfew and William Lloyd served as bishops of St Asaph, while writer, dramatist, poet and broadcaster, Griffith John Roberts, was priest in charge of the parish during the Second World War.

Two curates who served the parish were W. Annwyl Roberts and E. T. Watts. Roberts later held the living of Llanddyfnan in Anglesey, but was caught drunk in a railway carriage in Llandudno and brought before one of the ecclesiastical courts ! E. T. Watts was responsible for restoring the church in 1859 and went on to hold the living of Diserth and later became an inspector of schools.