- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Llansantffraid or Llansantffraed (English equivalent: Parish of St. Brigid) is a small rural village near (and virtually merged with) Llanon, just west of the main A487 Coastal Road between Aberaeron and Aberystwyth, about eleven miles from Aberystwyth. The population in 2001 was 1,241, declining to 1,212 at the 2011 UK census.
The parish church of St Ffraed dates from the 15th century and is a grade II* listed building.
A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Llansanffraid from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:
- "LLANSAINTFFRAID, a village, a parish, and a [registration] subdistrict, in Aberayron [registration] district, Cardigan[shire]. The village stands on the coast, 4¼ miles NE by N of Aberayron, and 11½ SSW of Aberystwith [railway] station; and is a sub-port to Aberystwith. The parish contains also the hamlet of Llannon; and its Post town is Aberystwith. Acres: 5,443; of which 135 are water. Real property: £3,644. Population: 1,309. Houses: 306. The property is much subdivided. Some traces exist of what is thought to have been a monastic establishment. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. David's. Value: £91. Patron: the Bishop of St. David's. The church is good."
As well as Llannon, Trefethwal was another township of Llansanffraid. The parish was in the historic county of Cardiganshire until 1974 when it was transferred to Dyfed. In 1996 it was transferred again to Ceredigion.
Research Tips
- A 1900 Ordnance Survey map of the historic county of Cardiganshire is available on the A Vision of Britain through Time website. This shows all the old parishes within their urban and rural districts. Large farms and estates are also marked.
- Ceredigion Archives has a website with a list of their holdings, as well as historical notes on places in Cardiganshire.
- Some words in Welsh come up time and time again and you may want to know what they mean or how to pronounce them. For example,
"Eglwys" is a church and the prefix "Llan" is a parish.
"w" and "y" are used as vowels in Welsh.
"Ll" is pronounced either "cl" or "hl" or somewhere in between. "dd" sounds like "th".
The single letter "Y" is "the" and "Yn" means "in".
"uwch" means "above"; "isod" is "below" or "under";
"gwch" is "great", "ychydig" is "little";
"cwm" is a "valley".
- In both Welsh and English all these words are commonly used in place names in the UK. Place names are often hyphenated, or two words are combined into one. Entering your problem phrase into Google Search, including the term "meaning in Welsh", will lead you to Google's quick translation guide. I'm no authority; these are just things I have picked up while building up this gazetteer for WeRelate.
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