Place:Llannarth, Cardiganshire, Wales

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Llanarth is a small village and community (or civil parish) now in Ceredigion, Wales, and before 1974 in the historical county of Cardiganshire. It is located on the A487 road between Aberystwyth and Cardigan within three miles of both Aberaeron and New Quay. The population of the parish, as of the 2011 UK census, was 1,616.

The parish church of St. David's, once dedicated to St. Fylltyg, is a Grade II* listed building. It was renovated in 1872.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Llanarth from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"LLANARTH, a parish in Aberayron [registration] district, Cardigan[shire]; on the rivulet Lethi or Llethy down to the coast; 4¼ miles SSW of Aberayron, and 13 WNW of Lampeter [railway] station. It has a post office under Carmarthen, and fairs on 12 Jan., 12 March, 17 June, 22 Sept., and the Wednesday after 12 Dec.; and it includes the hamlets of Dre, Fach, Gafriw, Gelli, Goytre, Hir, Llyffannog, Mochros, Talybonllwyd, and Werr. Acres: 15,044; of which 25 are water. Real property: £6,034. Population in 1851: 2,337; in 1861: 2,216. Houses: 524. The property is divided among a few. Noyadd-Llanarth belonged formerly to the Gryffiths, and belongs now to Lord Kensington. Wern belonged, in the time of Henry VII., to the Lloyds; and gave entertainment to that monarch, on his way to Bosworth field. Ancient camps are at Pen-y-gaer and Castell-Moeddyn.

"The living is a vicarage, united with vicarage of Llanina, in the diocese of St. Davids. Value: £120. Patron: the Bishop of St. Davids. The church consists of nave and chancel, with a massive tower; contains some curious monuments; and was in disrepair in 1866. An inscribed stone, bearing a cross, with four circular holes at the junction of the arms, and associated with a wild legendary story, was in the churchyard, and has been removed into the tower. A school, with capacity for about 120 children, was built in 1859, at a cost of £700; and is surmounted with a bellcott and a spirelet."

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.