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Brechfa

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"BRECHVA (BRECHFA), a parish, in the union of LLANDILO-FAWR, higher division of the hundred of CATHINOG ... 11 miles (N.E.) from Carmarthen: containing 109 inhabitants. This parish is pleasantly situated on the river Cothy, a stream abounding with excellent trout, and in a beautifully romantic valley, surrounded on all sides by lofty hills of varied aspect, among which is plenty of game. The soil is fertile; and the lands, which are all inclosed, are in a good state of cultivation. A turnpike-road, connecting the counties of Cardigan, Carmarthen, and Glamorgan, has been constructed, which, passing through the parish, has materially contributed to the increase of population. .. the church, dedicated to St Teilo, and situated at the extremity of the parish, upon the little river Pib, is a small plain edifice, without either tower or spire. There is a place of worship for Calvinistic Methodists. A day school, in which about 50 or 60 pupils are instructed at the expense of their parents, is kept by the rector ..." [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

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Church History

Some church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by I.G Jones, & D. Williams. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

  • St Teilo Brechfa Parish Church Joshua Davies, Officiating Minister
  • Brechfa Chappel Methodists Erected before 1800 David Thomas, Deacon, Gilfach, Llanegwedd

Parish entry from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by (Archive CD Books).

  • St Teilo
  • Incumbent and Curates; D Evans
  • Rural Deanery of Llandilo
  • Acreage 534 ; Population 59

Lenny, Bob, and Thomas, Patrick. Teulu Teilo: a history of the church in Brechfa. Brechfa: Eglwys Sant Teilo, 1993. 45p: ill, ports; 21cm.

From old Brechfa Church site - "The current church was consecrated on 21st November 1893. It replaced an older church that was sited on the current churchyard. The stone from the old church was used to build the current church hall"

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Church Records

Dyfed FHS have photographs and data relating to various churches and chapels on their site

St.Teilo, Brechfa---photograph and basic information from Dyfed FHS

Parish registers: Christenings (1780-1881), Marriages (1806-1970), Banns (1831-1976) and Burials (1780-1915) are at the Carmarthenshire Record Office.

Copy ts PR index Christenings (1813-1986) Marriages (1806-1970) Burials (1813-1915) are at the NLW and Carm. RO

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1800, 1808-35, 1880-3) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Marriage index for this parish - see Dyfed Marriages, 1813-1837, Vol. 17 - Cathinog Hundred (Dyfed Family History Society, c1989)

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

Nonconformist Chapels:

Chapel (Calvinistic Methodist, c1770), village On Dyfed FHS Bethania Brechfa CM chapel - still open in 2006

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Description & Travel

The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales., byJones, I.G. & Williams, D. UWP, Cardiff, 1976. These statistics for this parish are extracted from this book which in turn got them from the 1851 census itself;

  • Area 530 acres; Population 55 males, 52 females, total 107
    You can see pictures of Brechfa which are provided by:

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    Gazetteers

    The transcription of the section for Brechfa from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

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    History

    Lloyd, Sir John E., (Ed.). A History of Carmarthenshire (2 vols.), Cardiff, London Carmarthenshire Society (1935, 1939). Extracts from this book can be accessed on some parish pages
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    Maps

    Parish of Brechfa, Carmarthenshire  - on the People's Collection Wales site

    Parish map(Kain/Oliver)

    You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN515300 (Lat/Lon: 51.948179, -4.162488), Brechfa which are provided by:

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    Names, Geographical

    Places, villages, farms etc within Brechfa parish as shown on the online parish map from the CD of Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Merv Thomas)

    • Brechfa (9); Brechfa, Llywn-celyn, Bryn-yr-eidion, Aber-goleu
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    Newspapers

    Clychau'r Cwm: the parish newspaper of Brechfa, Abergorlech & Llanfihangel Rhos-y-corn. is published by Patrick Thomas, of Brechva.