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Bridell

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"BRIDELL (BRIDDELL), a parish, in the union of CARDIGAN, partly in the hundred of KEMMES, but principally in that of KÎLGERRAN, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 2 1/2 miles (S.) from Cardigan; containing 404 inhabitants. This place is situated on the road from Cardigan to Narberth . . The parish comprises by admeasurement 3000 acres, of which 1000 are arable, 100 meadow, 1850 pasture, and 50 woodland; the surface is beautifully undulated . . . and the scenery is pleasing and picturesque. . . The soil is loamy with small patches of clay, and the lands are in general well adapted to agricultural purposes; there are numerous stone quarries, the produce of which is used by farmers for buildings and fences, and there are also a corn-mill and a carding machine . . . The church, dedicated to St David, is an ancient structure, beautifully situated and embosomed among trees, the luxuriant foliage of which almost conceals it from view. . . In the churchyard stands an ancient cross, of the kind called St.Catherine's, supported on a plain shaft about nine feet high, but the inscription has been obliterated by time. A day and Sunday school have been discontinued for want of support. . . " [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

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Cemeteries

Monumental Inscriptions for this parish are available from Dyfed Family History Society.

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Census

The 1851 census for this parish has been indexed by Dyfed Family History Society.

Census Returns for this parish have the following LDS Call Numbers:

  • 1841 Census - 0464344
  • 1851 Census - 0104239
  • 1861 Census - 0543246
  • 1871 Census - 0850859
  • 1881 Census - 1342307
  • 1891 Census - 6099654
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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

  • Bridell Parish Church William Thomas, Informant
  • Penybryn Babtist Erected in 1818 Maurice Evans, Baptist Minister

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

  • St David
  • Incumbent and Curates; T T Davies
  • Rural Deanery of Kemes
  • Acreage 2,219; Population 202
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    Church Records

    PR CMB (1705-1809) recorded in 1831 apparently lost

    Parish registers: Christenings (1810-1993), Marriages (1810-1970) Banns (1824-79, 1912-80), and Burials (1810-11, 1814-1993) are at the National Library of Wales with Mf copies at Pem.RO.

    Copy ts PR/BT M (pre 1813) with index at NLW and Pem.RO

    Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1674-5, 1678-81, 1683, 1685-6, 1689, 1700, 1709, 1799-1801, 1806-7, 1809-43, 1846-52, 1854-73, 1875-80) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Call Number: 0105130.

    See Bap/Mar/Bur data on FreeReg

    Nonconformist Chapels:

    • Penbryn, in village of Pen-y-bryn [Baptists, 1819] SN17794291 Built 1818, present chapel built 1869 Still open 1998 Coflein On Dyfed FHS
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    Description & Travel

    You can see pictures of Bridell which are provided by:

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    Gazetteers

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

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    History

    Jones, Harry Longueville Erect stone with oghams at Bridell . Publisher [Tenby] : [R. Mason], [1860?] Description 4p ; 22cm. .Reprinted from the "Archaeologia Cambrensis," October 1860' - t.p. An article in the series, 'Early inscribed stones of Wales'.
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    Maps

    Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

    You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SN175407 (Lat/Lon: 52.034348, -4.661808), Bridell which are provided by:

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    Names, Geographical

    Places, villages, farms etc within Bridell 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 Peter D Hall)

    • Bridell [7]; Blaen-mergi, Bridell, Castell felor-ganol, Clos, Dyffryn Meigan, Gwndwn, Maes-y-felin, Penallt-ddu, Pen-y-bryn, Pen-yr-allt-Howell, Plas-y-bridell, Tre-Leddyn, Treial, Ty-gwyn