Blaencaron - Bolbro

Blaencaron (Blaen-Caron)

BLAENCARON (BLAEN-CARON), a hamlet, in the parish and union of Trêgaron, upper division of the hundred of Penarth, county of Cardigan, South Wales, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Trêgaron; containing 111 inhabitants. The name of this hamlet is expressive of its situation at the head of the river Caron.

Blaen-Clowon-Vach

BLAEN-CLOWON-VACH, a hamlet, forming the upper division of the parish of LlandysilioGogo, in the union of Aberaëron, lower division of the hundred of Moythen, county of Cardigan, South Wales, 12 miles (W. by N.) from Lampeter; containing 733 inhabitants. It is situated near the source of the river Clettwr, and some agreeable residences are scattered over the hamlet, which is in general rather undulated than mountainous.

Blaenegal

BLAENEGAL, with Caegurwen, a hamlet, in the parish of Llanguicke, union of Neath, hundred of Llangyvelach, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 7½ miles (N.) from Neath; containing 1025 inhabitants, of whom 182 are in Blaenegal.

Blaen-Glesyrch (Blaen-Glâserch)

BLAEN-GLESYRCH (BLAEN-GLÂSERCH), a hamlet, in the parish of Llanwrin, union and hundred of Machynlleth, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 6 miles (N. N. E.) from Machynlleth: the population is returned with the parish. This place takes its name from the small stream called the Glesyrch, which falls into the Dulas within a few miles of the junction of that river with the Dovey. It comprises the upper or northern part of the parish, where the ground is elevated, and commands fine views of the mountains in North Wales, and the pleasing vale of the Dovey, with that river winding along it.

Blaen-Glyn-Tawe

BLAEN-GLYN-TAWE, county of Brecknock, South Wales.—See Capel-Callwen.

Blaen-Gwrach

BLAEN-GWRACH, a chapelry, in the parish of Glyn-Corwg, union and hundred of Neath, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 10 miles (N. E. by E.) from Neath; containing 498 inhabitants. The village is situated near the head of the vale of Neath, which is here seen in all its varied and romantic beauty. The striking character of the scenery, abounding with luxuriant verdure, is heightened by contrast with the sterile brow of a lofty mountain, marked with rocky declivities indented by numerous deep fissures, through which, after heavy rains or rapid thaws, the waters rush down in impetuous torrents, exhibiting a scene of grandeur and sublimity. The river Gwrach, from which the village takes its name, swollen with the mountain streams that fall into its channel, frequently overflows its banks, and inundates the adjacent meadows, which become one entire sheet of water. Ynislaes, an elegant cottage built by the Hon. Windham Henry W. Quin, now Earl of Dunraven and Mountearl, and for some time his own residence, occupies a beautiful situation, commanding a delightful view of the vale of Neath through its whole extent. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that of Glyn-Corwg, and endowed with £800 royal bounty. The chapel is small, not being more than thirty-two feet in length and ten in breadth, and containing only about fifty sittings. There is a place of worship for Socinians, which is one of the oldest in the principality. Dr. Abraham Rees, for many years minister of the congregation meeting in Old Jewry, London, and author of the most voluminous encyclopædia ever published, was resident in early life in this chapelry, while his father, Mr. Lewis Rees, was pastor of the dissenting congregation here.

Blaen-Honddan

BLAEN-HONDDAN, a township, in the parish of Cadoxton, union and hundred of Neath, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 1¾ mile (N.) from Neath; containing 1156 inhabitants. It is pleasantly situated on the western bank of the river Neath, in the midst of agreeably diversified scenery, and is intersected by the turnpike-road leading from Neath, along the river-vale, into Brecknockshire. Cadoxton Place, sheltered by a lofty hill commanding a fine view of the Gnoll house and grounds; and Cadoxton Lodge, another residence, are both situated in the township; which also contains the parochial church.

Blaen-Penal

BLAEN-PENAL, a chapelry, in the parish of Llandewy-Brevi, union of Trêgaron, Lower division of the hundred of Penarth, county of Cardigan, South Wales, 10½ miles (N. by E.) from Lampeter; containing 503 inhabitants. It is situated at the extremity of the beautiful vale of Aëron, which river rises from a mountain near the village. The area of the chapelry is 2700 acres, of which 800 are common or waste. In the village and the surrounding district are several pleasing and ornamental residences. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and £200 parliamentary grant; net income, £84, with a glebehouse; patrons, alternately, the Earl of Lisburne, and R. Price, Esq., the impropriators. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £101. The chapel is dedicated to St. David. There is a place of worship for Calvinistic Methodists, with a Sunday school held in it. This chapelry separately supports its own poor.

Blaenporth (Blaen-Porth)

BLAENPORTH (BLAEN-PORTH), a parish, in the Lower division of the hundred of Troedyraur, union and county of Cardigan, South Wales, 6 miles (E. by N.) from Cardigan, on the road to Aberystwith; containing 752 inhabitants. The lands in this parish are all inclosed, and in a good state of cultivation. The living formed a prebend in the ancient college of St. David at LlandewyBrevi, and is rated as such, in the king's books, at £6. It is now a perpetual curacy, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant, and in the alternate patronage of the Earl of Lisburne and J. V. Lloyd, Esq., who are impropriators of the tithes of the parish, and pay £8 per annum to the curate; total net income, £97, with a glebehouse. The tithes have been commuted for a rentcharge of £260. The church, dedicated to St. David, consists of a nave, chancel, and porch, and has a bell suspended at the west end of the roof. There are places of worship for dissenters, with two Sunday schools conducted gratuitously.

About 200 yards to the north of the church is an ancient fortress, called "the Gaer," and in some authorities styled "Castell Gwythan." It is said to have been thrown up by Gilbert, Earl of Strigyl, and the Flemings who settled in this part of the principality; and to have been besieged in the year 1116, by Rhŷs ab Grufydd, Prince of North Wales, who, after repeated assaults, took it, with the loss of only one of his men, and burnt it to the ground. The work was defended by a single ditch and rampart, still plainly distinguishable; and at one extremity is a lofty mound, on which probably was a watch-tower. At a little distance from the site of this post, which occupied the summit of an eminence, is a smaller camp, called "Caer Sonydd;" and on the sea-coast is another of small extent, but of great strength, called "Tudor's Castle." At Tyllwyd, in the parish, is a chalybeate spring, the water of which is, however, but seldom used.

Blaen-Sawdde

BLAEN-SAWDDE, a hamlet, in the parish of Llanthoysaint, union of Llandovery, Lower division of the hundred of Perveth, county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 6½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Llangadock; containing 214 inhabitants. The name signifies "the head of the Sawdde," or Sawddwy. This stream, which pursues its course through the hamlet, has its source in a romantic lake on a declivity of the Black mountain, near the confines of Blaen-Sawdde and of Brecknockshire. The hamlet is assessed jointly with that of Maes-y-Fynnon for the support of the poor.

Bletherston

BLETHERSTON, a parish, in the union of Narberth, hundred of Dungleddy, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 7 miles (N. W. by N.) from Narberth; containing 271 inhabitants. This parish is situated in the eastern part of the county, on the left bank of the Eastern Cleddy river. The living is a consolidated vicarage with the living of Lawhaden: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £116. 13. 4., and the vicarial for one of £58. 6. 8. Several silver coins were found here about thirty years ago, but they were immediately sold at Haverfordwest, and melted; so that nothing is known of their date. An estate in the parish, called Langridge, belongs to the Bishop of St. David's.

Blethva (Bleddva)

BLETHVA (BLEDDVA), usually spelled blethvaugh, a parish, in the union of Knighton, partly in the hundred of Kevenlleece, and partly in that of Knighton, county of Radnor, South Wales, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Knighton; containing 235 inhabitants. This place is situated partly in a valley, within the boundaries of the forest of Blethva, and near the river Lug. It is bounded on the north by the parish of Llangunllo, on the south by that of Cascob, on the east by the parish of Pillith, and on the west by Llanvihangel-Rhyd-Ithon. The parish is intersected by the high road from Knighton and Presteign to Pen-y-Bont and Rhaiadr, and comprises about 4400 acres, of which one half, with the exception of 400 acres of wood, consists of well-cultivated land, and the other half of sheepwalks, or land recently inclosed. The former portion contains 400 acres of arable, and 1400 of meadow and pasture, the whole of which is a rich loamy earth; it is watered by several mountain brooks, and the woodlands, consisting chiefly of oak and ash coppice, contribute to the pleasing effect of the general scenery. The acclivities and hills afford pasture of excellent quality for numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, live stock in this parish constituting by far the most valuable portion of the produce. Stone of the blue lias kind, and of good quality, is quarried for building. The petty-sessions for the hundred are occasionally held here. The living is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £10. 12. 1.; patron, the Bishop of St. David's: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £220, and there is a glebe of 8 acres, valued at £10 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a large structure, consisting of a nave and chancel, without any claim to architectural notice. A rent-charge of six shillings was regularly paid to the poor down to 1822, out of a farm called Cae Hugh, in the parish, arising from the benefaction of a person named Wilkes; but since that period no payment has been made.

Bôdaioch (Bôd-Aioch)

BÔDAIOCH (BÔD-AIOCH), a hamlet, in the parish of Trêveglwys, union of Newtown and Llanidloes, Upper division of the hundred of Llanidloes, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 5 miles (N. N. E.) from Llanidloes: the population is returned with the parish. It is situated on the left bank of the river Tarannon, which flows into the Severn a few miles distant.

Bod-Daniel

BOD-DANIEL, a hamlet, in the parish of Llanvechell, hundred of Tàl-y-bolion, union and county of Anglesey, North Wales: the population is included in that returned for the parish. This hamlet is exempt from tithes, in lieu of which a modus of £1. 6. 8. is annually paid to the rector. It is rated in the assessment for the poor in the same manner as Llanvechell. There was formerly a church, but it was allowed to fall into ruin many centuries since.

Bôdedern (Bôd-Edeyrn)

BÔDEDERN (BÔD-EDEYRN), a parish, in the hundred of Llyvon, union and county of Anglesey, North Wales, 18 miles (W. by N.) from Bangor; containing 1085 inhabitants. This place derived its name from Edeyrn, a bard who flourished about the middle of the seventh century, and who, having embraced a religious life, presided over the church here. The parish is bounded on the north by the parishes of Llanvigael and Llantrisaint, on the south by Llanvihangel-yn-Howyn, on the east by Llandrygarn, and on the west by the parish of Llanenghenedl. It comprises by admeasurement 3986 acres, of which nearly 100 are woodland; the scenery is altogether uninteresting, and the soil cold and clayey, but capable of producing excellent oats when well limed. The principal seats in the parish are, Presaddved, a fine ancient mansion, of which the estate was held in fee, by the service of attending at the coronation of the Princes of Wales, and supporting the right side of the canopy during that solemnity; and Tre' Iorwerth, a good family mansion, beautifully situated in the midst of luxuriant and extensive plantations. Near the former seat is Llyn Llwennyn, whence issues a small rivulet, on the banks of which are two cromlechs of large size, one of them still erect. The village is one of the most extensive in the county, and is pleasantly situated on the northern Holyhead road. The spinning of woollen yarn is carried on, for which there are two mills, set in motion by water; attached to these are dye-houses and a fulling-mill, the latter employing about six hands. Here is a branch establishment under the post-office at Bangor; and fairs, principally for cattle, are held on March 13th, April 16th, May 5th, June 9th, August 16th, September 14th, and December 1st and 22nd: on Whit-Tuesday is a fair for hiring servants. The petty-sessions for the hundred are held once a month, and district meetings take place quarterly, at the village.

The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £400 royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant; net income, £104, together with a parsonage-house, lately built by a donation of £400 from Queen Anne's Bounty, and a like sum from Jesus' College, Oxford; patrons and impropriators, the Principal and Fellows of Jesus' College, whose tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £476. 8. per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Edeyrn, is a small ancient structure, displaying some good architectural details; it measures 19 yards by 8, and contains 150 sittings: among the monuments are some of a superior character to members of the Presaddved and Tre' Iorwerth families. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A National school was erected in 1822, by the voluntary contributions of the gentry in the neighbourhood, and is principally supported by subscription: about seventy children receive instruction in it, of whom thirty are taught free. Five Sunday schools, also, are gratuitously conducted, one of them held in the National schoolroom, and the other four belonging to dissenters, the Calvinistic Methodists having two, the Wesleyans one, and the Baptists one. Dr. Gwynn gave the poor a portion of tithes, producing £2. 10. per annum; Mr. Edmund Griffith and Mrs. Jane Wynne gave certain portions of land, now producing £10. 8. per annum; John Griffith Lewis a rentcharge of 10s.; and Mrs. Roberts a portion of the interest of £100; the produce of which benefactions, and of some other donations and bequests, is annually distributed, according to the directions of the several benefactors.

Bôdewryd (Bôd-Ewryd)

BÔDEWRYD (BÔD-EWRYD), a parish, in the hundred of Twrcelyn, union and county of Anglesey, North Wales, 3 miles (W. S. W.) from Amlwch; containing 32 inhabitants. This small parish was formerly comprehended in that of Llaneilian, from which it was detached, and formed into a parish of itself, within the last fifty years. It consists only of two farm-houses (one of them anciently the mansion of the Wynne family) with their respective farms, and has no parochial officers, either ecclesiastical or civil: in levying the county rate it is placed with the parish of Gwredog, as a fourth division to the three contained in the parish of Amlwch. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed, in 1722, with one hundred and twenty-one acres of land, and a rent-charge of £2, by Dr. Wynne, Chancellor of Hereford, and subsequently with £800 royal bounty; net income, £100; patron and impropriator, Lord Stanley of Alderley. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small ancient edifice, containing some monuments to the Wynnes, and a brass recording the liberality of Dr. Wynne, above noticed, who lies entombed here. A parochial school is supported at the expense of Lady Stanley, for the children of this and the adjoining parishes.

Bodgadvan

BODGADVAN, a township, in the parish of Llangelynin, union of Dôlgelley, hundred of Tal-y-bont and Mowddwy, county of Merioneth, North Wales; containing 211 inhabitants.

Bodidris (Bôd-Idris)

BODIDRIS (BÔD-IDRIS), a hamlet, in the parish of Llanarmon, union of Ruthin, partly in the hundred of Mold, county of Flint, and partly in that of Yale, county of Denbigh, North Wales, 10 miles (W. by N.) from Wrexham: the population is returned with the parish. This place derives its name from Idris, son of Llewelyn Aurdorchog, or "of the golden torques," one of the ancient lords of Yale. It comprises 2435 acres, of which 1517 are common or waste land. The mansion here, which is large, and of considerable antiquity, was formerly the residence of the Lloyds; but Sir Evan Lloyd, Bart., dying without male issue, the estate descended to Evan Lloyd Vaughan, Esq., in right of his mother, daughter of Sir Evan, and subsequently, by maternal descent, to Sir Thomas Mostyn, Bart., who, dying unmarried, left it, with the bulk of his extensive landed possessions, to his sister's son, the Hon. Edward Mostyn Lloyd Mostyn.

Bôdlewyddan

BÔDLEWYDDAN, a township, in the parish and union of St. Asaph, hundred of Rhuddlan, county of Flint, North Wales. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £371. 11., exclusively of £1 per annum payable to the parish clerk of St. Asaph.—See St. Asaph.

Bôdvaen (Bôd-Vuan, or Bôd-Vuan in Lleyn)

BÔDVAEN (BÔD-VUAN, or BÔD-VUAN in LLEYN), a parish, in the union of Pwllheli, hundred of Dinllaen, Lleyn division of the county of Carnarvon, North Wales, 3½ miles (W. N. W.) from Pwllheli; with 366 inhabitants. This parish occupies part of the promontory of Lleyn, and is equidistant from the port of Pwllheli on the eastern, and Porth-Dinllaen on the western coast. It is situated in a very extensive plain, near the base of Carn Bôdvaen, which abounds with fossils, of which great quantities, chiefly cockle-shells, are found embedded in a soft sandstone rock, near the church, and in a very perfect state. Bôdvaen Hall, now the property and occasional residence of Lord Newborough, is a plain old building, occupying a pleasant situation. The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £6. 6. 8., and endowed with £200 royal bounty; patron, the Bishop of Bangor: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £189; and there is a glebe-house with 10 acres of land, valued altogether at £25 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Buan, a handsome edifice in the Grecian style of architecture, was erected in 1765, at the expense of the Misses Catherine and Elizabeth Wynne, of Bôdvaen Hall, and contains some good monuments to different members of that family. There is a place of worship for Calvinistic Methodists, with a Sunday school held in it. William Lloyd, Esq., in 1784, bequeathed £100 for educating poor children of the parish, and the interest of this sum is paid to the mistress of a school for boys and girls, held in a schoolroom erected within the last few years; the school is otherwise supported by subscription, and some small fees from a few of the children.

Bôdvari (Bôd-Fari)

BÔDVARI (BÔD-FARI), a parish, in the union of St. Asaph, partly in the Caerwys division of the hundred of Rhuddlan, county of Flint, and comprising the township of Aber-Whielor in the hundred of Ruthin, county of Denbigh, North Wales, 4 miles (N. E.) from Denbigh, on the road to Holywell; the whole containing 945 inhabitants, of whom 411 are in the county of Flint portion, and 534 in that of Denbighshire. This place is supposed from its name to have been the Roman station Varis, and the opinion has been in some degree confirmed by the discovery of urns, ornaments, fragments of weapons, and other relics of Roman antiquity, in the grounds of Pontrifith, and some coins near the junction of the rivers Clwyd and Whielor, the supposed site of the station. Varis was situated on the Roman road from Chester, which, uniting with the north-east branch of the Watling-street, is said by some to have proceeded by Bôdvari, in its way across the county of Denbigh to Caerhên, on the west of the river Conway. To the east of the village is Moel-y-gaer, or the "Hill of the Camp," apparently a British work, and probably constructed for the purpose of defending the pass through the Clwydian mountains. Through this pass, which is remarkable as being the only natural break in this chain of mountains, extending for more than twenty miles in a direction from north to south, flows the river Whielor, near the banks of which an excellent turnpike-road has been constructed, winding round the base of a hill called Moel-y-Parc, and connecting the counties of Denbigh and Flint. The village is delightfully situated near the confluence of the two rivers, and the surrounding country is remarkably picturesque.

The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £9. 5. 2½.; present net income, £296, with a glebe-house; patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The church, dedicated to St. Stephen, and situated on a gentle eminence, is a neat edifice with a lofty square embattled tower: the interior is neatly fitted up, and appropriately ornamented; the pulpit and reading-desk are of black oak, exquisitely carved, and in the front is the date 1574. There are places of worship for Calvinistic Methodists and Wesleyans in Aber-Whielor, with a Sunday school held in each of them. In the Flintshire portion of the parish is a day-school, established in 1840, and supported by subscription: the master is allowed to charge a small sum for teaching the children of such persons as may be able to pay, and has also a house and garden rentfree. There is an endowment of £4. 10. per annum, the interest of £100 bequeathed by Catherine Evans in 1733, for the instruction of ten poor children of the parish in the Church Catechism, and in reading and writing; but it does not appear to be paid to the schoolmaster. A rent-charge of 20s. a year, payable out of a small farm situated in the parish of EglwysBâch, was bequeathed for the relief of the poor of Bôdvari by Pierce Owen in 1654; and a similar sum arising from a bequest of £20 placed in the hands of one of the Lloyd family, was paid for the like purpose, until within the last twenty or thirty years.

Bôdverin (Bôd-Ferin)

BÔDVERIN (BÔD-FERIN), a parish, in the union of Pwllheli, hundred of Commitmaen, Lleyn division of the county of Carnarvon, North Wales, 14 miles (W. by S.) from Pwllheli; containing 64 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the shore of the Irish Sea, and is of very small extent; it contains within its limits two creeks, called Porth Verin and Porth Iago, and a well called Fynnon Bibau, near Trêvgraig, which is the source of the river Daron. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the rectory of Llaniestyn: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £30. The church, dedicated to St. Merin, fell into decay after the Reformation; and the site of the building, and the churchyard, which were visible not many years ago, have been obliterated by the plough. The inhabitants attend divine service in the parochial church of Llangwnadl, where all the ecclesiastical rites for this parish are performed.

Bôdwrog (Bôd-Twrog)

BÔDWROG (BÔD-TWROG), a parish, in the hundred of Llyvon, union and county of Anglesey, North Wales, 3 miles (W. by N.) from Llangevni; containing 358 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that of Llandrygarn. The tithes belong to the Principal and Fellows of Jesus' College, Oxford, to whom they were appropriated by Dr. Wynne, Chancellor of Llandaf, in 1648, subject to the payment of £1. 5. per annum to the poor. The college receives a tithe rent-charge of £168. 4., and the parish-clerk one of £5. The church, dedicated to St. Twrog, is a small edifice, situated on an eminence at a considerable distance from any habitation, except two respectable farmhouses. The minister of Bôdwrog and Llandrygarn resides in the former parish, a neat parsonage-house having been built here by Jesus' College, in 1838. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents, with a Sunday school held in each. In addition to the above rent-charge of £1. 5., the poor receive 12s. per annum, being a portion of the interest of a bequest of £40 by John Lloyd, which had been vested by a mortgage on the tolls of the Shrewsbury and Holyhead road.

Bolbro'

BOLBRO', a township, in the parish of Llandyssil, incorporation of Forden, Upper division of the hundred of Newton, county of Montgomery, North Wales. The population is returned with that of Llandyssil.