England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Lampeter St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Lampeter, also known as Llanbedr pont Steffan, lies on the southern border of Cardiganshire forming a stretch of that border with neighbouring Carmarthenshire, here formed by the course of the Afon Teifi. Lampeter sits roughly 27 miles east of the county town of Cardigan. Lampeter sits at the crossroads of the A482 (Aberaeron to Llanwrda) road with the A475/A485 (Newcastle Emlyn to Tregaron) road. Lampeter is an ancient market town and site of the 3rd oldest university in England and Wales which was founded in 1822. Lampeter has a long history of conflict between the English & Welsh, a castle built by the former here having been destroyed by the 12th century Prince of Wales Owain Gwynedd. Various humps and bumps around the town mark the sites of defensive features to this day. Lampeter was granted in 1284 to one Rhys ap Meredydd and runs to this day being an important livestock market for the region's pastoral farmers, more conventional food markets and farmers' markets also run in the town. For much of its history the town functioned as the centre for trade and specialist skills for a hinterland covering southern Cardiganshire and northern Carmarthenshire. The wider parish consists of two distinct pastoral forms, the valley of the Teifi and its flood-plain provided rich grazing for cattle but all around lie substantial tracts of upland grazing used by the sheep who's wool also fuelled the local weaving traditions. Following the foundation of the University, initially intended purely as an Anglican college but now a fully fledged broad campus with especial emphasis on the Welsh language, Lampeter has also grown to support the student and tutorial community. Modern developments have come & gone from Lampeter, the railway line which once connected Lampeter to Carmarthen having closed and been largely dismantled. Lampeter is drained southwestwards by Afon Teifi which turns more westward after Llandysul to reach the Irish Sea at Cardigan. Lampeter is sited in the twin side valley of Afon Denys and Nant Creuddyn between 110 and 130 metres above the sea, beyond the town's reach mid-sized mountains rise all around reaching 242 metres to the east at hill-fort topped Castell Allt-goch whilst Allt Maestir to the northwest tops out at 278 metres both within a couple of miles of the centre of the town. Lampeter parish was typical of upland Welsh parishes in having an extensive area necessary to support the population, Lampeter covered close to 5,300 acres and would have supported around 1,500 parishioners. Like most of Wales Lampeter is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the northwestern edge of the town at the junction of Bryn Yr Eglwys with Maed y Deri. Sadly this is not the original medieval church nor is it the venue for these marriages as it is a Victorian replacement built between 1867 & 1870, it replaced an earlier church of 1838 and is probably just the 3rd iteration on this site. Despite its modernity Pevsner rates the church as the "best Victorian church in the county". The stand-out feature which makes the church something of a landmark is the southwestern porch tower, once expected to carry a spire but now simply carrying a pyramidal cap. Bryn Yr Eglwys has ample on-street parking outside mid 20th century properties allowing for a leisurely visit. The churchyard is strongly sloping to the south with an array of trees in the lower section which are thankfully set far enough away to not inconvenience the photographer.