England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanarth St David

The Parish

The parish of Llanarth lies in central western Cardiganshire, indeed it forms a small section of Cardiganshire's Irish Sea coast. Llanarth is a large village sitting at the crossroads of the A487 (Aberdaeron to Cardigan) road with the B4342 running eastwards from New Quay and sited about 3 miles southeast of New Quay. Llanarth sits at the point where the A487 crosses the deeply incised valley of the Afon Llethy and most of the village is on the western side of that valley rising steeply up the slopes. The area is largely devoted to pastoral farming, the landscape gently undulating with extensive woodlands in the deep valleys. The Llethy runs through the parish and northwestwards to reach the Irish Sea at Little Quay Bay barely 2 miles north of Llanarth village. The parish, like most in Cardiganshire, is extensive in its area, it covered over 15,000 acres and supported a population, mostly concentrated in Llanarth village, of around 2,400 parishioners. This make's it one of the more substantial settlements in a relatively sparsely populated county. As with most of Wales there is no mention of Llanarth in Domesday Book which didn't cover this area at all.

The Church

St David's church is sited on top of a steep rise from the Llethy at the northern edge of Llanarth. What appears to be an ancient structure is, in fact, a late 19th century rebuild. Only the battlemented western tower shows signs of being original, in this case 15th century. The remainder of the building was rebuilt within the old walls in 1871/2 which also raised the roof line of the previously low building and gave the tower a slate pyramidal roof. The church stands almost on the highest portion of the village site and is reached by a steeply sloping lane. The site is elevated substantially above road level and buttressed by a tall stone wall. Access is either by a set of steps from the southern side or alternatively a sloping pathway from the west. The sight is almost totally devoid of photographic obstacles.