England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanbadarn Odwyn St Padarn

The Parish

The parish of Llanbadarn Odwyn lies in southern central Cardiganshire roughly 4 miles west of the small town of Tregaron. Llanbadarn Odwyn has no village but the church sits a half mile or so west of the B4578, a linking road which connects two points on the A485 avoiding the necessity to pass through Tregaron, the B4578 follows the ancient Roman Road of Sarn Helen which ran from Carmarthen into northern Wales. Llanbadarn Odwyn is an upland parish with no centre at all, the population is spread across a large area in scattered farmsteads and isolated cottages, the only discernible concentration is at the crossroads of Stag's Head. Like most upland parishes the economy was driven by hardy sheep on rough moorland grass, there was some dabbling in the extractive industries but nothing significant in this parish. Much of the parish sits on a ridge-line between two valley both of which drain the parish, to the east is the Afon Teifi whilst to the west the Afon Aeron bith head to the Irish Sea, the former arriving through Cardigan, the latter through Aberaeron. St Padarn church is sited at 230 metres above the sea whilst the highest point of the ridge, a quarter of a mile further south, stands at 247 metres in tree-less moorland. For an upland parish Llanbadarn Odwyn was relatively compact and small in extent, covering just over 4,400 acres it would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanbadarn Odwyn is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Padarn's church sits in splendid isolation high on a windswept ridge just over a half mile west of the B4578, a large white sign at the junction points the way to the church. Due to its ever-shrinking congregation the church fell on hard times being described in 1843 as "in a deplorable state" and in 1872 as "desolate". Consequently the church has had much time and expense to return it to its present condition. The unfortunate consequence is the loss of dating detail for the original medieval content. Believed to have been founded by the Bishop of St David's in Pembrokeshire in 1187 the earliest fabric may be found in the nave and bellcote but both Pevsner & Coflein decline to hazard a date. More reliable is the dating of the restoration work which followed that report of desolation in 1872 by restoring the main body and adding the chancel. The rather narrow dead-end lane leading to the church heads imply to the church and a pair of farms, thankfully a space for parking can be found on the access to the churchyard which is open and tree-less with no obstacles for the photographer.