England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llandyfriog St Tyfriog

The Parish

The parish of Llandyfriog lies in the extreme south of Cardiganshire forming stretch of the county's border, here formed by Afon Teifi, with neighbouring Carmarthenshire. Llandyfriog is located roughly 2 miles east of the small Carmarthenshire town of Newcastle Emlyn and stands on the A475 road which links Newcastle Emlyn with Lampeter. There is not much to the village of Llandyfriog merely a string of properties lining the A475, to the west and opposite to Newcastle Emlyn is the larger settlement of Adpar, a constituent part of Newcastle Emlyn but across Afon Teif and thus in Llandyfriog parish and Cardiganshire county, Adpar has properties clustered around the crossroads north of the bridge and a substantial westward spread along the B4333. Llandyfriog parish has a mixture of land-types, along the course of the Teifi there are extensive pastures whilst to the north hills rise substantially and are the home of sheep, some arable also enters the mix but as a junior partner. Modern developments have come and gone from Llandyfriog, a railway line along the Teif's valley east from Newcastle Emlyn has close and now operates as a narrow gauge heritage line, the Teifi Valley Railway. Afon Teifi drains the parish westwards eventually reaching the Irish Sea through Cardigan. Llandyfriog is sited at around 50 metres above the sea, its church on the banks of the Teifi some 20 metres lower. To the north land rises in billowing hills to top out at 208 metres on the ridge west of nearby Langynllo. By Cardiganshire standards Llandyfriog was one of the smaller parishes covering a little over 2,600 acres it would have supported a population of close to 900 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llandyfriog is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Tyfriog's church stands south of the A475 accessed by a dead-end lane which leaves the main road some 150 metres east of the main village crossroads, the lane is marked by a signboard and sits next to a long bungalow. The dedication is not one known to Pevsner but early gazetteers refer to Tyfriog as an eminent 6th century British saint. As can readily be seen the church is not the medieval church in which these marriages took place, rather it was completely rebuilt between 1888 & 1890 and nothing of the previous church was left or reused. The church has a 3-bay nave, a 2-bay chancel, a northern vestry and a southwest porch-tower - all is of the rebuild except the upper stages of the tower which were rebuilt in the 20th century. For those unwilling to drive the narrow access track there is space at the entrance to park and it is only a short walk to the churchyard which has no obstructions whatsoever for the photographer.