England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn lies in northern Cardiganshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Montgomeryshire and with Merioneth. Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn is located roughly 5 miles northeast of the university town of Aberystwyth and stands a half mile west of the A487 road which links Aberystwyth with Machynlleth. Today the main settlement within this highly extensive parish is Llandre which contains the parish church, it is largely linear village consisting of properties along the B4353 road which links the A487 to the nearby Irish Sea coast, a parallel lane holds further properties. In addition to Llandre the parish contains the coastal settlement of Borth, a long strip of typical coastal cottages and bungalows with Upper Borth as a compact settlement on the low cliffs to the south. Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn had a varied economy, the coastal strip was tolerably good for both arable and cattle pastures, the upper parts were typical upland rough grazing for sheep. In addition to farming there was lead ore in the hills of the interior which was extensively mined and exported from ports on the Dovey. As a coastal parish Borth was a base for fishing and shellfish, a local industry, which developed on the extensive dunes to the north, was the cultivation of turf which was supplied to Aberystwyth. Today it is tourism which dominates now that the lead mining has ceased with the coast a particular draw, in recent times the new Wales National Coastal Trail has been created and which passes through the parish. In addition the parish is a major contributor to the renewals industry with most of its higher summits bedecked in wind-farms. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line which links Aberystwyth through to Shrewsbury passes through the parish and grants Borth a station. Drainage to the nearby coast is provided by two main streams the Afon Leri to the north and the Afon Clerach to the south both flow into the Irish Sea, here know as Cardigan Bay. Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn covers a very wide range of altitudes fro sea level at Borth up to the higher summits such as the 383 metre top of Moel Fferm in the east close to the county border. Covering over 19,000 acres Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn was one of the most extensive parishes in the land that acreage would have supported a population of close to 3,800 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanfihangel Geneur y Glyn is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Michael's church sits west of the B4353 in Llandre, across the railway line and sitting on the rising ground that is topped by the motte & bailey site of Castell Gwallter. Sadly the church that stands here today is not that in which these marriages took place as it was built 1885 as the 3rd iteration of church on this site, the original medieval church having been replaced in 1793. Today's church has the standard nave & chancel augmented with a western bellcote, a southern porch and a southern vestry. The church was clearly of little architectural interest for Pevsner as his account is a terse 5 lines of text. The church stands on steeply sloping ground with a larg car park at its base, steps climb up through flower bed bedecked slopes or alternatively tarred lanes rise steeply to the south rises to meet the churchyard. Both the steep ground and blocks of trees create a few issues for the photographer but enough angles remain for adequate images.