England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llangynllo St Cynllo

The Parish

The parish of Llangynllo lies in southern Cardiganshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Carmarthenshire. Llangynllo is located roughly 4 miles northeast of the small Carmarthenshire town of Newcastle Emlyn and sits just over a mile east of the B4571 road which links Newcastle Emlyn through to the A486 (Llandysul to New Quay) road. Llangynllo is a dispersed parish with no village to speak of, the church stands together with a farmstead above the Nant Gwylan valley which runs north to south through the parish, otherwise the area is liberally dotted with small hamlets (Coed-y-bryn, Maes-llyn and Croes-lan being the main ones) and groups of farms. The area is extensively farmed despite having much land above 200 metres, over 60% was pastoral in early gazetteer's estimation with the remainder a mixture of arable and woodland, pigs and cattle together with corn were the main products. The parish is drained southwards by, in turn, the Nant Gwylan and then the Afon Cynllo before the Afon Teifi where water turns westwards to reach the Irish Sea at Cardigan. Llangynllo is sited at 180 metres above the sea at its church but land rises northeastwards reaching 276 metres on tumuli be-topped Gernos Mountain and in several places regularly approaches similar heights. By Cardiganshire standards Llangynllo parish was modestly sized covering just 3,500 acres and supporting a population of close to 650 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llangynllo is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Cynllo's church, as already mentioned, stands on a hilltop together with a farmstead and offering fien views across the Nant Gwylan's valley. The church is accessed from the east by a narrow farm lane running westwards from the B4234 road. The present church is, however, not the one which formed the venue for these marriages having been built between 1867 & 1870. The former church which it replaced was also a relatively modern one having been completely rebuilt in the 1820s so here there is no trace of the medieval. The present church is built in a style named by Pevsner as "Elaborate Decorated Gothic", a mixture of elements from both the 13th and early 14th century fashions. The southern porch tower is a relic of the `1820s church, the new church builders merely added the broached and slated spire, Pevsner holds the view that it might possibly be older and a relic of early fabric. Whilst the exterior is striking the interior matches its flavour being well worth a visit to view. The access road is unsigned but leaves the B4234 roughly 1 mile south of Penrhiw-pal crossroads, parking should respect that this is a working farm and not block activities, the church sits to the south of most of the farm buildings in a compact churchyard where it is tricky to obtain sufficient distance to fully appreciate the church, trees do impact views directly from the south.