England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanychaiarn St Llwchaiarn

The Parish

The parish of Llanychaiarn lies in western Cardiganshire forming a stretch of the coastline with the Irish Sea. Llanychaiarn is located about 1 mile south of the coastal town of Aberystwyth and sits a half mile west of the A487 road which runs south from Aberystwyth to Aberaeron. Llanychaiarn is a tiny place, not even meriting a mention on modern day maps, the wider parish occupies an extensive area of land between the course of the Afon Ystwyth and the coast with Llanfarian the major settlement today. The area today is dominated by pastoral farming, cattle on the lusher pastures of the Ystwyth's water-meadows with sheep on the rougher ground nearer the coast. A minor tourist industry also flourishes with Morfa Bychan holding a small and remote camp ground by the sea and the new Welsh Coastal Trail passing through the parish. The Ystwyth drains the parish to the nearby Irish Sea arriving through southern Aberystwyth. Llanychaiarn, itself, is sited at around 10 metres above the sea by the church but the parish's rough ground rises to almost 200 metres to the south of Morfa Bychan in rugged hills. Llanychaiarn parish is fairly extensive but sits within a county with much larger parishes, it covers close to 4,200 acres and within that acreage would have been supported close to 650 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanychaiarn is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Llwchaiarn's church sits tight on the banks of the Ystwyth a half mile west of the A487 and squeezed between the lane and the river in a compact site. Sadly the persons married in this time period would not recognise the church of today. Whilst a church has been on this site for centuries today's example reflects almost a complete rebuild between 1878 and 1880. A small church, as befits today's smaller congregation the basic nave and chancel is augmented with a porch and topped by a neat bellcote. As the lane is fairly narrow it is somewhat of a relief to find a small parking area to the south of the church. A rough-hewn wall of local stone has piered metal gates leading into the churchyard, the church is , sadly, tucked away in the southeastern corner of that churchyard totally removing that faboured aspect from the photographer's arsenal and making for something of a challenge on a sunny day.