England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Abernant St Lucia

The Parish

The parish of Abernant lies in western Carmarthenshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Pembrokeshire. Abernant is located about 5 miles northwest of the county town of Carmarthen. Today Abernant is little more than a hamlet, a cluster of properties on an east/west running lane forms the notional centre around the church. Abernant sits in lanes about 3 miles north of the A40 road which connects Carmarthen with Haverfordwest. The parish is situated in deeply rolling semi-upland country, whilst Abernant sits in a valley there are steep slopes all around and plateau surfaces at around 200 metres above the sea. The main economic activity of the area at the time of this transcript would have been pastoral farming. The stream draining the parish runs southwards to shortly join the Afon Cywyn and eventually the Afon Taf and reaches the Bristol Channel through the twin estuaries of Taf & Tywi. Abernant is sited at around 90 metres above the sea but as stated land rises steeply all around to over twice that height. Carmarthenshire parishes are large and Abernant was no exception, it covered around 5,500 acres and supported a population of almost 900 parishioners (considerably more than today when it is relatively depopulated). There is no mention of Abernant in Domesday Book as, in common with most of Wales, that book did not cover the area.

The Church

St Lucia's church sits on the southern side of the main lane running through the notional centre of Abernant. The church was heavily restored in 1899 and this restoration largely masked many of the dateable features of the building. Pevsner is reluctant to give a specific date referring it as "basically mediaeval", Coflein is more forthcoming claiming that the chancel and almost certainly the nave were built in the 13th century. Earlier restoration of the 15th century restored the lancet windows of the chancel but the bellcote is probably 18th century. The church sits in a large churchyard which is elevated above the level of the lane. A flight of stone steps leads up from the western end, the churchyard is relatively free from obstructions to photography.