England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bettws St David

The Parish

The parish of Bettws, spelt Betws on modern Ordnance Survey mapping) lies in the extreme southeast of Carmarthenshire forming a lengthy stretch of the border with neighbouring Glamorgan. Bettws is located roughly 8 miles south of the market town of Llandeilo and sits a half mile east of the A483 which links Llandeilo with Pontardulais. Whilst Bettws grants its name to the parish it is bar far the smallest settlement, but oldest, as the Victorian creation of Ammanford forms the major settlement within the parish. Bettws sits east of Afon Aman and is a triangular settlement, a main street leading up the hill and another paralleling the river. Ammanford did not exist as a coherent settlement at the time of this transcript, it was mining of, in particular anthracite, that saw it grow into a sizeable town, previously it was know merely as Cross Inn, a reference to its position as a crossroad with prominent inn. Prior to the growth of industry the main economic driver of the parish was pastoral farming, cattle in the valley bottoms and sheep on the extensive hilly interior of Mynydd y Bettws to the southeast. Late Victorian industrial growth came not only from anthracite extraction but also a tin-plate & chemical works. Today Bettws is the satellite settlement and Ammanford has almost grown to be a market town. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line between Llandeilo and Swansea passing through with Ammanford granted a station. The parish is drained by Afon Aman & Afon Llwchyr, the two merging just to the south of Ammanford, the Llwchyr continues the short distance to the outer Bristol Channel arriving past the village of Loughor. Bettws is sited on steeply rising ground from 40 to 130 metres above the sea whilst Ammanford largely sits on level ground at the river's confluence at close to 40 metres, land rises steeply onto extensive mountainous land of Mynydd y Bettws which summits at 341 metres in an extensive upland block forming the border with Glamorgan. Like most upland parishes that of Bettws was rather extensive, covering just under 6,500 acres it would have supported a population of close to 1,100 parishioners. Like most of Wales Bettws is not recorded in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St David's church sits on the northern side of Bettws Road, that which parallels the river, just over 100 yards southwest of its junction with the main street. Whilst the church is undoubtedly medieval in origin there are few spots to definitively age it due to Victorian restorations which amount to almost a rebuild. The earliest dateable fabric is that of southern door which is variously described as 13th or 14th century. The main body loosely attributed to the 13th century carries a bellcote which seems to be later with one of the bells carrying a date of 1696 Late medieval changes were likely as evidence Heneb cites the western wall as having 15th century styling. The restoration of 1872, however, was drastic with much of what we see today attributable to its work including the lancets in homage to the 13th century. Bettws Road is ample wide enough for on-street parking opposite the churchyard which is enclosed with a chest-height local stone wall pierced by metal arched gates.The site of the church is compact, the cemetery being across the road, and there is a prominent tree removing the southern views, the better views appear to be from the road.