England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanelli St Elli

The Parish

The parish of Llanelli lies in the extreme south of Carmarthenshire forming not only an extensive stretch of the county's outer Bristol Channel coastline but also as a short frontage on the Loughor Estuary forming part of the border with neighbouring Glamorgan. Llanelli is located about 11 miles west of the Glamorgan industrial port of Swansea and 13 southeast of the county town of Carmarthen. Llanelli sits on the coastal A484 route which connects Swansea indirectly with Carmarthen. Llanelli has a long and varied history, ancient pre-Roman British sites have been uncovered within the parish, early Christian monastic sites too. But it is as a small port and market town that Llanelli spent much of pre-industrial life, there were some coal mines within the district but it was not until the late 18th century that Llanelli began its rise to eventually become the major industrial centre of the county and a significant port. Coat mining underlies much of the town centre, subsidence an unfortunate consequence today but it was through metal working and, in particular, tin that earned the town the nickname "Tinopolis". Between the 1760s and 1820s the population grew by almost 3 times from what was a large market town towards today's sprawling town. The port was extensively enlarged, despite difficulties with shifting sands and quicksands on the shallow estuary and other modern developments include the arrival of Brunel's Great Western rail line from London. Today much of the industry has faded although the Trostre works remains an eyesore despite the presence of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre in close proximity. A small stream, Afon Lliedi runs through the town draining to the nearby sea. Llanelli is sited at just 10 metres above the sea but land rises in gentle folds to reach around 160 metres on nearby hills. Llanelli parish was one of the larger in the county, it covered around 20,000 acres and was divided into 5 hamlets, Llanelli Borough, Berwick, Glyn, Hêngoed, and Westva, the population began this transcript period at close to 4,000 but by the latter stages had risen to almost 12,000 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanelli is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Elli's church sits within what was once the old area of Llanelli, an area redeveloped in modern times with the loss of most of the original properties. St Elli sits on the northern side of the pedestrianised Bridge Street whilst busy traffic roars by to its east along the A484. The church was substantially rebuilt in two major exercises, the first of the 1840s was subsequently overridden by an even more significant rebuild between 1904 & 1906. Only the western tower remains from the preceding buildings and that is late 15th or early 16th century Perpendicular in style. The rebuilding was done to both the aisleless nave & chancel and to the transepts in a style reminiscent of the late Decorated or early Perpendicular periods and is probably reflective of the style of the original church. Given the church's urban setting it is best to find local car parking and approach on foot, the best approach is by the pedestrianised street of Bridge Street where an attractive lychgate sits opposite the library. The church sits in a roughly triangular churchyard and is open and readily photographed from the best southern aspects.