England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llangan St Canna

The Parish

The parish of Llangan lies in the extreme west of Carmarthenshire, indeed it forms part of the border with neighbouring Pembrokeshire; part of Llangan parish is sited in Pembrokeshire and a substantial proportion of its population would have resided in that county. Llangan, nowadays, has disappeared from the maps - it is not marked as a separate village or hamlet on modern Ordnance Survey maps. Llangan is located about 5 miles northeast of the Pembrokeshire market town of Narberth. It is located to the north of the A40 road which links Carmarthen with Haverfordwest, it lies north of the River Taf in lanes midway between Llanfallteg and Whitland. Llangan had a more substantial past, in the 9th century it was the site of one of the residences of Hywel Dda (Sovereign of all Wales) and was an important site. The parish is a mixture of arable and pastoral land, following today's trends it is turning increasingly arable. Llangan is sited at about 60 metres above sea level on the eastern banks of the River Taf which flows southeast to meet Carmarthen Bay at Laugharne. Parish sizes are large in Carmarthenshire but Llangan is more moderate, it didm however, support over 600 parishioners. In common with most of Wales there is no mention of Llangan in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Canna's church is now disused and no longer used for worship, it sits on the south side of the lane which runs southwestwards from the Whitland to Henllan Amgoed lane, nestling amongst a grove of trees and almost invisible from that lane as a result. The church consists of a simple nave & chancel with a western bellcote and a northern porch. The church largely dates from its Victorian restoration of 1882 and is clearly of limited architectural interest as Pevsner dismisses it in a mere 3 lines. Access is obtained through a pair of metal gates which gives access to a short metalled and hedged lane. The graveyard is clearly ancient as it has the circular form typical of such sites adapted from pagan use and photographic angles are not in any way impacted by trees and shrubs.