England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanrwst St Gwrst

The Parish

The parish of Llanrwst lies in the extreme west of Denbighshire, indeed it forms a substantial part of the border with neighbouring Caernarvonshire. The parish is also an anomaly in that a substantial proportion, roughly a third by area, was within Caernarvonshire rather than Denbighshire. Llanrwst is a small market town on the eastern banks of the Afon Conwy situated about 11 miles south of the port of Conway. Llanrwst sits on the junction of the A470 road (which connects Conway with the A5 at Betws y Coed) and the A548 (which heads northeastwards to reach the coast at Abergele). Llanrwst is of great antiquity, cited as being a town already by 952 when a battle for supremacy within Welsh Royalty took place nearby. A well as providing the local market for some distance around there is manufacture of hosiery as well as being the reputed centre for manufacture of harps. The Afon Conwy was navigable to within 2 miles of the town enabling coastal vessels to bring in coal and other heavy goods as well as transporting locally produced produce from the essentially pastoral farming hinterland. Today Llanrwst makes much money from tourism being an accommodation centre for the Snowdonian hiking, mountain biking & general outdoors trade. The Afon Conwy drains the parish northwards reaching the Irish Sea through the port of Conway. Llanrwst is sited at around 10 metres above the sea albeit the more recent modern developments are some 30 or more metres higher, the landscape is deeply incised with local heights rising to over 500 metres within a few miles of the town. Llanrwst parish was extremely large, it incorporated large areas of hill country and covered almost 23,000 acres, it would have supported a population of just over 3,500 parishioners. Like most of Wales there is no mention of Llanrwst in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Gwrst's church sits in the centre of the town with its feet almost in the Afon Conwy, tucked away behind commercial and residential properties a couple of narrow lane lead from the High Street to the churchyard. Whilst the church retains many features characteristic of the perpendicular style of the 15th century the church received a major remodeling in Victorian times. Both southern porch and western tower were rebuilt in the 19th century and the whole building restored and a northern aisle added during major work in the 1880s. The church is best approached on foot from the Market Square along narrow & cobbled Church Street where metal gates grant access to the churchyard. The churchyard is almost a half-llan being partly circular but straight alongside the river frontage, there are few obstructions for photography once within.