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

The Parish

The parish of Llanddewi lies in far western Glamorgan on the Gower Peninsula. Llanddewi is roughly 14 miles west of Swansea and sits just west of the A4118 which connects Swansea with Port Eynon and where that road performs a sharp right-angled bend changing direction from westwards to heading south to the coast. There is not much to Llanddewi, no village as such, just a collection of farms loosely grouped around the church. Llanddewi also served the sister parish of Knelston when that parish's church fell into disuse. Llanddewi sits almost centrally within the Gower Peninsula with the parish covering the most fertile land within that peninsula, a mixture of farming regimes with pastoral farming dominant. Llanddewi is drained northwards by the narrow Burry Pill, which meets the outer estuary of the Afon Llwchwr through the small village of Llanmadoc. In contrast to Gower's coastal riches and dominant ridge-line, Llanddewi sits on a fertile plain at around 50 metres above the sea, land rises, at first gently and then much steeper, onto the ridge of Cefn Bryn which tops out at almost 190 metres close to Penmaen. Parishes in Glamorgan vary markedly in size with upland ones far exceeding the lowland parishes in extent, as one of the latter Llanddewi is, however, fairly typical, covering close to 1,200 acres Llanddewi would have supported a population of around 150 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanddewi is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St David's church is tucked away behind surrounding farms and accessed by a roughly surfaced track which curved around to both the church and the presumed castle site. The church is certainly ancient, as are many on Gower, Pevsner notes a 12th century styled window on the northern side of the nave indicating a Norman Romanesque beginning to the building. The build clearly ran into the following century as Early English Gothic style flows into the chancel and the nave's southern doorway. The curious saddle-back topped western tower also shows lancet windows, typical of that style, and is presumed to be contemporary. Further minor improvements followed in the 14th century using Decorated style themes whilst modern restorayion in both 1876 & 1905 refreshed and replaced many of the building's larger windows. From the A4118's sharp turn a narrow lane leads northwest to a group of farms where a small sign points the track to the church, there is ample parking on the grassy space outside the churchyard which has no obstructions whatsoever for the photographer.