England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanfair Caereinion St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Llanfair Caereinion lies in the northern portion of central Montgomeryshire roughly 8 miles west of the town of Welshpool. Llanfair Caereinion sits on but mostly south of the A458 road which links Welshpool with Dolgellau. Llanfair Caereinion is a small market town which sits astride the course of the Afon Banwy, the town centre lying on the southern bank which a smaller presence on the A458. Because the Afon Banwy is within a steep-sided valley much of the town follows the river or two side valleys arriving from the southwest and southeast respectively.Welsh legend has it that the "caer" in the town's name refers to a 4th century encampment founded by Einion Yrth. From the 1700s onwards, however, Llanfair Caereinion became the regional market centre for its hinterland, a centre for trade at its Saturday market and specialist skills, in addition the town was well-known for the weaving of flannel with 2 factories for that process by the 19th century. Llanfair Caereinion sits within an extensive upland parish, the farming would have been typical of such parishes, largely pastoral with cattle in the lusher pastures of the valleys and sheep on the poorer upland tracts, a little arable and managed woodland leavened the mix. Much of the ancient core of the town was lost to a major fire of 1758 leaving few ancient buildings and even impacting the parish church. Modern developments have come to the town in the form of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway which opened in 1903 sparking some growth in the town, that railway closed in 1956 but was rescued as a heritage line and extended back to Welshpool in 1981. Llanfair Caereinion is drained eastwards by Afon Banwy which soon turns north to meet Afon Vyrnwy which heads northeast before bending south to meet the Severn at the Shropshire border, the Severn has a ling journey ahead through Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester before reaching the Bristol Channel and the sea. Llanfair Caereinion is sited at around 120 metres above the sea at the Banwy bridge with the town's outer reaches rising steeply to 180 metres, the hills of the wider parish regularly exceed 300 metres with Y Byrwydd, to the southeast, topping out at 363 metres and to the west Mynydd Waun Fawr reaching over 400 metres. The parish of Llanfair Caereinion is very extensive, as are many in the uplands of Wales, covering almost 16,200 acres it would have supported a population of close to 2,700 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanfair Caereinion is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Mary's church sits to the west of the bridge across the Banwy, on the northern side of the High Street and between that road and the river, indeed the churchyard falls away ro the banks of the Banwy to the north of the church. The church is firat documented in 1239 when it was granted to the Bishop of St Asaph, little remains of the 13th century within today's fabric. The southern doorway is believed to be from this Early English Gothic era, it has capitals, however, which are from the short Transitional era between this style and the full Decorated. During the fire of 1758 the wooden spire which once topped the church was destroyed. However, since the church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1868 it would not have graced today's western tower. A few pieces of medieval masonry were reused in the rebuild indicating that the previous church was the usual mixture of the 14th century styles of the Decorated, reused red sandstone tracery, and the Perpendicular, 15th century arch-braced trusses in the roof. Following the rebuild the western tower was added in 1884 replacing an earlier version which came topped with a timber belfry. There is a town car park not far to the south and on-street parking west of the churchyard which is entered by a neat lychgate at the town's main bus stop. The churchyard is extensive and has a few minor obstacles, trees easily avoided by the photographer.