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

The Parish

The parish of Llanfairnantygof lies in northern Pembrokeshire roughly 4 miles south of the port of Fishguard. Llanfairnantygof is a tiny place not even meriting a place name on modern Ordnance Survey maps, its largest settlement being Trecwn, a modern settlement which grew to serve a naval depot and which sits a little over 2 miles east of the A40 road connecting Fishguard with Haverfordwest. Llanfairnantygof has a rural nature covering a broad area of pastures and rough mountain grassland which would have supported a largely pastoral based economy. Modern developments came with the establishment of the naval depot at Trecwn, sadly this resulted in the loss of the partially 16th century house of that estate, a branch of the Fishguard to Haverfordwest railway line being constructed along the Nant y Bugail valley to serve the depot. All is closed today and the line abandoned. The stream that forms the Nant y Bugail drains the parish eastwards and then north to meet the Afon Gwaun, turn west and meet the Irish Sea to the east of Fishguard. Llanfairnantygof's church is sited at around 120 metres above the sea whilst land is strongly undulating with the prominent local height of Ysgubor Mountain at 232 metres is the local high spot. At just under 2,600 acres Llanfairnantygof parish was fairly typically sized for its area and within that acreage there would have been a population of around 250 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanfairnantygof is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Mary's church sits about a half mile southwest of Trecwn on the southern side of a narrow lane which skirts the flanks of Ysgubor Mountain leading towards Letterston. Unfortunately this church is not the venue for these marriages as the preceding medieval church was demolished and this Victorian church now stands within the ancient "llan" of its site. Built in 1855 and consisting simply of nave & chancel topped with a western bellcote and carrying a northern porch, the church uses the lancet style windows characteristic of the Early English Gothic period as the style for its windows. The lane makes a sharp left turn when arriving from Trecwn, the churchyard sits down the unsurfaced track which heads straight on, there is space for a single car to park at this entrance without blocking the neighbouring farm. The circular churchyard has no obstacles, in this rather tree-less landscape, for the photographer.