England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanfihangel Nant Melan St Michael

The Parish

The parish of Llanfihangel Nant Melan lies in southeastern Radnorshire roughly 7 miles west of the market town of Kington. Llanfihangel Nant Melan stands on the A44 road which links Kington through to Aberystwyth. Llanfihangel Nant Melan is a small run of properties lining the main road, in an upland setting and with an extensive parish dotted with farmsteads. A slightly larger collection of properties sits around the roadside inn at Forest Inn just over a half mile west. The parish is dominated by some of the highest mountains in mid-Wales with much of the parish sitting above the 300 metre contour at which the village sits, most of the land is therefore dominated by rough grazing the haunt of hardy sheep, the widening river valley of the Summergill Brook, towards New Radnor, allows a little richer pastures for cattle. The Forest Inn grew up to support the drove road which followed the route of today's A44, it is situated at the eastern end of the Radnor Forest Pass, a difficult passage for drovers taking livestock to the market at Kington. Today it the scenery of the area which brings most visitors, to the north of Llanfihangel Nant Melan sits the picturesque waterfall of "Water-breaks-its-neck", best seen after heavy rain, the mountains are laced with hiker's paths making Llanfihangel Nant Melan a centre for both hikers and mountain-bikers. Llanfihangel Nant Melan is drained eastwards by Summergill Brook which eventually reaches the Hindwell Brook and then the Lugg to the east of Presteigne, the Lugg meets the Wye near Hereford and the latter makes its meandering way to the sea, the outer Bristol Channel, at Chepstow. As already mentioned the church at Llanfihangel Nant Melan already sits at around 300 metres above the sea but to both north and south land quickly rises to Nyth Grug (538 metres) and Fron Hill (533 metres) to the north and Gwaunceste Hill (542 metres) and Colva Hill (532 metres) to the south. Like most upland parishes Llanfihangel Nant Melan had to be extensive to support its population of around 450 parishioners. Like most of Wales
Llanfihangel Nant Melan is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Michael's church stands on the northern side of the A44 a few metres west of the former Red Lion Inn, an ancient drover's inn now a high-end Bed & Breakfast, directly opposite sits a car sales area. Sadly this church is not that in which these marriages would have been celebrated as it is a Victorian replacement completed in 1846. Today's church has just a small nave topped by a bellcote and with an eastern apse and a southern porch and was built in Neo-Norman style said to have been modelled on the iconic Herefordshire church at Kilpeck. There is ample parking in the signed car park to the east of the churchyard. The church sits within a circular churchyard, an ancient "llan" early Christian site, which has been extended at some time in the past, it is largely sheltered from the busy road by tree-cover. Unfortunately that tree cover markedly restricts the favoured southern aspects in what is a shady churchyard.