Llangyfelach is a village and
community
A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
located in the City and County of
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
, Wales, United Kingdom. Llangyfelach is situated about 4 miles north of the centre of Swansea, just west of
Morriston. It falls within the
Llangyfelach ward. To the west is open moorland. The population was 2,371 as of the 2021 UK census.
The name is seemingly derived from a combination of 'llan' and 'Cyfelach' (the name of a saint), with a mutation to combine them for Llangyfelach.
Description
Llangyfelach was once the name of a
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
that covered much of the former
Lordship of Gower. Today's community covers a smaller area including the site of the former
Felindre tinplate works, which hosted the
National Eisteddfod in 2006.
Bordering the village to the north is the
M4 motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...
, Junction 46. The village has its own primary school, crematorium, post office, the 'Plough and Harrow' pub, and a Scout hall.
At the centre of the village is the Parish Church of St David and Cyfelach. The site dates back to the 6th Century:
St. David the Patron Saint of Wales founded an early
Celtic monastery there. The present church has a 12th Century detached tower and a converted
tithe barn as the present church. Contained within the church is the Llangyfelach Cross, a 9th Century
Celtic stone.
Llangyfelach was the birthplace of the painter
Evan Walters, and is mentioned in a
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
about the practice of
'pressing' men into military service.
Cancelled developments
There were proposals to develop a new 18 hole championship golf course and leisure complex near the village called Royal Fern Park. It was supposed to have "rivalled Celtic manor". In August 2008, it was announced that the plan was approved by the
local council and would not be blocked by the
Welsh Assembly
The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...
. Part of the development would have included residential housing and a clubhouse with fitness and leisure facilities. However the decision went to a group of Am's and they cancelled it, saying the project fell foul of the structure plan.
Sport
*
Harry Payne is a Welsh rugby international who was born in Llangyfelach on 10 December 1907. He only ever had one cap, which was against New Zealand in 1935, where they won 13-12.
*
Joe Rodon was born in Llangyfelach and lived there throughout his childhood. He was born on 22 October 1997. He currently plays for Leeds United in the English Championship. He is also a Welsh international, and currently has 50 caps.
References
External links
Evening Post - Story on Royal Fern Leisure ComplexRoyal Fern Park (Swansea LDP)
Communities in Swansea
Villages in Swansea
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