Gwynfe () or Capel Gwynfe is a small village inside the portion of

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...

that is in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, a county of southwestern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. This village is situated between

Trichrug Trichrug (also referred to as Pen-y-bicws) is a hill four miles east of Llandeilo and 3 miles south of Llangadog in the county of Carmarthenshire, southwest Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark. Its s ...

and the western slopes of the Black Mountain, to the west of the A4069 road about halfway between

Llangadog Llangadog () is a village and community located in Carmarthenshire, Wales, which also includes the villages of Bethlehem and Capel Gwynfe. A notable local landscape feature is Y Garn Goch with two Iron Age hill forts.The Welsh Academy Encycloped ...

and

Brynamman Brynamman ( cy, Brynaman) is a village on the south side of the Black Mountain (''Y Mynydd Du''), part of the Brecon Beacons National Park (''Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog''). The village is split into Upper Brynamman and Lower Brynamman ...

. The village comprises a scattered collection of mostly nineteenth and twentieth-century housing that developed around several chapels.233 LLANDDEUSANT - CAPEL-GWYNFE
/ref> The area around the village is mainly farmland and the village was 2004 'Village of the Year for Carmarthenshire'. The village has a grade-two listed

phone box A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

now used as an information centre and a modern community hall built in 2001. The community association have erected 2 large woodcarvings of three red kites.

History

The village developed with the founding of the

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powe ...

road past the village church, which is on a site continuously occupied by a church since around 1710. The current church was built in 1899. An older

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

, built in around 1812, is now used as the church hall. The village also has two chapels, Capel Maen dating from 1852, and Jerusalem chapel built in 1827.Some Captured History of Glanamman and Garnant
/ref> The 1870-72

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes ...

described Gwynfe

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the commu ...

as: The village previously had a number of services that are no longer present including 2 pubs, a school, 2 smithies, a corn mill and a woollen factory.

Notable residents

*The missionaries David Griffiths, William Griffiths and David Williams were born in the village. *The physician and manuscript collector Sir John Williams was born in the village at Bailey in 1840 as third son to David and Eleanor Williams of Blaenllynant where he was raised. He was physician accoucheur to Queen Mary from when she was the Duchess of York at the births of the later Kings Edward VIII and George VI; and he was Founder President from 1907 of the National Library of Wales and President from 1913 of the University College of Wales Aberystwyth, in both cases until his death at Aberystwyth in 1926. * Beriah Gwynfe Evans spent much of his life in the village and took it as part of his name. He was Gwynfe British School Schoolmaster during 1867 to 1882, followed by Cwmllwyd born John Williams during 1882 to 1909 - husband to Cwmsite born Elizabeth née Williams a granddaughter of Morgan Williams of Blaenllynant and Plasnewydd, who was elder brother of Sir John Williams's father David.

References

{{authority control Villages in Carmarthenshire