Leckwith ( cy, Lecwydd) is a small village in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

, just west of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. Historically, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Leckwith also included land on the east side of the

river Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail ...

that is now part of

itself. This area is also commonly known as Leckwith.

Etymology

The name ''Leckwith'' is an anglicisation of the Welsh ''Lecwydd'', with the common replacement of Welsh <-dd> by English <-th> (as in ''Gruffudd''>''Griffith''). ''Lecwydd'' probably derives from the

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is kno ...

''Helygwydd'' (possibly the name of a local holy man or Welsh

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

). The change from <-gw-> to <-cw-> may be compared to that in the personal name ''Tecwyn'' (<''Tegwyn''). Since at least the nineteenth century ''Lecwydd'' sometimes appears in Welsh as ''Llechwydd'' or ''Llechwedd''. These forms have been linked to the common Welsh noun ''llechwedd'' (hillside, slope), which has been taken to refer to Leckwith Woods, which rise up steeply from the river Ely. Linguistically, however, there is no relationship between ''Lecwydd'' and ''llechwedd'', and the connection is probably a result of

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

. This explanation of the name ''Lecwydd'' is still sometimes seen, however.

Landmarks

The old stone triple-arched Leckwith Bridge crosses the

River Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail ...

to the east. It is Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

and dates from before 1536. The historic church of St. James, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, like several others around Cardiff, was abandoned and fell into ruin in the second half of the twentieth century.

Politics

Leckwith is part of the

Michaelston-le-Pit and Leckwith Michaelston-le-Pit and Leckwith is a Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is located immediately southwest of the city of Cardiff (bounded by the A4232 road) and to the north of the Vale of Glamorgan villages of Llandou ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

together with the neighbouring village of

Michaelston-le-Pit Michaelston-le-Pit ( cy, Llanfihangel-y-pwll) is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, just to the west of the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is part of the Michaelston-le-Pit and Leckwith community. The community population taken at the 2011 censu ...

. The two villages elect a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. I ...

.Michaelston-le-Pit & Leckwith Community Council
Michaelston-le-Pit & Leckwith Community Council website]. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Leckwith and surrounding area
Villages in the Vale of Glamorgan {{ValeofGlamorgan-geo-stub