Pencader () is a small village in the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

county of

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 ...

, and is part of the Community and Parish of

Llanfihangel-ar-Arth Llanfihangel-ar-Arth is a village and a community in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales. The area includes six villages: Alltwalis, Dolgran, Gwyddgrug, Llanfihangel-Ar-Arth, New Inn and Pencader. The population of the community taken at the ...

. It is located around 3 miles (5 km) south-east of

Llandysul Llandysul is a small town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the village of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in sout ...

and 6.5 miles (10 km) south-west of Llanybydder, in the valley of the Gwen brook, shortly before the confluence with the River Talog, to form the River Tyweli (a tributary of the

Teifi , name_etymology = , image = File:Llyn Teifi - geograph.org.uk - 41773.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Llyn Teifi, the source of the Teifi , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

). It is a village of little more than 500 houses, two shops, two pubs and an Anglican church (St Mary’s). For many years, it was one of the main stops on the

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

- Aberystwyth rail route, and was the junction for the service to

Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenar ...

; the Pencader Tunnel enabled services to reach Carmarthen via

Llanpumsaint Llanpumsaint (; Welsh "Llan" church + "pum" five + "saint" saint(s)) is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In the 2001 UK Census, Llanpumsaint community had a population of 595. It is not to be confused with Pumsaint, a small vil ...

. The decline of the railways saw the

branch line closed in 1952 and the main line closed to passengers in 1965.

History

A battle was fought here between

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ( 5 August 1063) was King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He had previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, and the great-gre ...

and Hywel ab Edwin in 1041; Gruffydd was the victor, and went on to become the first and last

King of Wales King of Wales was a rarely used title, because Wales, much like Ireland, rarely achieved a degree of political unity like that of England or Scotland during the Middle Ages. While many different leaders in Wales claimed the title of "King of Wale ...

. Pencader is the site of an old castle, which was probably erected by

Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke Gilbert fitz Gilbert de Clare (6 January 1148), was created Earl of Pembroke in 1138.He was called 'Strongbow' but his son Richard is much more readily associated with that nickname. Life Born at Tonbridge, Gilbert de Clare was a son of Gilber ...

in 1145.

Railway

The broad gauge Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway connected Pencader to both the West Wales Line of the Great Western Railway, and north to . From 1845, a scheme was proposed to connect the industrialised

Northwest England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to the deep water port at Milford Haven, to provide an alternative to the congested

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of t ...

. Given Parliamentary approval in 1865 as a standard gauge railway, the

Manchester and Milford Railway The Manchester and Milford Railway was a Welsh railway company, intended to connect Manchester and the industrial areas of Northwest England with a deep-water port on Milford Haven, giving an alternative to the Port of Liverpool. Despite the ti ...

junctioned with the C&CR at Pencader, and then drove north to

Strata Florida Strata Florida Abbey ( cy, Abaty Ystrad Fflur) () is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. is a Latinisation of the Welsh ; 'Valley of ...

, and to the coast at . Having constructed and made operational the easy section from Pencader to Aberystwyth, the M&MR ran out of money trying to build the connection from to Strata Florida, leaving the stub of the

Llangurig branch The Llangurig branch was a part of a proposed scheme by the Manchester and Milford Railway (M&MR) to connect industrialised Northwest England with the West Wales deep water port of Milford Haven. After various financial and construction diffic ...

from the

Mid-Wales Railway The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route through Wales connecting industrial areas in north west England with sea ports in south west Wales. The company was prevented from reaching its goal by competing proposals in Parliament, and i ...

. The M&MR was absorbed into the GWR in 1911. Under the Beeching Axe of British Railways, in 1965 passenger services to Pencader ceased, with freight and goods ceasing in 1973. The station was demolished, and the site is now a lorry haulage depot.

Notable people

Aled Hall Aled Hall (Jones) is a Welsh operatic tenor from Pencader, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He is currently a member of the Three Welsh Tenors with Rhys Meirion and Aled Wyn Davies. Early life and education Aled Hall was born in 1968 and raised in W ...

(1968-) - Opera singer

Image gallery

File:The War Memorial, Pencader - geograph.org.uk - 596575.jpg, War memorial in Pencader File:View_towards_Pencader_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1105327.jpg, View towards Pencader File:Horse grazing near Pencader wind turbine.jpg, Horse grazing near the Pencader wind turbine

Nearby areas

References

External links

Village website
* {{authority control Villages in Carmarthenshire