250 px, Location of Cantref Gwarthaf and its commotes (dark green) in southwest Wales Cantref Gwarthaf was the largest of the seven ''

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divid ...

i'' of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales, covering the modern counties Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. It is mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed w ...

in southwest

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It subsequently became part of

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

in around 950. It consisted of the southeastern part of Dyfed containing most of the basin of the River Tâf, parts of modern-day

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

and

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

. The name means "upper-most zone". Its area was about . Unlike the other Dyfed ''cantrefi'' which were divided into two (or fewer) commotes, Cantref Gwarthaf was divided into eight

commotes A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...

: Amgoed, Derllys, Efelfre, , Penrhyn, Peuliniog, Talacharn, and Ystlwys. Its civil headquarters were at

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

. Its ecclesiastical centre (and perhaps, in the Age of the Saints, the seat of a bishopWilliams, A. H., ''An Introduction to the History of Wales'': Volume I: ''Prehistoric Times to 1063'', UoWP, 1941, pp 120-121) was probably also Carmarthen, although the churches at Llanddowror and Meidrim were also important. The cantref was made part of the Norman

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

in the 12th century. Marcher Boroughs were established at Carmarthen, Llansteffan,

Laugharne Laugharne () is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The Ancient borough#Charters, ancient borough of Laugharne Township () with its #Laugharne Corporation, Corporation and Charter is a ...

and

St Clears St Clears ( ; ) is a town on the River Taf and a community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,995. The community includes the small settlements of Bancyfelin and Pwlltrap. It is bordered by the Carmarthenshire t ...

, and many other castles were built. The commotes of Talacharn and Penrhyn became English-speaking at the time, but was subsequently re-cymricised (except for the coastal part of Talacharn). The rest of the cantref remained Welsh-speaking, as it continues today. At the time of the Acts of Union (1535 and 1542), the cantref was split between the newly formed counties, when Efelfre became part of Narberth

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

and the rest became part of

: Amgoed, Penrhyn, Peuliniog, Talacharn, Ystlwys and part of Derllys became Derllys hundred, while Elfed and the rest of Derllys were combined with Emlyn Uwch Cuch and Gwidigada commote of Cantref Mawr to form Elfed hundred.

Notes

{{coord, 51.779, -4.301, display=title, region:GB_scale:100000 Cantrefs History of Carmarthenshire History of Pembrokeshire