Llangeitho is a village and

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, villag ...

on the upper

River Aeron The River Aeron ( cy, Afon Aeron) is a small river in Ceredigion, Wales, that flows into Cardigan Bay at Aberaeron. It is also referred to on some older maps as the River Ayron. Etymology The name of the river means "battle" or "slaughter" and ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. C ...

, Wales, about four miles (6 km) west of

Tregaron Tregaron ( "town of St Caron") is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales, astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi. Tregaron is northeast of Lampeter. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the ward of Tregaron w ...

and north of

Lampeter Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigio ...

. Its population of 874 in 2001 fell to 819 at the 2011 census.

Nonconformism

The village is linked with Daniel Rowland, born here in 1713, and the

Welsh Methodist revival The Welsh Methodist revival was an evangelical revival that revitalised Christianity in Wales during the 18th century. Methodist preachers such as Daniel Rowland, William Williams and Howell Harris were heavily influential in the movement. The ...

in the 18th century. Rowland served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at Llangeitho and Nantcwnlle. The village chapel, built in 1760, became famous throughout Wales as a

Calvinistic Methodist Calvinistic Methodists were born out of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival and survive as a body of Christians now forming the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Calvinistic Methodism became a major denomination in Wales, growing rapidly in the ...

centre. Thousands visited it to hear the preaching. Rowland was buried in the village and there remains a memorial column to him. Larger replacement chapels were built in 1764 and 1814. Llangeitho saw several further periods of religious revival in that century, the strongest in 1762, when rejoicing, dancing and jumping for joy earned the Welsh Methodists the nickname "Jumpers".

William Williams Pantycelyn William Williams, Pantycelyn (c. 11 February 1717 – 11 January 1791), also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn, and Pantycelyn, is generally seen as Wales's premier hymnist. He is also rated among the great literary figures of Wale ...

wrote in defence of the celebrations. Bet Fach, Llangeitho who is 92 years old NLW3362623

Language

Like much of Ceredigion, Llangeitho was a stronghold of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

, but in the 1970s newcomers contributed to a decline in the proportion of habitual Welsh speakers from 83 per cent in 1971 to 55 per cent ten years later, and again in 2011. The Welsh-language poet and minstrel Dafydd Llwyd Mathau (c. 1601–1629) is thought to have come from the Llangeitho area. About a mile and half (2.4 km) north of the village is the mansion of Cwrt Mawr, where the antiquary J. H. Davies (1871–1926) built up a valuable collection of Welsh-language manuscripts known as the Cwrtmawr manuscripts. He donated them to the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

, where they remain.

Church

The village church, across the river to the north of the village, is on an ancient site, but the current church was wholly rebuilt in 1821, retaining nothing of the medieval fabric, which included a double

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, ...

and three arches. The church and parish are named after St Ceitho. The water of St Ceitho's Spring is said to have the peculiarity of being cool in summer and tepid in winter.

School

The village primary school, Ysgol Gymunedol Llangeitho, changed names in 2012 due to an amalgamation becoming Ysgol Rhos y Helyg. The nearest secondary school is Ysgol Henry Richard in Tregaron, which teaches in Welsh and English. The earliest record of a school in the village marks the foundation of a mixed, Calvinistic Methodist school there in 1821.

Governance

Llangeitho gained a seat on Cardiganshire County Council in 1889. In November 2019, the Llangeitho member of what is now

Ceredigion County Council Ceredigion County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Ceredigion) is the governing body for the county of Ceredigion, since 1996 one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The council's main offices are in Aberaeron. History The current council was creat ...

was David Rhodri Wyn Evans. The ward extends to some neighbouring communities, giving a population of 1,459.

References

External links

*
Llangeitho and Welsh revivals
by D. Geraint Jones. At th
Heath Christian Bookshop
website
Statistics about Llangeithowww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llangeitho and surrounding area
* {{authority control Communities in Ceredigion Villages in Ceredigion