Llechryd () is a

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

village on the A484 road approximately from

Cardigan, Ceredigion Cardigan (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Principal areas of Wales, county of Ceredigion, Wales. Positioned on the tidal reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire, Cardigan was the county to ...

, Wales. Situated on the north

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

of the tidal

River Teifi The River Teifi ( ; , ), formerly anglicised as Tivy, forms the boundary for most of its length between the Welsh counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final of its total length of , the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembr ...

, Llechryd is the first point upstream of Cardigan where crossing is possible. Most of the village has developed along the A484, with some estates branching off into the valley. It is part of the

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Llangoedmor.

Etymology

The name Llechryd translates from the Welsh for "Slate Ford" (''Llech Rhyd'').

History

A battle was fought in or near the village in 1087 between

Rhys ap Tewdwr Rhys ap Tewdwr (c. 1040 – 1093) was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. Following the Norman Conquest, he had to pay William the Conqueror to keep his kingdom, which lasted ...

and the sons of Bleddin ab Cynfyn. In 1844, during the

Rebecca Riots The Rebecca Riots () took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took ...

, the weir across the

Teifi The River Teifi ( ; , ), formerly anglicised as Tivy, forms the boundary for most of its length between the Welsh counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final of its total length of , the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembr ...

built to prevent salmon from going upstream was demolished by rioters. ''St Tydfil's'' church was built in 1877–8 to replace the older Church of the Holy Cross near the bridge which had to be abandoned due to persistent flooding. Another notable church nearby is Manordeifi Old Church, near the far end of the "canal" road. It is preserved as it was in the early 19th century. The canal was not a transport canal, rather a leat supplying water to the tinworks which stood behind the Castell Malgwyn stable block on the southern bank of the river. This leat collected water from the Teifi just to the north of Manordeifi Church, as seen on the 1842 Manordeifi Tithe map. A weir is still evident at this spot. In March 2006, staff from the Survey Branch of

RCAHMW The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; ; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectural and historic environment of Wales. ...

carried out survey and analysis of the Castell Malgwyn Tinplate works. The Teifi is tidal and used to be navigable by lighters as far as Llechryd. During the 1840s, careless working of the slate quarries resulted in a severe choking of the Cilgerran Gorge, causing the flooding for which the area is now known, and the moving of the navigable tidal limit (in all but the smallest boats/canoes) downstream of Cilgerran Castle. In his book from 1867, ''The History of Cilgerran'', John Roland Phillips wrote:

Under the castle, and at the influx of the Brook Plysgog into the Teivi, a great quantity of rubbish and débris seems to have been swept away by floods from quarries on the river's banks, and having settled in the current near to what was formerly a green island, has raised the bed of the river and rendered the navigation thereof during dry seasons, and at low water, rather difficult.

There is a disused mill and associated buildings on the Nant Arberth; these buildings are now residential properties. Much closer to the Teifi, but still on the Nant Arberth below Glanarberth, are the remains of a much older mill's infrastructure. The remains of the dam are still in situ, with at least three 2-foot-thick walls sandwiching 2-foot-thick clay infill. The leat that this feeds is some 200m long and is situated to the west of the Nant Arberth. About half of the leat is still visible. The mill itself was situated closer to the A484, approximately where the house Glannau is now; the mill building can be seen in a photograph taken from the west side of the bridge, dated circa 1868. The outfall from the mill crossed beneath the A484 parallel to the Nant Arberth, then fed into it, prior to entering the Teifi. The position of the dam, the leat, and the mill can be seen on the 1841 Llechryd Tithe map. Due to the village's closeness to the port of Cardigan, many large houses were built nearby by wealthy merchants and sea captains. These include Cilbronnau, Noyadd Wilym, Coedmore, Glanolmarch, Pengraig, Castell Malgwyn, Glanarberth, Manor Eifed, Penylan, Llwynduris, Blaen-Pant, and Stradmore.

Llechryd Bridge

A bridge at Llechryd is marked on

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

's map of ''Radnor, Brecknok, Cardigan et Caermarden'' of 1579, on which the village is marked as ''Capel Langbrid''. The River Teifi is crossed at Llechryd by a grade II* listed bridge built in the 17th century. The bridge, part of an ancient

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to marketplace, market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were anci ...

, may be wholly submerged at times of high water or heavy rain, necessitating travelling to Cardigan or

Cenarth Cenarth () is a village, parish and community in Carmarthenshire, on the border between Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and close to the border with Pembrokeshire, Wales. It stands on the banks of the River Teifi, east of Cardigan and west o ...

to cross the river A flood in December 2015 when flood-waters covered the bridge entirely, damaged the bridge.

Notable people

* John Stevens (1840–1920), was a miller and inventor of the roller-flour mill. He emigrated to the United States in 1854 and lived in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, O ...

. His inventions there in flour milling revolutionized the process. * In 1974, a Welsh

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the west of Ireland and also particularly on the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used for ...

piloted by Bernard Thomas (ca.1923–2014) of Llechryd crossed the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

to France in hours. The journey was undertaken to demonstrate how the Bull Boats of the

Mandan The Mandan () are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still ...

Indians of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

could have been copied from coracles introduced by Prince Madog in the 12th century. * Lewis Vaughan Jones (1981–), journalist and news television presenter

Teifi Trout Association

The Teifi Trout Association (TTA) owns the

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fishing rights from the eastern side of the bridge upstream, although some plots of land by the river are privately owned.

References

External links

Llechryd Cricket and Tennis ClubPhotos of Llechryd and surrounding area on GeographFurther historical information on GENUKI
{{authority control Villages in Ceredigion