Penrydd (variously spelled Penrhydd, Penrhudd, Penrith, Penreth or Penrieth) is a former

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the

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 ...

of Kilgerran, north

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 ...

, Wales. The parish's history is closely linked with that of

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

, and included parts of the present villages of

Blaenffos Blaenffos is a small village of around 200 inhabitants in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the Community (Wales), community of Boncath. It sits on the boundary between the former parishes of Llanfihangel Penbedw and Castellan, Pembrokeshire ...

and

Crymych Crymych () is a village of around 800 inhabitants and a Community (Wales), community (population 1,739) in the northeast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated approximately above sea level at the eastern end of the Preseli Hills, Preseli Mount ...

History

Church

The parish, in the 1530s, was unique in Wales in furnishing the title of a

suffragan see A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, ...

, namely Bishop of Penrydd, and an Inventory of Ancient Monuments explains how this may have come about. The parish is marked (as ''Penrith'') on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire. Penrydd Parish Church - geograph

The parish church of St Cristiolus (

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

) existed at least as early as 1799, the earliest date from which parish register information has been garnered. From 1799 to 1858 the parish register is "Penrhydd with Castellan", Castellan being a chapelry at that time. The place name and church are recorded by the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

as historic place names. The living in 1870 was described as ''"...a rectory in the diocese of St David's. Value £100. Patron, the Lord Chancellor"''. The church had been rebuilt in 1841 and restored in 1911; in 1914 it was described as "plain" and "whitewashed". A survey by Dyfed Archaeological Trust for

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

in 2011 describes the present churchyard as ''"...suboval/subrectangular, now poorly defined..."'' and the church as "''...small, comprising chancel, nave and west porch. It is now in private hands..."''. The church was described in about 2012 as abandoned.

Population and property

The annual value of the

Real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure (also called an Land i ...

of the parish, including Castellan, was £756 in 1815 when the joint population was 273. By 1821 and 1831 the population of Penrydd parish alone was 190 and 219 respectively. In 1831-33 the parish (including the chapelry of Castellan) was home to 346 inhabitants and included both enclosed arable land or pasture and unenclosed moorland. About 70% of males over 20 were involved in agriculture with the rest in retail or manufacturing trades. Of those in agriculture, the majority farmed in their own right, as opposed to labouring for others.

Tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

apportionments of 1837 and tithe maps of 1844 are held at the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

. By 1881 the majority of males (about 60%) were still in agriculture, but there were more involved in other occupations such as quarrying. There is an Ordnance Survey-marked disused quarry close to Castellan Farm. Penrydd was included in the National Farm Survey of 1941-3 during World War 2, the records of which are held at the National Archives.

Notable people

* William Richards (1749–1818), a Welsh Baptist minister; he spent much of his life in

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

Today

Penrydd was absorbed in 1974 into 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 ...

Boncath Boncath is a village, Community (Wales), community and postal district in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about west of Newcastle Emlyn. The village stands at a cross-roads linking the nearby settlements of Newchapel, Pembrokeshire, Newchapel (''C ...

References

{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire