Eglwyswen (; sometimes called Whitechurch or Whitchurch-by-Cardigan) is a scattered rural settlement and

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 ...

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. It is on the north slopes of the

Preseli Hills The Preseli Mountains (, ; or ), also known as the Preseli Hills, or just the Preselis, are a range of hills in western Wales, mostly within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and entirely within the county of Pembrokeshire. The range ...

, northwest of

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 ...

. The south-western part of the parish is in the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...

and includes the settlements of Pontyglasier and Penygroes. The parish 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 Crymych.

Name

The

Welsh placename The place-names of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significant features of ...

means "white church". It was formerly called Whitchurch-by-Cardigan to distinguish it from Whitchurch near

St David's St Davids or St David's (, , "Saint David, David's Welsh toponymy, house”) is a St David's Cathedral, cathedral City status in the United Kingdom, city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun, Pembrokeshire, River Alun and is ...

. The parish is predominantly Welsh-speaking.

History

Eglwyswen appears on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire as ''Whitchurch''. In the early 19th century much of the parish was arable or pasture, with some upland rough grazing in the south where the Preseli Mountains rise. Local stone was noted as having a good proportion of quartz, and there were good turbaries where turf could be cut for fuel, and a pre-1850 parish map shows a woollen factory in the west of the parish. The population of the parish in 1881 was 302, and in 1891 it was 275. 1891 saw the parish involved in months of widespread agitation against the new Tithe Act; there was some violence towards the bailiffs, who were supported by a police presence. The majority of the farmers in the parish were freeholders, and the long drawn out troubles were referred to in ''The Cardiff Times'' as "The Welsh Tithe War". A

Board School School boards were ''ad hoc'' public bodies in England and Wales that existed between 1870 and 1902, and established and administered Elementary school (England and Wales), elementary schools. Creation The Elementary Education Act 1870 (33 & ...

existed in the parish (shared with the neighbouring parish of Meline) into the 20th century. In 1904 H. M. Inspector noted: ''"This school well maintains its usual efficiency"'', which meant the highest grant was earned. In the centre of the hamlet is the former ''Swan Inn'' and shop, which last served a beer in the 1920s, and closed its shop doors in the 1950s. It had been trading at least since 1876 when a new licence was granted to Thomas Thomas. This Welsh long house, called Brynmeredith, (presumably before it became a pub with rooms) is more commonly known locally as Swan Inn, and is now a purely residential property again after being a holiday cottage and home for its owners from 2011-2024.

Worship

The parish church is dedicated to St Michael. The present building was constructed in 1872 with the foundation stone being laid on 3 July in the presence of a large number of people, probably on the foundations of an earlier church: the south porch features a plaque dated 1591. The new church was consecrated and opened by the Bishop of St David's in July 1873. A stained glass window was added in 1956. The church closed in 1999. The dedication to St Michael was not recorded until 1796; an earlier dedication may have been to St Meugan. There are chapels at Penygroes and Pontyglasier.

Demographics

The parish had an area of . Its

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

populations were: 247 (1801): 349 (1851): 244 (1901): 217 (1951): 156 (1981). The percentage of Welsh speakers was 100 (1891): 92 (1931): 86 (1971).

References

External links

Historical information and sources on GENUKI
{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire