Whitland (, , or , , from the medieval ) is a town and

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

Geography

The Whitland

is bordered by the communities of: Henllanfallteg; Llanboidy; and

Eglwyscummin Eglwyscummin () is a community (Wales), community situated on the south-western boundary of Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales. It is made up of the three ward parishes of Ciffig, Eglwyscummin, and Marros, all surrounding the village of Red Rose ...

, all being in Carmarthenshire; and by Lampeter Velfrey and

Llanddewi Velfrey Llanddewi Velfrey (also spelled ''Llandewi Velfrey'' or ''Llan-ddewi-vel-vre''; ) is a village, parish and Community (Wales), community of Pembrokeshire in West Wales. Historically it was in the Narberth Hundred. The village is in Lampeter Vale, ...

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 ...

. According to the 2011 census the population was 1,792.

History

Whitland Town Hall and Library - geograph

Traditionally, Whitland is seen as the site of an assembly of lawyers and churchmen, sometimes described as the first Welsh

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, called in 930 by King

Hywel Dda Hywel ap Cadell, commonly known as Hywel Dda, which translates to Howel the Good in English, was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth and eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllw ...

to codify the native Welsh laws. Whitland takes its name from its medieval

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

. The monastery pre-dates Tintern but now is very much a ruin. The "white land" of the name (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Albalanda'') may refer to the famous Ty Gwyn ( English: ''White House'') where Hywel's parliament met, to the monks' unstained woollen cloaks, or to the abbey's limestone. Whitland was dissolved during

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's conversion to a reformed church. Much of its limestone was taken and used for other buildings. The limestone itself may have been from quarries in the Cotswolds as there is no quarry of this ' White' stone in the area. The country setting of the ruin and the Abbey's layout can still be viewed just north of the A40 roundabout and turning immediately left. Whitland has had a strong milk industry and, when the railway arrived in the 19th century, exported milk to London. Its dairy, run by

Dairy Crest Saputo Dairy UK, the trading name of Dairy Crest Limited, is a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the Milk Marke ...

, eventually closed in 1994 with the loss of 100 jobs. Whitland Town Hall was originally commissioned for retail use and was completed in 1904. Despite losing its dairy and remaining high street bank, Whitland has an estimated 125 small businesses as well as Whitland Engineering, which services the dairy industry and in 2019 employed 90 people.

Hywel Dda Centre

The Hywel Dda Interpretive Centre is a publicly funded culture centre. It has a garden using reclaimed stone. Hywel Dda is considered one of the most accomplished of Welsh rulers, minting his own coins, codifying the traditional Welsh Laws, and using his diplomacy to secure Wales at a particularly turbulent period.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of the same name exists including the Henllanfallteg community with a total population of 2,272. The ward elects one county councillor to

Carmarthenshire County Council Carmarthenshire County Council ( or ''Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin'') is the local authority for the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It provides a range of services including education, planning, transport, social services and public safety. The co ...

.Carmarthenshire County Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre (

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

). Retrieved 29 July 2020. Whitland also has a town council, consisting of elected or co-opted town councillors. The town council elects a mayor annually, who acts as chair of the council.

Railway

Whitland railway station is at the junction of the South Wales Main Line with two branch lines:

Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock () is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following the constr ...

, and Cardigan. The latter was closed as a result of the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

in the early 1960s.

Education

There are two schools: the primary school is Ysgol Llys Hywel; the secondary is Dyffryn Taf. Whitland has many local sporting teams including

Rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, short and long mat

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

and

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

Notable people

* William Mathias (1934–1992), composer, was born in Whitland. * Lorys Davies (1936–2021), Archdeacon of Bolton from 1992 until 2001.

References

External links

Hywel Dda Centrewww.geograph.co.uk : photos of Whitland and surrounding area
{{authority control Towns in Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire electoral wards Communities in Carmarthenshire