Llanrhidian

Here is a substantial reading list of books which relate to Glamorgan, either county or parish.

References to the town of Llanrhidian at

• The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth

The Glamorgan Family History Society have produced a set of microfiche containing Monumental Inscriptions for the following burial grounds :-

• Parish Church of St. Illtyd & St. Rhidian

Chapels Database - a list of all known non-conformist chapels or other non-Anglican religions in the parish

See Welsh Chapels and Churches for a photograph of the Church

LLAN-NEWYDD (Llanrhidian Higher Hamlet) . A Chapel of Ease, time immemorial.

"Consecrated Decbr. 1850, by the Bishop of St. David's.
Erected by the humble exertions of the Ch. Warden of Llanrhidian Higher.
Cost defrayed: private benefaction or subscription £300; total cost £700. And regrets to observe that he has been left missing £400, and that the Incorporated building Society for promoting and building Churches refused its aid on the plea of not being applied before the Church had been erected. Although substantially built with the best materials - such a rule has highly invonvenienced this Churchwarden.
Remarks: Whereas it appears evident by this document that the Government is desirous to get information, I beg to observe that it would be well for the spiritual well-being of this Kingdom were the Government to divide long and large Parishes. This Parish being about 11 miles long, How is it possible for a Clergyman to attend the spiritual requirements of such a Parish? " P. Evans. Churchwarden.
(From;- Jones, I.G. & Williams, D. The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. UWP, Cardiff, 1976)

For full and up-to-date details of their holdings see the sites of Glamorgan Record Office and/or West Glamorgan Archives

See Bap/Mar/Bur data on  FreeReg

The church is dedicated to St. Rhidian and St. Illtyd, is in the Benefice of Llanrhidian with Llanmadoc and Cheriton, and the diocese of Swansea and Brecon. Details of the present incumbent of this benefice can be found at the Church in Wales website. The church can be located at grid reference SS497922.

A transcription of the registers is available from the Glamorgan Family History Society for the years: Baptisms, 1671-1885, Marriages, 1671-1928, Burials, 1671-1908.

Modern Parishes & Chapels of Ease :-

• Penclawdd - Chapel of Ease to Llanrhidian, formed into a parish in 1924

The following Religious Institutions are covered in the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) :-

• Llanrhidian, SS. Rhidian & Illtyd - Christenings (BT's), 1813-1875
• Penclawdd (Llanrhidian Higher) - Christenings (BT's), 1841-1875

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Aerial photograph of Llanrhidian Marsh, 1991
• WEOBLEY CASTLE

• Geograph
• Flickr

Transcript of complete name listing for the Gower parishes, from Slaters Directory for 1880.
OYSTERMOUTH with the parishes of Bishopston, Cheriton, Ilston, Knelston, Llandewi, Llangennith, Llanmadoc, Llanrhidian (Higher & Lower), Nicholaston, Oxwich, Penmaen, Pennard, Penrice, Porteynon, Reynoldston, Rhoscilly, and the villages of Horton, Kilibion, Mumbles, Park Mill, Penclawdd, Walterstone and West Cross.

The transcription of the section for Llanrhidian from The National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.

Descriptions of the parish
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1833) by Samuel Lewis and
A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales by Nicholas Carlisle, London, 1811.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Llanrhidian to another place.

Some of the hamlets, towns and villages within this parish

Description and images of Weobley Castle at www.castlewales.com by Jeff Thomas

Edmunds, George. The Gower Coast : shipwrecks, lifeboats & rescues ... Abergavenny : Regional Publications, 1986. p192
Here is a comment based on the entry in this book regarding the 'lost village' of Llanellan ; -  " the local story of  the village briefly is that it was about 1.5 miles to the west of Llanrhidian on the hillside above the  Lougher Estuary. There was a footpath down to the estuary and in the darkness a ship became stranded near the approach to the village. The crew abandoned ship and  made their way up the hillside to the lights of the village where the village  people made them welcome and gave them shelter. Unfortunately the ships crew  were carriers of the plague and within a few days the villagers were all dead  and Llanellan never recovered. The area where the village stood is overgrown and  no trace exists except for scattered stones in the undergrowth. There is a tale of a ghostly lady in white that haunts the site (Dragons Lore). The only physical evidence that the village existed are two ancient stones  that came from Llanellan Church and are now built into the Llanrhidian  Church gate post and are dated 1687."

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Phillips, Margaret, collection of Llanrhidian deeds               "Deeds, wills and documents, 1718-1767, relating to people and properties in the parish of Llanrhidian, Glamorgan."
• Benson Estate Papers    1827-1922           "................... Thomas Starling Benson (1775-1858) was a merchant involved in several businesses including copper smelting. From the 1820s he became involved with the copper industry in Swansea and Glamorgan in co-partnership as Benson, Usborne and Company. Benson married three times. Starling Benson (1808-1879) was his son by his second wife, Hannah Newbury. Starling settled in Swansea in 1830, becoming Mayor in 1843 and Chairman of the Swansea Harbour Trust in 1856. He and his father's interests spread to include coal mining and they owned much mineral rich land in Glamorgan, in particular in the vicinity of Penclawdd in Llanrhidian............................."    
• Brynhir Estate papers       1685-1895     "This collection consists of old title deeds of properties in the parish of Llanrhidian which were acquired by the Evan/Evans family during the 19th century. The earliest mention of the family in the collection is Jenkin Evan of Brynhir (b.1742), and his son Jenkin (b.1770) who was married to Ann Howell in 1791. The family held the farm by a lease from Lord Vernon of Briton Ferry, until in 1818. John Evan bought the freehold in 1819. ...........................The deeds are a set of documents spanning several centuries, charting the rise of a family from yeoman (tenant farmer) status to that of minor gentry."

This diagram shows the position of this parish within the county of Glamorgan - click on this to see a full size diagram of the county

Parish map (Kain/Oliver)

Various items - on the People's Collection Wales site

• Plan of the lower hamlet of Llanrhidian parish in the County of Glamorgan
• Plan of the upper hamlet of Llanrhidian parish in the County of Glamorgan

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS530927 (Lat/Lon: 51.61358, -4.124937), Llanrhidian which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• OpenStreetMap Cymru (Welsh counties only)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Places, villages, farms etc within Llanrhidian parish as shown on the online parish map from the CD of Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.). (Extracted by Mary Greatorex)

• Llanrhidian Higher (27): Aberlogin, Bevexe Fawr Farm, Blue Anchor, Broadlands, Bryngwas, Brynhir, Cae Cenwyn. Cefn bychan, Cefn-draw, Cilonen, Cilonen-fach, Crofty, Cwm Farm, Cwm-mawr, Cwm-nant, Cwm-newydd, Dalton's Point, Dan-y-lan, Ddol, Forest Common, Gelligroes, Heol-las, Llanmorlais, Llotrog, Morlais River, Mynydd-Bach y Cocs, Parc-hendy, Pen-caer Fenny, Penclawdd, Penllwyn Robert, Pen-yr-heol, Pound-ffald, Rallt, Rhean fawr, Salthouse Pill, Salthouse Point, Three Crosses, Wern, Wern ffrwd, Wern olau, Whitewalls, Wimblewood, Ystlys-y-rhean.
• Llanrhidian Lower (28): Arthur's Stone, Broad Pool, Cae Morgan, Cefn Bryn, Cil-Ifor-Top, Cillibion, Cillibion Plantation, Crickton, Decoy Pond, Freedown, Gower's Load, Holy Well, Leason, Llan-Elen, Llanrhidian, Llanrhidian Marsh, Llethrid, Llwyn y bwch, Mansel's Fold, Oldwalls, Parc y rhedyn, Park Woods, Prisk Farm, Reservoir, Stembridge, Stonyford, The Common, Walterston , Welsh Moor, Weobley Castle, Wern halog, Windmill Farm
• Llanrhidian (29): undivided land. (Common to Penmaen, Nicholaston, Penrice, Reynoldstone Llanrhidian Higher and Llanrhidian Lower.)
  • Cefn Bryn

Newspaper extracts

Killan Colliery - Penlan and Penclawdd drifts (near Dunvant) on the Welsh Coal Mines site

Cockle gatherers on the Llanrhidian Sands, South Wales-early morning - on the People's Collection Wales site

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Llanrhidian Higher Parish Council Records    " ......... including minutes, 1894-1965; declarations and nominations, 1894-1955; correspondence, 1895-1965; circulars, 1896-1911; financial records, 1895-1968; acts of parliament, 1875-1908"

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Llanrhidian Lower School Log Books       1879-1979