Cwmtoyddwr (Cwm-Dauddwr), otherwise Llamsamtfraid-Cwm-Toyddwr

CWMTOYDDWR (CWM-DAUDDWR), otherwise LLANSANTFRAID-CWM-TOYDDWR, a parish, in the union and hundred of Rhaiadr, county of Radnor, South Wales, ¼ of a mile (W. S. W.) from Rhaiadr; comprising two townships, and containing 883 inhabitants. The name of this place, signifying "the dingle of the two rivers," is derived from its situation near the confluence of the rivers Wye and Elain, which unite towards the southern extremity of the parish. From this circumstance some etymologists have supposed the name to have been originally Cymmwer Dau Ddwr, signifying "the junction of two rivers," from which they derive its present appellation; but the ancient name more probably was Cwmmwd-dauddwr, "the commote or district of the two rivers," it being so named in old MSS. The parish is situated on the western side of the river Wye, by which it is separated from the town of Rhaiadr; it is nearly ten miles in length, and in the central part nearly five miles in breadth, the total area being 32,000 acres. Of this extensive tract, a very inconsiderable portion only is under cultivation; the remainder, being chiefly mountainous, affords excellent pasturage to numerous flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, which are reared for the English markets. The scenery in some parts is extremely wild, in others highly picturesque; the higher grounds afford pleasingly varied and interesting prospects, and some of the loftiest hills command a view extending to the Brecknockshire Beacons, and the mountains of Plinlimmon and Cader Idris. In the romantic vale of the Elain are the Cwm-Elain lead-mines, discovered in 1796, which have been for some time discontinued; and in other parts of the parish are quarries of tolerably good slate. The veins of the lead-mine run from north-east to south-west; their sides are but imperfectly indurated, and the ore is of the species called galena, contained (with blende, or sulphate of zinc, quartz, &c.) in a mixed matrix of quartz and grey mountain rock. Towards the end of the last century, an estate of about 10,000 acres at Cwm-Elain was purchased by Mr. Groves, a gentleman from Wiltshire, who built a mansion there, and planted extensively; it afterwards passed into other hands, and latterly belonged to the Duke of Newcastle, who sold it in 1843. Cwm-Elain is perhaps the finest part of Radnorshire, and not far distant from the house of that name is the well-built mansion of Nant Gwyllt, also surrounded by romantic scenery. The high road from Rhaiadr to Aberystwith, passing through the parish, gives a facility of intercourse with the neighbouring places.

The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with £200 royal bounty, and £400 parliamentary grant; patron, the Bishop of St. David's. The tithes have been commuted for three rent-charges, the Bishop and the vicar receiving £124. 3. 4. each, and an impropriator £62. 13. 4. The church, dedicated to St. Bridget, and rebuilt in 1778, is a neat and well-constructed edifice of stone, well pewed and ceiled, and having a good gallery. At Nant Gwyllt, about four miles from the mother church, is a small chapel of ease. The Rev. Charles Price, Vicar of Llanarth, in the county of Cardigan, in 1719 bequeathed, in trust to his heir-at-law, to the vicar of this parish, and the vicar of Nantmel, a house and lands here, called Llawr-y-llan, consisting of twentyfour acres and now paying a rent of £50, directing the produce to be appropriated to the instruction of poor children, and for the preaching of five divinity lecture sermons, in the parish church of Cwmtoyddwr, on the first Sunday in May, and in the four following months. A school is kept, the master of which receives nearly all the rental above-mentioned; and three Sunday schools are also held, one of them in connexion with the Church, and the others with the Independents. A house called Troed Rhiw, with thirteen acres of land attached to it, was bequeathed more than a century and a half since, by John Davies, for the reception of blind, maimed, and infirm poor of the parish: the land now produces £13 per annum, which income, increased by an annual sum of £4, the interest of a sum of money produced by a sale of timber on the estate, is divided among persons selected by the parochial officers. Jeremiah Powell, in 1696, charged a farm in the parish with the annual payment of £2 to the poor.

There are some remains of a military post within the parish, on the bank of the Wye, nearly opposite to the site of Rhaiadr Castle, with which it is said to have had a communication by a subterraneous passage under the bed of the river: part of this intrenchment was demolished in 1830, but an artificial mound is yet remaining near the lines, which, at some remote period, was probably occupied by the keep of a castle. Vestiges of two ancient chapels are still visible, called respectively Capel Madoc and Aber Hênllan: they are supposed to be of earlier foundation than the original parish church, and, from their being respectively situated in the two hamlets into which the parish is divided, to have been, previously to the erection of the church, the only places of worship in the parish. The name of a neighbouring farm, called Coed-y-Mynach, or "the monks' wood," has led to an opinion that there was anciently a monastery at this place; but no satisfactory account of any establishment of that kind can now be obtained; and it is more probable that the farm was an appendage to the abbey of Strata-Florida, in the adjacent county of Cardigan, to which a road may still be traced over the mountains. A mineral spring, the water of which is strongly impregnated with sulphur, has been discovered at Hîrnant, in the parish.

Cwm-Twrch

CWM-TWRCH, a hamlet, in the parish of Cayo, union of Llandovery, Higher division of the hundred of Cayo, county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 11 miles (N. W. by W.) from Llandovery; containing 630 inhabitants. An old Roman road, called Sarn Helen, leading from Llanio to Llanvairar-y-Bryn, can be traced here through the valley of the river Twrch. The declivities of the hills are well wooded, especially where the Twrch falls into the river Cothy; and the road leading from Llandovery to Lampeter passes along the left bank of the former stream.

Cydplwyf

CYDPLWYF, a township, in the parish of Llanina, union of Aberaëron, hundred of Moyddyn, county of Cardigan, South Wales; containing 220 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for £45 per annum, of which £15 are paid to the Bishop of St. David's, £22. 10. to the rector of the parish of Llanllwchairn, and £7. 10. to the vicar of Llanina.

Cyfeiliog (Cyffylliog)

CYFEILIOG (CYFFYLLIOG), a parish, in the union and hundred of Ruthin, county of Denbigh, North Wales, 5 miles (W.) from Ruthin; consisting of four townships, and containing 633 inhabitants. This parish is situated in the southern portion of the county, and is intersected by several small streams, which, rising in the circumjacent hills, unite within the parish, and flow in a north-eastern direction, into the river Clwyd. It comprises 6652 acres, of which 2000 are common or waste land; the surface is varied, and the soil, in the lower grounds, is tolerably fertile. The views are pleasingly diversified, though obstructed in some parts by the intervening heights by which the parish is sheltered. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Llanynys; the appropriate tithes, payable to the Bishop of Bangor, have been commuted for a rent-charge of £223. 6. 8., and the vicarial tithes for one of £126. 13. 4. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is not remarkable for any architectural details. There are two places of worship for Calvinistic Methodists. A day school in connexion with the Established Church is supported partly by subscription, and four Sunday schools are held, one of them in connexion with the Church, and the others with the Calvinistic body. An endowment, now amounting to £3 per annum, was bequeathed by John Maurice, in 1731, for the instruction and apprenticing of poor children; and the produce of several small charitable donations is annually distributed among the poor. The principal of these charities is a grant, in 1719, by Howell ap Thomas, of a cottage and some land, now producing £3. 4. per annum, and on part of which ten other cottages have been erected; three of these pay a trifling ground-rent, and the other seven are occupied by paupers. Another is a rent-charge of £1, charged on the mansion of Maes Cadarn, by Madam Catherine Trevor; and a third arises from a portion of a grant in Llanynys parish, by Mrs. Roberts, producing to Cyfeiliog £1. 10. per annum.

Cylch-Bychan

CYLCH-BYCHAN, a hamlet, in the parish of St. David's, union of Haverfordwest, hundred of Dewisland, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 1½ mile (E.) from the city of St. David's; containing 364 inhabitants. It forms one of the four cylchs, or hamlets, into which the parish is divided, the adjunct signifying "the smaller" hamlet, as compared with Cylch-Mawr, or "the larger."

Cylch-Gwaelod-Y-Wlad

CYLCH-GWAELOD-Y-WLAD, a hamlet, in the parish of St. David's, union of Haverfordwest, hundred of Dewisland, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 1 mile (W.) from the city of St. David's; containing 467 inhabitants. The name denotes that it consists of the lower, or coast, portion of the parish, which is divided into four cylchs, or hamlets, this one forming its western division, and extending along the sea-coast, being the most western part of the principality. The island of Ramsey, on which there is a single farm, is included within the limits of this hamlet.

Cylch-Mawr

CYLCH-MAWR, a hamlet, in the parish of St. David's, union of Haverfordwest, hundred of Dewisland, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 2½ miles (N. E.) from the city of St. David's; containing 528 inhabitants. The adjunct signifies that it is "the larger," in contrast with Cylch-Bychan, or "the smaller," both forming cylchs, or hamlets, in the parish.

Cynnullmawr (Cynnull-Mawr)

CYNNULLMAWR (CYNNULL-MAWR), a township, in the parish of Llanvihangel-Geneu'rGlyn, union of Aberystwith, Upper division of the hundred of Geneu'r-Glyn, county of Cardigan, South Wales, 6¼ miles (N. E. by E.) from Aberystwith; containing 277 inhabitants. This township takes its name from an elevated mountain, at the western base of which passes the road from Aberystwith to Machynlleth. It is bounded on the north by the river Lery. Glànvraed, an old mansion, formerly situated on the left bank of this river, and the site of which is now occupied by a good farmhouse, is remarkable as the supposed birthplace of the celebrated antiquary, Edward Llwyd, author of the Archæologia Britannica, and other works on the antiquities of Wales: he also collected a great number of ancient British records, some of which were afterwards unfortunately destroyed in the fire that consumed Havod House, the well-known residence of the late Mr. Johnes, in this county.

Cynnullmawr

CYNNULLMAWR, a hamlet, in the parish of Llandarog, Upper division of the hundred of Iscennen, union and county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 6½ miles (E. S. E.) from Carmarthen; containing 277 inhabitants. The Gwendraeth Vâch river flows in this vicinity, and is crossed by a bridge on the road from Carmarthen to Llandebie and Pontar-Ddulas.

Cynon

CYNON, with Tâf, a hamlet, in the parish, union, and newly-created borough of MerthyrTydvil, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 6 miles (S.) from Merthyr-Tydvil; containing 395 inhabitants. This hamlet is formed by the long isthmus of elevated ground at the junction of the rivers Cynon and Tâf, being bounded on the west by the former, and on the east by the latter. Parallel to these run the Aberdare and Cardiff canals, respectively. At the southern extremity of the hamlet the Tâf is crossed by a bridge; and near the same spot an aqueduct conveys the Cardiff canal over that river and the road leading to Aberdare. The Tâf-Vale railway, also, passes by the hamlet. The vale of the Cynon is well wooded, and the scenery is pleasingly varied and picturesque.

Cyvoeth-Y-Brenhin (Cyfoeth-Y-Brenin)

CYVOETH-Y-BRENHIN (CYFOETH-YBRENIN), a township, in the parish of Llanvihangel-Geneu'r-Glyn, union of Aberystwith, hundred of Geneu'r-Glyn, county of Cardigan, South Wales; containing 1191 inhabitants. This township, a portion of which pays the great tithes to the vicar of Llanvihangel, is the property of the crown, and from that circumstance partially derives its name.

Cyvronnydd (Cyfronydd)

CYVRONNYDD (CYFRONYDD), a township, forming a detached part of the parish and liberties of Welshpool, locally in the Upper division of the hundred of Cawrse, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 5 miles (N. W.) from Welshpool; containing 77 inhabitants. This place lies on the road from Welshpool to Llanvair, and on the banks of the river Banw, which empties itself into the Vyrnwy a little beyond Mathraval, nearly four miles to the north. Cyvronnydd Hall is delightfully situated amidst thriving plantations, upon the declivity of a hill, whose summit embraces a pleasing prospect of the beauties of the vale enlivened by the Banw, and of the adjacent country, including the hills of Merionethshire. There are remains of fortifications on this and several of the hills in the vicinity. The impropriate tithes, payable to the Dean and Chapter of Christ-Church, Oxford, have been commuted for a rent-charge of £34. 10., and the vicarial tithes for one of £11. 10.