A Topographical Dictionary of Wales. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1849.
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CRINOW, a parish, in the union of Narberth, hundred of Dungleddy, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 1 mile (E.) from Narberth; containing 53 inhabitants. This parish, though in the hundred of Dungleddy, is almost entirely surrounded by that of Narberth: and, with the exception of a very small portion, belongs to the daughters and co-heiresses of the late Roger Eaton, Esq., whose elegant mansion of Park Glâs is situated within its limits. The living is a rectory not in charge, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor; net income, £79: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £49. 16., and there is a glebe of one acre, valued at £3 per annum. The church is a very small edifice, without tower or spire; but of late years it has been repaired and beautified, and rendered one of the neatest churches in the county. A Sunday school is supported by Miss Eaton.
CROES, with Berwyn, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Trêgaron, Upper division of the hundred of Penarth, county of Cardigan, South Wales, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Trêgaron; containing 256 inhabitants. This hamlet, the upper part of which is wild, rugged, and mountainous, takes its name from the river Croes. The stream flows through it, and, after being joined by the river Berwyn, unites with the Teivy a short distance below the town of Trêgaron.
CROESLWYBR (CROES-LIBIN), a township, in the parish, and Upper division of the hundred, of Llanidloes, union of Newtown and Llanidloes, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 1 mile (N.) from Llanidloes: the population is included in the return for the parish. Threefourths of the tithes belong to the Dean and Chapter of Bangor, and the remaining fourth to the vicar of Llanidloes.
CRONWERE (CRUNWEAR), a parish, in the union and hundred of Narberth, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 5 miles (E. S. E.) from Narberth; containing 282 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the eastern confines of the county, a short distance south of the turnpike-road from Laugharne to Narberth. It is bounded on the north by Lampeter, on the south by Amroath, on the west by Ludchurch, and on the east by Carmarthenshire, from which it is separated by a small brook. The number of acres is about 2000, of which 1500 are arable, and 500 pasture. The surface is of a hilly character: the soil is various; red earth, affording rich pasture, extends across a portion of the parish in a direction from north to south; other parts are cold and sterile, with a subsoil of clay; the earth covering the limestone portion is good, but liable to become soon parched and dry. There is a village named Lanteague, the only one in the parish; also a corn-mill, and a mill where the coarse cloth of the country is prepared and dyed: a quarry is likewise worked, producing limestone of fine quality. The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £6. 16. 10½., and in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £105; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe contains sixty-eight acres, valued at £50 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Elidyr, is a very ancient structure, now nearly in ruins, and contains 200 sittings. A Sunday school was established in the year 1820.
CRÛGGION (CRÛGION), a chapelry, in the parish of Alderbury, union of Atcham, Lower division of the hundred of Cawrse, county of Montgomery, North Wales, 6 miles (N. E.) from Welshpool; containing 171 inhabitants. This chapelry is situated in the north-east part of the county: it is bounded on the north and west by the river Severn, and on the east by the line dividing Wales from England. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £108, arising from royal bounty and private donations, with a glebe-house; patron, V. Vickers, Esq.; impropriators, the Warden and Fellows of All Souls' College, Oxford. The great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £176, and the vicarial for one of £44. The chapel is a neat brick edifice, situated not far from the left bank of the Severn. A Church school, in which about twenty or thirty children are instructed, was established in 1824. Methuselah Jones, in 1727, bequeathed a rent-charge of £3. 3. for providing annually ten coats for poor persons, five men and five women, of this place. On the loftiest of the Breidden hills, in the chapelry, an obelisk was erected in 1781, in commemoration of the distinguished naval services of Admiral Lord Rodney, particularly of his defeat of the powerful French fleet in the West Indies, commanded by Count de Grasse.
CUGIAN (GOGOIAN), a township, in the parish of Llandewy-Brevi, union of Trêgaron, Lower division of the hundred of Penarth, county of Cardigan, South Wales, 5½ miles (N. E.) from Lampeter; containing 118 inhabitants. This township is situated on the left bank of the river Teivy, which is here crossed by a bridge, and at the western declivity of some elevated ground.
CWM, a parish, in the union of St. Asaph, hundred of Rhuddlan, county of Flint, North Wales, 3 miles (E.) from Rhuddlan; comprising two townships, and containing 527 inhabitants. The name of this place appears to be derived from the situation of the church and village in a sequestered hollow, bounded by lofty hills. The parish is about four miles in length, and two and a half in breadth, and is partly within the manor of Rhuddlan, belonging to the Bishop of St. Asaph. It consists principally of mountainous tracts of common, with only a very small portion of inclosed and cultivated land. The scenery is highly picturesque; and from the hills which surround the village are obtained some fine prospects, extending over the fertile and beautiful Vale of Clwyd, and embracing part of the Irish Sea, the summits of Snowdon, and the adjacent mountains. The elevated parts of the parish are thought to abound with mineral treasures, and ironstone has been found: slate has also been found in the Cwm mountain, but not of a quality adapted for roofing. A stream from Fynnon Asaph, or "St. Asaph's Well," a spring of great power, turns two corn-mills in the parish, at no great distance from its source. The turnpike-road from Chester to Holyhead passes within a mile and a quarter of the village. Part of the parish is in the contributory borough of Rhuddlan.
The living consists of a rectory and a vicarage. The rectory is a sinecure in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, rated in the king's books at £6. 15. 5.; the vicarage, which is discharged, is rated at £5. 8. 9., and endowed with £200 royal bounty. The tithes of each have been commuted for a rentcharge of £268. 9. 3.; the rectorial glebe comprises two acres, valued at £2. 10. per annum, and the vicarial glebe six acres and a half, valued at £14. 10. per annum: there is a glebe-house. The Bishop of St. Asaph presents to the vicarage. The church, dedicated to St. Valacinian, is a plain substantial edifice, without either tower or spire, and though the exterior walls are kept in good repair by the parish, the interior is in a miserable state of dilapidation. It contains several gravestones, supposed to be monuments of Knights Templars; and in the churchyard is an ancient tombstone, on which is a bow sculptured in stone. According to tradition, the renowned Welsh prophet and bard, Robin Ddû, of Hîraddug, so called from a mountain of that name above the church, was buried under one of the walls of the church, in fulfilment of his own prediction, that he should neither be buried in nor out of it. There are places of worship for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists, in connexion with the former of which is a Sunday school. A bequest by Elizabeth Hughes, producing £13. 2. per annum, is given to the master of a school lately erected for the education of the children of the parishioners; previously to which, one boy was elected at vestry annually, and apprenticed with a premium of £10. The master also receives some school-fees, and has a house and garden rent-free. The parish is entitled to receive £2 annually from the Rev. George Smith's charity in the parish of Northop, for the instruction of one child; a similar sum is charged on the Ŷ nllithrig estate. A grant by Edward Jones is distributed to the poor.
CWM, a division, in the parish of Gwyddelwern, union of Corwen, hundred of Edeyrnion, county of Merioneth, North Wales, comprising the united townships of Aelhaiarn, Bonron, Maesgammedd, Maesgw Ŷ Myarth, Trebâch, and Trefrith; the population of which is included in the return for Gwyddelwern. Cwm forms the lower portion of the parish, and the road from Corwen to Ruthin passes through it. The church and village of Gwyddelwern are situated within its limits. Some small benefactions, including a bequest of £40 by Roger Jones, and producing in the whole £4. 7. 6. a year, are distributed at Christmas to the poor of the district.
CWMAVON, a manufacturing district, partly in the parish of Margam, hundred of Newcastle, but principally in that of Michaelston-superAvon, hundred of Neath, in the union of Neath, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Aberavon; containing about 6000 inhabitants. The important iron, tin, and copper works at this place, which belong to the "Governor and Company of the Copper-miners of England," incorporated in 1691, are of comparatively recent establishment, and, before the discovery of blackbandironstone in this part of the county a few years ago, were much less extensive than they are at the present time. That discovery was made about the year 1843; the iron-trade at once received a considerable extension, and the subsequent increased demand for railway iron led to a corresponding increase of prosperity at Cwmavon and the other seats of the ironmanufacture. In 1845 the company raised as many as 134,556 tons of coal here. The mining and manufacturing works occupy altogether an area of 4000 acres, and, when in full operation, are capable of giving support to a population of 10,000.
The principal manufactures are, bar-iron, tinplates, fine copper, and chemicals; the average produce per annum, of finished iron, is 2400 tons, of tin-plates 50,000 boxes, and of pure copper 1800 tons. There are three collieries, seven furnaces for smelting the ironstone raised here, three refineries, three puddled bar and five bar iron mills, one sheetiron mill, two tin-mills, and two forges for hammered iron. The works for smelting the copper, which is imported, are 1200 feet long; they are covered by a double roof, and all the flues from the furnaces converge into one main culvert of stone, about 1500 feet in length, conveying the smoke from the works to the summit of the Voel mountain. Attached to these smelting-works are copper-rolling mills. There is also a brick-yard of large size, with a mill worked by water-power, and capable of making 100,000 bricks per week. The Depôt, erected in 1847, is said to be the largest establishment of the kind in Wales, the buildings comprising shops for pattern-makers, joiners, boiler and tram makers, and smiths; forges; brass and iron foundries; drilling, boring, planing, and punching machines, &c. About 320 horses can be accommodated in the range of stabling.
It is estimated that eighty miles of tramroad are in use, under ground, when the works are in full operation; and that, connected with the works, above ground, there are thirty miles of tramroad, on which three locomotive engines are in daily operation, conveying coal and ironstone, blackband included, from the different mines to the furnaces, and also conveying the various commodities in a finished state to Port-Talbot, three miles distant, for shipment. Power is furnished for some of the blast furnaces by a waterwheel, forty-five feet in diameter, with ten feet breast, and of ninety-horse power; to which the water is brought from the river Avon by means of a magnificent stone aqueduct, originally designed as a viaduct for a tramway to convey coal to the works. The aqueduct is 456 feet in length, and eighty feet high, and comprises four elliptical arches, each of seventy feet span, constructed of a strong grey stone raised on the spot; the whole erected at a cost of upwards of £7000. This noble structure, from its romantic situation across a narrow precipitous valley among the mountains, forms one of the most striking and interesting features of the district, and well deserves the attention of the tourist.
Cwmavon has been for some time past lighted with gas. There is a good house provided for the manager of the works, surrounded by an extensive paddock; also commodious houses for the agents belonging to the various departments, with upwards of 500 workmen's cottages having gardens attached; all the property of the company. The town contains a large market-place replete with every necessary convenience, which is chiefly supplied with vegetables and fruit from Somersetshire and Devonshire. Besides the parish church of Michaelston, there are six places of worship for dissenters, three of them for Calvinistic Methodists, one for Wesleyans, one for Baptists, and one for Independents; and in connexion with the works are three schools for boys, three schools for girls, and an infants' school, numbering altogether 850 children. The hill and mountain scenery intersected by the river Avon and its tributaries, especially in the vicinity of Oakwood, is much admired by the lovers of the picturesque and the romantic. It should be observed, that the foregoing account of the Cwmavon works applies to their state in October, 1848: they have since been advertised for sale.
CWMCOTHY (CWM-COTHI), a hamlet, in the parish of Cayo, union of Llandovery, Higher division of the hundred of Cayo, county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 9 miles (N. W. by W.) from Llandovery; containing 314 inhabitants. The river Cothy has its source contiguous to it, and in its irregular course here passes along a vale, which is distinguished by striking features of richness and diversity. In the hamlet are the remains of some ancient mines, now called Gogovau mines, supposed to have been worked by the Romans. Dôlcothy, the seat of John Johnes, Esq., is situated here, and near it is a mineral spring of some repute.—See Cayo.
CWMDARE (CWM-DÂR), a hamlet, in the parish of Aberdare, union and parliamentary borough of Merthyr-Tydvil, hundred of Miskin, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 5 miles (W. S. W.) from Merthyr-Tydvil; containing, in 1841, 2404 inhabitants. The parochial church, and a great part of the village or town, of Aberdare are situated in this hamlet, which occupies the left bank of the river Cynon, near its source. Besides a dreary extent of bare mountain land, Cwmdare contains very little which is not connected with the town, or iron-works in the vicinity. Towards the north-west is a large tract of waste, at the extremity of which, on the north-western point of the parish, are the Hîrwaun iron-works, and the houses connected with them: the works are situated in another parish, but nearly all the houses are within the limits of this. In the hamlet are four almshouses, open to the poor of the whole parish, endowed with a rent-charge of £5 by Mrs. Elinor Matthews, in 1724.
CWMDÛ (CWM-DÛ), a township, in the parish of Llangonoyd, union of Bridgend and Cowbridge, hundred of Newcastle, county of Glamorgan, South Wales, 8¼ miles (N. by W.) from Bridgend; containing, in 1841, 2880 inhabitants. This township, the name of which signifies "the black vale," is situated in a valley watered by a tributary of the river Llynvi, and forms a wild and mountainous district, remarkable for its fossil and mineral productions. The principal of these are iron-ore and coal; the former is smelted as well as wrought, and owing to the extension of the works, this place has of late years greatly increased in its population, which, in 1821, amounted only to 307 inhabitants. A tramroad for the conveyance of the produce extends to the harbour of Porthcawl, and the town of Bridgend. Notices of the great iron-works in the township will be found under the head of Llangonoyd.
CWM-GARW-LLWYD, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Llandilo-Vawr, Lower division of the hundred of Cayo, county of Carmarthen, South Wales, 2 miles (N. by W.) from LlandiloVawr; containing 167 inhabitants, who are almost exclusively employed in agriculture. It forms a small vale, watered by a stream which falls into the Towy near Llandilo-Vawr.
CWMGILLA (CWM-GELLAU), a hamlet, in the parish, union, and hundred of Knighton, county of Radnor, South Wales, 1 mile (S. W.) from Knighton; containing, with the lordship of Farrington, 167 inhabitants, of whom 50 are in the hamlet. Its name signifies the "hazel valley," which is descriptive of its situation in a small vale, intersected by a stream which falls into the Teme at Knighton. A part of the hamlet is included within the borough of Knighton. There are two small tumuli.
CWMRHEIDOL (CWM-RHEIDIOL), a township, in the parish of Llanbadarn-Vawr, union of Aberystwith, Upper division of the hundred of Geneu'r-Glyn, county of Cardigan, South Wales; containing 758 inhabitants. The river Rheidol, which gives name to the township, flows along a vale here, remarkable for its varied and picturesque scenery. There are extensive leadmines, which afford employment to the greater portion of the inhabitants.