Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LLANRWST

LLANRWST, a town and a township in Denbighshire, and a parish, a sub-district, and a district all registrationally in Denbighshire, but in part electorally in Carnarvonshire. The town stands on the river Conway, in a pleasant vale, amid charming environs, at the terminus of the Conway and Llanrwst railway, 1 0 miles S of Conway, and 17 WSW of Denbigh; includes a square, with town hall and market-place; contains many good houses; has, of late years, undergone great improvement; attracts numerous tourists and other visitors, for sake of the scenery around it, and of the splendid salmon fishing in the Conway; has attracted many opulent persons permanently, whose residences adorn the outskirts and the environs; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts, and a polling-place; and has a post office, ‡ designated Llanrwst, Denbighshire, a railway station, a banking-office, two chief inns, a bridge over the Conway, two churches, four dissenting chapels, a free school, national and British schools, an alms house, and charities £75. The town hall is a good edifice. and is used for the county courts. The bridge is a steep inconvement structure, with three arches; was erected, in 1636, by Inigo Jones; and is said to vibrate when concussed in a particular way. The church of St. Grwst or Rhystyd is later English; includes a chapel, called the Gwydir chapel, built by Inigo Jones, not used for service, but containing many curious menuments and some good carving; has a carved doorway, oakpanelling, a reading-desk, and a rood-loft, said to have been brought from Maenant abbey; and contains the stone coffin of Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, a stone effigies of Hoel Coytmore, some brasses of the Wynns of Gwydir, a curious variegated pyramidal monument, with huge heads of angels, and a unique stone font. St. Mary's church is a modern edifice, and is known as the English church. The dissenting chapels are for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Calvinistic Methodists. The free school has an endowed income of about £400. Markets are held on Tuesdays and Saturdays; fairs are held on the first Tuesday of Feb., 8 March, 25 April, 21 June, 10 Aug.., 17 Sept., 25 Oct., and the second Tuesday after 11 Dec.; and some trade is carried on in woollen manufacture, stocking-making, malting, and tanning. The town was, for some time, noted for the making of Welsh harps.

The township includes the town, but is variously defined. The Census, in its tables, exhibits Llanrwst and Gwydir townships as comprising all the parish; while, in its notes, it states the parish to contain also the townships of Garth-Garmon, or Capel-Garmon, Garth-gyfanedd, Tybrith-Isaf, Tybrith-Uchaf, Matthebrwyd, and Tre-y-Dre. Acres of L. township, as comprising all the Denbigh section of the parish, 15,297. Real property, £13,006. Pop., 3,593. Houses, 768. Acres of Gwydir township, as comprising all the Carnarvon section, 7,621. Real property, £1,551. Pop., 400. Houses, 80. The manor belongs to Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. Gwydir House, ½ a mile from the town, was formerly the seat of the Wyuns; is now the seat of Lord Willoughby D'Eresby; includes small part of a mansion erected in 1555 by Sir John Wynn, but is mainly an addition of 1816; contains some fine antiquely formed rooms, with ancient furniture; and stands amid delightful grounds, which contain a beautiful lake and a waterfall, and command delightful views. Lead ore, of high quality, is found in the vale. The living of St. Grwst is a rectory, united with the chapelry of St. Mary, in the diocese of St. Asaph. Value, £925. * Patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph. The chapelry of St. Mary, prior to 1868, was a separate charge. The p. curacy of Capel-Garmon is a separate benefice.

The sub-district excludes Gwydir township, but includes the parishes of Gwytherin, Llangerniew, and Llanddoget; the townships of Eglwysfach and Maenan; and the extra-parochial tract of the Abbey,-the two last electorally in Carnarvon. Acres, 40,665. Pop., 7,100. Houses, 1,526. The district comprehends also the subdistrict of Bettws-y-Coed, containing the township of Gwydir, and the parishes of Bettws-y-Coed, Dolwyddelan, Trefriw, and Llanrhychwyn,-all electorally in Carnarvon; and the sub-district of Yspytty, containing the parishes of Pentre voelas and Gwern-howel, and the townships of Tirevan and Trebrys, electorally in Denbigh, and the parish of Penniachno and the township of Eidda electorally in Carnarvon. Acres, 100,631. Poor rates in 1863, £6,323. Pop. in 1851,12,479; in 1861,12,770. Houses, 2,680. Marriages in 1863,110; births, 375,- of which 36 were illegitimate; deaths, 228, of which 63 were. at ages under 5 years, and 13 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60,822; births, 3,552; deaths, 2,381. The places of worship, in 1851, were 15 of the Church of England, with 3,476 sittings; 8 of Inde.peendents, with 1.633 s. 4 of Baptists, with 600 s.; 23 of Calvinistic Methodists, with 5,013 s.; and 6 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 1,053 s. The schools were 15 public day schools, with 928 scholars; 4 private day schools, with 108 s.; and 5 Sunday schools, with 5,696 s. The workhouse is in Llanrwst township; and, at the census of 1861, had 26 inmates.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town and a township"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Caernarvonshire AncC       Denbighshire AncC
Place: Llanrwst

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