In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Abergwili like this:
ABERGWILLY, a village and a parish in the district and county of Carmarthen. The village stands at the confluence of the Gwilly with the Towy, and on the Llandilo and Carmarthen railway, 1½ mile NE of Carmarthen. It has a station on the railway, and a post office under Carmarthen. Fairs are held on 4 May, 23 June, 2 and 27 Oct. ...
The palace of the Bishop of St. David's, an edifice in the Tudor style, built in 1830, is adjacent. Merlin's hill, an eminence on the side of a dell, nearly 1½ mile above the village, is said to have been the birthplace and the favourite haunt of the sorcerer Merlin; and a rocky cavity near its summit still bears the name of Merlin's Chair. A battle was fought in the neighbourhood, in 1020, between Llewelyn-ab-Sytsylt and the adventurer Run.—The parish contains also the hamlets of Cricklas, Glantawy, Hengil, Veney, and Ystyngwilly. Acres, 10,748. Real property, £9,078. Pop., 2,197. Houses, 451. The property is much subdivided. There are slate quarries. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St. David's. Value, £172.*Patron, the Bishop of St. David's. The ancient church was made collegiate in 1287, but was annexed in 1531 to the college at Brecon. The present church is a handsome edifice, in the early English style, with a spire. A sub-parochial church stands at Llanfihangel-Uwchgwilly, and is served by a perpetual curate, on a salary of £75, appointed by the Vicar. There are Independent, Baptist, and Calvinistic-Methodist chapels, and charities £14.
Abergwili through time
Abergwili is now part of Carmarthenshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how Carmarthenshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Abergwili itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Abergwili in Carmarthenshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3592
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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