Llanfechain could mean "parish or church (llan) of the Cain valley" (from Llan ym Mach Cain meaning "church in the field or plain of the Cain"[4] to Llan ym Mechain and then Llan-mechain, which becomes Llanfechain as a result of the commonmutation of 'm' to 'f' in Welsh).[5][6] However, it might also mean "small (fechan) church or parish (llan)". Spellings of place names vary over time, so that small variations such aschain/cain andfechain/fechan are plausible. The name in the formLlanveccheyn is first encountered in 1254.[7] It has also been known as Llanarmon-ym-Mechain,[8]ym-Mechain referring to its location in the medievalcantref ofMechain, thus "Church of St Garmon in Mechain".[9]
Theparish church,St Garmon's, was begun inNorman times and retains many original features.[10] It is a Grade II* listed building.[11] Consisting of a single chamber, it hasRomanesque windows in the east wall and two doorways in the south wall. There were some Victorian alterations, including the addition of a western bell turret. Inside, the roof dates from the 15th century, the font dates from about 1500, the pulpit bears a date of 1636, and at the western end its gallery remains.[7]
Little is known of St Garmon. Tradition has him living in the 9th century and preaching from a mound in Llanfechain churchyard. The remains of the mound, Twmpath Garmon, are still evident north of the church, although graves have been dug into it. According to the recollections of 19th-century villagers recorded in Volume 5 of the Montgomeryshire Collections, cockpits were dug near to the mound for cockfighting. Fynnon Garmon, the holy well associated with Garmon, lies to the south-east of the village.[12] St Garmon is likely to have been derived from St Germanus (410–474), the firstBishop of Man.[8]
The village once had two chapels: the PenielWesleyan Methodist Chapel (erected 1834, rebuilt 1875, Sunday School added 1901, closed about 1990, now residential),[13] and ZoarCalvinistic Methodist Chapel (erected 1827, rebuilt 1914,[14] closed 2008).[15][16]
View of St Garmon's Church
St Garmon's Church and the roughly circular churchyard
After the Norman Conquest, an earthworkmotte-and-bailey castle,Tomen y Castell, was placed above the valley of the Cain to control the area.[7] It was probably a timber castle, of which only the earthworks remain. Its ditched mound measures 38–43 metres in diameter and about 9.5 metres high, having a summit diameter of 10–12 metres. It was probably built byOwain Fychan ap Madog (prince of Powys, son ofMadog ap Maredudd) in 1166 – north of the main road from Llanfyllin to Oswestry and about 400 yards south-west of the church.[17]
Ty Coch, on the main road opposite the lane leading to the church and village, is a restored 15th-centuryhall-house with 17th-century alterations. It is Grade II listed.[7] It was owned by theJesuits ofStonyhurst (Lancashire) in the 19th century and used as a resting place for travellers.[18][19] St Garmon's well (Ffynnon Armon) is on the land ofTy Coch,[20] about 300 yards south-east of the church.[17]
The local pub, thePlas-yn-Dinas Inn opposite the church, is a Grade II, late 17th-century half-timbered building once used as a courthouse.[20]
Plas Cain, beside Llanfechain Bridge, is a timber-framed dwelling thought to date from the 17th century. In the late 19th century the house was known as Sycamore Cottage.[7][21]
On the north side of the Cain is theOld Rectory, which is believed to date from about 1620; it was much altered and enlarged in the 18th and 19th centuries and ceased to be a parsonage in about 1980.[7][22]
Gwerful Mechain (c. 1460 – post-1502), the one female poet of Medieval Wales from whom much work has survived, was descended from a noble Llanfechain family.[27]
David Thomas (1880–1967) was a trade union and Labour Party organizer and adult tutor born and schooled in Llanfechain.[30]
James Hanley (1897–1986), novelist and playwright, lived in Llanfechain from December 1940 to 1963 and called it by the name "Llangyllwch" for a fictional portrait in the novella "Anatomy of Llangyllwch", part ofDon Quixote Drowned (1953).[31] He died in London in 1985 and was buried in Llanfechain.[32]
Llanfechain was served by astation on theLlanfyllin branch of theCambrian Railways from 1863. The line closed in 1965 and has since been dismantled.[33] The station building remains as a private residence. The track bed to Llanfyllin has been built over by an industrial estate.
The village has a small Church in Wales primary school. It was rated Good in a May 2016Estyn report.[34][35]
The village has a village hall. A traditional village show had been held on the AugustBank Holiday weekend every year since 1966,[36]but had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[37]
^abAn Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire: I - County of Montgomery. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. 1913. p. 89.
