 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Llangennech" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Llangennech | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
.jpg) Capel Salem in the village centre | |
 A welcome sign to the village | |
  Llangennech Location withinCarmarthenshire | |
| Population | 5,153 [1] |
| OS grid reference | SN560015 |
| Community |
|
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LLANELLI |
| Postcode district | SA14 |
| Dialling code | 01554 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
51°41′35″N4°05′31″W / 51.693°N 4.092°W /51.693; -4.092  Map of the community | |
Llangennech ([ɬæn'ɡenƏx];[2]Welsh pronunciationⓘ) is a village andcommunity in the area ofLlanelli,Carmarthenshire, Wales, which covers an area of 1,222 hectares (4.72 mi2).[3]
It is governed byLlangennech Community Council andCarmarthenshire County Council. Llangennech is also the name of the countyelectoral ward coterminous with the village. It falls in theLlanelli parliamentary andSenedd constituency. It lies in theMid & West Wales region for regional Senedd members.
Llangennech was acoal mining community, with several local collieries mining steam coal. There is also a largeLabour tradition in the village originating with the mine workers. There was a largeRoyal Navy depot in the village, which was closed in 2007 in Ministry of Defence restructuring.
Llangennech has a strongrugby union team,Llangennech RFC, that feeds many players intoLlanelli RFC and then on to theLlanelli Scarlets regional rugby union team.
The town is served byLlangennech railway station on theHeart of Wales Line with trains toSwansea to the south andShrewsbury to the north.
The community is bordered by the communities ofLlanelli Rural,Llannon, andLlanedi, all in Carmarthenshire; and byGrovesend and Waungron andGorseinon in theCity and County of Swansea.
The village has been known by many names over the years. These include Llangennydd, Llangennich, Llangenardh, Llangennach, Llangenarth, Llangenneth, Llangenyth, Llangennych and Langenardh.[4] The likely origin of the village's name comes from the parish church, known as both St. Cennech's or St. Gwynnog's. The church is believed to have been dedicated to the brothersSt. Cennydd and St. Gwynog, the sons ofSt. Gildas. Documents reveal that the village has commemorated St. Gwynog since at least the 16th century.[citation needed]
The Llangennech Estate, covering around 4,000 acres of land, was formed between 1801 and 1803 when John Symmonds bought land from Sir John Stepney and various others. In 1804 it entered the hands of theEarl of Warwick and John Vancouver, brother ofGeorge Vancouver. After surrendering the estate back to Symmons in 1806, it was sold to theMPEdward Rose Tunno in 1821 or 1824. Tunno leased much of the estate. Thomas Margrave of the Llangennech Coal Company leased the "Llangennech Mansion" in 1826. The industrialistRichard Janion Nevill leased the mansion among other lands. He suffered a stroke at the Mansion and died the same day on 14 January 1856;[5] his son and wife lived there until 1870. After Tunno's death, Edward Sartoris, Nevill's nephew and MP for Carmarthenshire, received the Llangennech estate. He went on to marryNellie Grant, daughter ofPresident Ulysses Grant.[6]
Llangennech Park House was a country estate in what is now Maes Tŷ Gwyn. Attempts at securing protected site status were futile and it now stands abandoned.[7]
On 28 June 1843, rioters attacked and destroyed the Bridge End toll gate, which stood near where The Bridge public house stands today.
Whilst this is the only recorded occurrence of the Rebecca Riots in the village, residents still took part in them elsewhere.The Welshman reported that the murderer of Sarah Williams, who is believed to be the only victim killed during the riots, was a "named shoemaker of Llangennech".[8]
The village's coal industry dates back to at least the 17th century, where theDuchy of Lancaster survey in 1609 talks of a Thomas Lloyd's "coleworks" in the Allt area of the village. "Llangennech Coal", as it was known, was used extensively around the world.[9]
The village was home to a Royal Navy Stores Depot colloquially known as the 'RN'.[10][11] Over 1,000 workers were employed by the depot during theSecond World War.
Its closure in 1988 exacerbated the unemployment caused by the closures of other industry in the area.[12]
Though it no longer belongs to theRoyal Navy, the site still operates as a contractor for theMinistry of Defence,[citation needed] helping to equip theBronco All Terrain Tracked Carrier vehicles which were used by theBritish Army during thewar in Afghanistan.[13]
Llangennech community's population was 4,964, according to the2011 census;[3] an increase of 10.07% since the 4,510 people noted in2001.[18] The 2019 ONS estimates put the population at 5,153.[19]
The 2011 census showed 39.9% of the population could speakWelsh, a fall from 46.8% in 2001.[20]
TheAfon Morlais runs through the village. The Troserch Woodlands lie near the Afon Morlais, approximately one mile to the north of the village. It is owned by the Troserch Woodland Society.[21] The woodland received a communityGreen Flag award in 2021.[22] The remains of the old Troserch Mill stands in the woodland.[21]
Animals includingotters,hedgehogs and species ofreptile includinggrass snakes, thecommon lizard andadders have been recorded in the village.[23]
Llangennech is currently represented in theUK Parliament byNia GriffithMP[24] and in theWelsh Senedd byLee WatersMS,[25] both under theLlanelli constituency. Both are members of theLabour party.
Llangennech is also anelectoral ward, coterminous with the community,[26] which elects two county councillors toCarmarthenshire County Council. The village's county councillors elected in 2022 were Gary Jones and Jacqueline Seward.
On acommunity level, Llangennech is run byLlangennech Community Council. It currently seats 12 councillors who are elected on a quadrennial basis. Meetings are held in theLlangennech Community Centre andBryn Hall.
Llangennech is acommuter village[21] - 85.1% of households own at least one car.[27] The mainthoroughfare of the village, the B4297, connects with theA4138 road - northeast fromHendy and southwest fromBryn - which itself connects with junction 48 of theM4.
Two bus services operate in the village: the L3 and L7. These are run byFirst Cymru. Residents complained about the reliability of these services, leading local politicians to secure promises from the operator that the services would improve.[28][29]
.jpg)
Llangennech is served by theHeart of Wales line, with train services betweenSwansea andShrewsbury. Thefranchise for the line is currently run byTransport for Wales (TfW).
On 26 August 2020, ten tankersderailed near the village and spilled around 446,000 litres of fuel. The area of the spillage included a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and aSpecial Area of Conservation (SAC). The incident caused major damage to these environments.[citation needed]
Ysgol Gymraeg Llangennech is the only school in the village. As of 2021, there were 420 pupils on roll at the school.[30]
It is notable for its choir, which has competed in theUrdd Eisteddfod[31] and theBBC's Song of Praise'sSchool Choir of the Year competition which it won in 2015.[32][33]
In 2017, Carmarthenshire County Council voted 38–20 in favour of somewhat controversial plans for the school to switch from dual stream education to an exclusively Welsh-medium education.[34][35][36]
The school historically feeds intoYsgol Gyfun y Strade andBryngwyn Comprehensive School forsecondary education.[37]
There are 4 religious sites in the village: Bryn Seion, Capel Bethesda, St Gwynog's and Capel Salem. The latter 3 all containGrade II listed buildings.[38][39][40][41] Bryn Seion, aPresbyterian chapel, was the subject of a book written by the local resident and renowned historian Hywel Teifi Edwards.[42]
St Gwynog's contains a church built in 1908 at an estimated cost of £2,000. The architect wasE. M. Bruce Vaughan. Officially it is known as St Gwynog's, though it has also been known as St Cennych's. The site of St Gwynog's has been home to a church since 1345.[21]
In late 2018, theLlangennech and Bryn Sports Association (LBSA) was formed. It is a charitable organisation focused on promoting sports in the villages of Llangennech and Bryn, and lobbying for better sporting facilities.[43]
The village's rugby team isLlangennech RFC. There are a range of age groups able to play, and the main team play in the WRU Division One West league. Notable players include the bodybuilderFlex Lewis.[citation needed]
The village is represented in football byLlangennech AFC in theCarmarthenshire League.[44]
Cricket made its way to the village in 1881.[45] It is currently represented by Llangennech Cricket Club. It has three senior sides, all playing in the South Wales Cricket Association's leagues. In 2019 the club won both the All Wales Sport midweek league and cup.[46]
There is a bowling green in the village used by the Llangennech & Bryn bowls club.[citation needed]
Richard Janion Nevill suffered a stroke and died at Llangennech Park on 14 January 1856, aged seventy.(Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The neighbourhood of Llanelly is famous for the coal it produces, especially that description of coal known by the name of 'Llangennech Coal'
The Rosa Parks of the language movement in Wales was a polite but steel-willed housewife who, with her husband, refused to pay rates on their house in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, while Llanelli Rural District Council issued demands in English only.
In 1952 Trefor and Eileen Beasley moved into their first married home, 2 Yr Allt, Llangennech.(Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
Appointment as an extra-mural lecturer in Welsh literature at University College, Swansea, saw Edwards move in 1965 to his final home in Llangennech, near Llanelli, and marked the beginning of an idyllic thirty-year period of knowledge exchange with the working men and women he regarded as the backbone of Welsh culture.(Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)
Media related toLlangennech at Wikimedia Commons
Authority control databases: National |
|---|
