Newcastle Emlyn
Encyclopedia
Newcastle Emlyn is a town
straddling the counties of Ceredigion
and Carmarthenshire
in west Wales
(though officially it is in Carmarthenshire) and lying on the River Teifi
.
Adpar
is the part of the town that lies on the Ceredigion side of the River Teifi. It was formerly called Trefhedyn and was an ancient Welsh borough
in its own right.
which was an administrative district in Medieval Dyfed
. The cantref was made part of the Norman
March
in the 12th century.
Notable buildings in the town include a ruined 13th-century castle
, first mentioned in Brut y Tywysogion
in 1215, when it was seized by Llewelyn the Great . The castle was captured by the Welsh during the revolt of 1287-8 and also by Owain Glyndwr
in 1403.
Newcastle Emlyn has a town hall and secondary school
, Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn. Attractions around the area include an art gallery
, the Attic Theatre company, the National Woollen Museum
. The Teifi Valley Railway
is also nearby, although the town has not had a passenger train service since 1952.
towns across Wales
, Newcastle Emlyn has managed to maintain a wide range of local services, based mainly on small family businesses. The town's largest employer is the Saputo
factory which manufactures Mozzarella cheese using locally sourced dairy produce.
, 69% of the 941 people who live within Newcastle Emlyn speak fluent Welsh
.
Taken together with Adpar on the Ceredigion side of the river Teifi, the area's total population is approximately 1,500 people.
and Newcastle Emlyn RFC
are a rugby union team who are members of the Welsh Rugby Union
.
breathing fire and smoke, alighted on the castle walls and, having cast threatening glances around, settled down to sleep. Its appearance on the castle at first brought terror to all but, after the fear had died down, a few brave townsfolk sought to destroy the fearsome monster.
A soldier devised the plan of wading the river Teifi to a point of vantage on the castle side and letting a red cloak float in the river and shooting the gwiber in a vulnerable under-part of the body. The creature, so violently startled from its slumber, caught sight of the cloak and fell upon it with horrible shrieks and tore it to shreds. The assailant meanwhile, escaped to a place of safety.
The wyvern, in its death throes, turned onto its back and floated down the river. From its wound gushed forth a most loathsome venom which polluted the water and killed all the fish. The legend tells of the great joy of the townsfolk when they saw the monster dead.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
straddling the counties of Ceredigion
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
and Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
in west Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
(though officially it is in Carmarthenshire) and lying on the River Teifi
River Teifi
The River Teifi forms the boundary between the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales for most of its 75 mile length, flowing into the sea below the town of Cardigan. The catchment of the river is estimated to be 1,008 square kilometres yielding an average flow at Glan...
.
Adpar
Adpar
Adpar, formerly Trefhedyn, is a village in Ceredigion, Wales now considered as a part of Newcastle Emlyn to which it is joined by a fine bridge across the River Teifi. Adpar used to be an ancient Welsh borough in its own right.-History:...
is the part of the town that lies on the Ceredigion side of the River Teifi. It was formerly called Trefhedyn and was an ancient Welsh borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
in its own right.
History
The town takes its name from the cantref of EmlynEmlyn
Emlyn was one of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed, an ancient district of Wales. It subsequently became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the northern part of Dyfed bordering on the River Teifi...
which was an administrative district in Medieval Dyfed
Dyfed
Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972, and covered approximately the same geographic extent as the ancient Principality of Deheubarth, although excluding the Gower Peninsula and the area west of the River Tawe...
. The cantref was made part of the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
March
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
in the 12th century.
Notable buildings in the town include a ruined 13th-century castle
Newcastle Emlyn Castle
Newcastle Emlyn Castle, in the town of Newcastle Emlyn in Carmarthenshire, Wales.The ruined 13th-century castle, mentioned in Brut y Tywysogion in 1215, when it was seized by Llewelyn the Great . . It was recaptured by English forces in 1288, bringing Rhys ap Maredudd's revolt to an end...
, first mentioned in Brut y Tywysogion
Brut y Tywysogion
Brut y Tywysogion is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. Brut y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has...
in 1215, when it was seized by Llewelyn the Great . The castle was captured by the Welsh during the revolt of 1287-8 and also by Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
in 1403.
Newcastle Emlyn has a town hall and secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
, Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn. Attractions around the area include an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, the Attic Theatre company, the National Woollen Museum
National Woollen Museum
The National Woollen Museum located in Drefach Felindre, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire is part of the National Museum Wales.-Background:Historically and into the 19th century, the production and processing of wool surpassed even coal as the most important of Wales' industries...
. The Teifi Valley Railway
Teifi Valley Railway
The Teifi Valley Railway is a gauge railway operating between Llandysul and Newcastle Emlyn along the River Teifi, South Wales. It is a narrow-gauge tourist railway built on the GWR part of the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway and currently operating on about two miles of track...
is also nearby, although the town has not had a passenger train service since 1952.
Economy
Unlike many small ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
towns across Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, Newcastle Emlyn has managed to maintain a wide range of local services, based mainly on small family businesses. The town's largest employer is the Saputo
Saputo Incorporated
Saputo Inc. is a Montreal-based Canadian dairy company. Founded as a cheese store in 1954 by Italian immigrant Giuseppe Saputo, today Saputo’s business includes cheese, baked goods and milk production, and it is the world's twelfth largest dairy producing company...
factory which manufactures Mozzarella cheese using locally sourced dairy produce.
Demography
Up until the 1960s, 90% of the town's population was Welsh-speaking. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, 69% of the 941 people who live within Newcastle Emlyn speak fluent Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.
Taken together with Adpar on the Ceredigion side of the river Teifi, the area's total population is approximately 1,500 people.
Sports
Newcastle Emlyn has both a football and rugby team. Newcastle Emlyn Football Club are members of the Football Association of WalesFootball Association of Wales
The Football Association of Wales is the governing body of association football in Wales. It is a member of FIFA, UEFA and the IFAB.Established in 1876 , it is the third-oldest national association in the world, and is one of the four associations The Football Association of Wales (FAW) is the...
and Newcastle Emlyn RFC
Newcastle Emlyn RFC
Newcastle Emlyn RFC is a Welsh rugby union club based on the outskirts of the town in the community of Adpar, Ceredigion on the north bank of the River Teifi...
are a rugby union team who are members of the Welsh Rugby Union
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...
.
The legend of Emlyn Wyvern
The story of Gwiber Castell Newydd Emlyn (the Wyvern of Newcastle Emlyn) is a local tradition. It tells how, on one of the fair days when the town was full of people, a fierce winged viper called a wyvernWyvern
A wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail...
breathing fire and smoke, alighted on the castle walls and, having cast threatening glances around, settled down to sleep. Its appearance on the castle at first brought terror to all but, after the fear had died down, a few brave townsfolk sought to destroy the fearsome monster.
A soldier devised the plan of wading the river Teifi to a point of vantage on the castle side and letting a red cloak float in the river and shooting the gwiber in a vulnerable under-part of the body. The creature, so violently startled from its slumber, caught sight of the cloak and fell upon it with horrible shrieks and tore it to shreds. The assailant meanwhile, escaped to a place of safety.
The wyvern, in its death throes, turned onto its back and floated down the river. From its wound gushed forth a most loathsome venom which polluted the water and killed all the fish. The legend tells of the great joy of the townsfolk when they saw the monster dead.
Notable people
People born at Newcastle Emlyn include:- Evan Herber EvansEvan Herber EvansEvan Herber Evans , was a Welsh Nonconformist minister.Evans was born at Pant-yr-onen near Betws Ifan in Ceredigion. As a boy he saw something of the Rebecca Riots, and went to school at the neighboring village of Llechryd. In 1853 he went into business, first at Pontypridd and then at Merthyr...
(1836-96), Congregational minister - Dill JonesDill JonesDillwyn Owen Paton Jones, or Dill Jones , was a Welsh jazz stride pianist.-Biography:Jones was born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, on 19 August 1923. He was brought up in New Quay on the Cardiganshire coast. Music was in the family as his mother was a pianist and his aunt played organ at the...
(1923-84), jazz stride pianist - Peter Rees JonesPeter Rees JonesPeter Rees Jones was the son of Thomas Jones, a hat maker, born in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, Wales and founder of the Peter Jones department store in Sloane Square, London, England....
(1843–1905), founder of department store - Allen RaineAllen RaineAllen Raine was the pseudonym of the Welsh novelist Anne Adalisa Beynon Puddicombe .She was born Anne Adalisa Evans in Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, the daughter of a lawyer Benjamin and Letitia Grace Evans...
(1836–1908), novelist - Dr. Martyn Lloyd-JonesMartyn Lloyd-JonesDavid Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh Protestant minister, preacher and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London...
, a prominent evangelical leader in Great Britain, is buried in the town.