The Following Text is from author Alun Hughes from the book "The Church of Llanymawddwy" first published March 2001

Origins

The earliest written reference to Llanymawddwy church, so far as is known, is its inclusion among the churches of Mawddwy and Cyfeiliog in the Norwich Taxation of 1254. The valuation for Llanymawddwy was the highest of these churches, being given as three marks, while Mallwyd, Cemaes, Darowen and Bryn Mair are two marks each - one mark being two thirds of a pound. This valuation was made at the behest of Pope Innocent XXIII to enable Henry III to collect tithes to fund his proposed expedition to the Holy Land. The next reference is in the Taxation of Nicholas IV in 1291. On the Pope's orders, the church tithes for three years were to be paid to Edward I to defray the cost of the Crusade which he was undertaking. Llanymawddwy is listed together with the chapels at Mallwyd and Garthbeibio, and valued at ten pounds the rectorial parish and two pounds for the vicarage. This can be compared with the sum of four pounds each for the rectorial parishes of Cemaes and Darowen. This staggering increase in valuation between 1254 and 1291 is in line with the steep increases reported for the two northern dioceses of Bangor and St. Asaph, as a result of the Conquest of 1282.

The Following Text is from author Alun Hughes from the book "The Church of Llanymawddwy" first published March 2001

List of Rectors

Little is known of the early rectors who served the parish of Llanymawddwy. No reference can be found in "The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph" published at the beginning of the 20th century by D.R.Thomas, presumably because the Dyfi valley churches were transferred from the St.Asaph diocese to Bangor in 1859. To date, no comparable volume has come from Bangor, but in his "The Diocese of Bangor .during three centuries, 17th to 19th inclusive" A.V.Price lists the following under Llanymawddwy:

The Following Text is from author Alun Hughes from the book "The Church of Llanymawddwy" first published March 2001

Rectors up to 1849

Nothing is known of the first five rectors in the above list beyond the fact that Thomas ab William is given in Brown Willis "A Survey of St. Asaph" as the resident rector of Llanymawddwy in 1560.

Dr John Davies was rector of Mallwyd from 1604 until his death in 1644; Llanymawddwy was also in his care from 1613. He was a scholar of the first rank. The revised edition of the Bible of 1620 was his work, and the strength and purity of its language has had a marked effect in Wales. The Bible provided an exalted model of correct and majestic Welsh. Sunday after Sunday its splendid rhythms were heard by the congregations throughout Wales, and the Welsh people became accustomed to a lofty image of their language. John Davies also published a Welsh grammar in Latin and a Latin- Welsh dictionary. At Mallwyd he extended the church to the east to provide for a new chancel; he also built a strong solid tower, and a new south porch. He built a new rectory, which survives today. He threw three new bridges over the waters of the Dyfi and Cleifion rivers; these were vitally important to him in his wide travels. It is not surprising in the midst of all this activity, that he found little time to attend to Llanymawddwy; no new rectory for the curate - the old rectory here dates only from about 1830 - and the first bridge over the Pumrhyd river was not built until much later, in 1896. The old position of the footbridge can be clearly seen by peering over the west side of the bridge. Of course Dr Davies appointed a curate to look after Llanymawddwy, one Evan Roberts, who signed the parish registers and sent off the Bishops' transcripts recording christenings, marriages and funerals. But Dr Davies did not forget his parishioners; in a long pastoral letter, he apologises for his long absences, exhorts them to remain firm in their faith, and urges them to continue their Sunday observances. And this in impeccable Welsh.

The Following Text is from author Alun Hughes from the book "The Church of Llanymawddwy" first published March 2001

Rectors from 1849

The next rector to come here was John Williams Ab Ithel. He graduated from Jesus College, Oxford in 1835, where he came under the influence of the Tractarians such as Newman, Keble and Pusey, and with the revival of Gothic Christian architecture associated in particular with the name of Pugin. Ab Ithel rebuilt the church at Llanymawddwy in 1854 in the early English style, adding a chancel that is narrower than the nave, and divided from it by a plain pointed chamfered arch. The bell-cote and the west wall of the church remained, but the gallery was taken down. A water-colour painting of the church and surroundings by John Ingleby in 1781 to be found in Thomas Pennant's Tours in Wales copy at the Nat.Lib., shows the old church to be of the simple chamber structure, with no protruding chancel, but a porch of today's shape and height, and a simple bell- cote. In other words, the old church was built in the simple style of the 16th or even earlier centuries, but with a larger east window, probably added in the 1685 restoration. Local testimony speaks of narrow unbacked benches with just one or two high pews, so high in fact that they were out of sight of the remainder of the congregation.