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 name of John Ffoulkes appears as the next rector but not until 1659. There is no other information from the death of Dr John Davies in 1644, but the name of Edward Wynn appears in a list of rectors given in a monthly journal Brython in 1862. We can find no confirmation of this in either the parish registers or in the Bishops' transcripts, but the conditions of these two records is extremely poor, and in any case these are many gaps, especially for the Commonwealth years.
The earliest registers now available are for the years 1627 to 1687 and have been bound together at the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth. They are extremely difficult to follow, and are not in date order. The registers for some of the Commonwealth years appear to have been completed after the Restoration in 1660. The Bishops' transcripts which John Ffoulkes made from the registers, are to be found in the N.L.W. starting in 1666, but they are incomplete. They are in Latin on strips of parchment with no other information apart from names and dates. He himself died in around 1695; he is said to have been buried under the old yew tree nearest the road. A record for these years is interesting. It is of a mustering that was held in 1693 towards raising an army, and the contributions from Llanymawddwy and Mallwyd parishes are recorded. The total comes to the astonishing sum of £1300; John Ffoulkes is among them - he contributed £25.
The next rector whose name appears in the rolls is William Jones. He keeps to the Latin, but heads his first roll: The Register Roll of Llanymawddwy exhibited at Llanfyllin, 5 June 1701. For many years in the 18th century, the rector or sometimes the curate, was required to present the roll for inspection before the archdeacon at either Welshpool or Llanfyllin. The annual roll was compiled from the parish registers, which were supposed to be kept safely in the parish which by the rector. Today however the rolls form the only record we have for many years. They and the earlier Bishops' transcripts they supplanted - are very valuable to the parish historian.
The rolls are in Latin until 1736, when suddenly Ricardus Hughes becomes Richard Hughes and from that date they are entirely in English. For many years the number of baptisms exceeds the number of deaths, and the number of marriages is seldom over three annually - the average being around fifteen baptisms, ten deaths and two marriages. It is noticeable that 1729 had many more deaths than normal; it rose to fifty that year with as many as twenty deaths in one two-month period. There must have been a virulent plague rampant in the district that year. The following year the number of deaths was down to seven.
There are two other sources of information which are vital in compiling a parish history. These are the church terriers and the rural dean reports. The terriers or list of lands belonging to the rector, were done infrequently, and refer to fields and boundaries which are in many cases no longer recognisable. The earliest terrier is indistinctly dated May 1630 and is signed by both John Davies, Rector and Evan Roberts, Curate. A terrier signed by John Ffoulkes in 1685 is similarly vague and difficult to decipher, and it is only when we come to 1729 and to Richard Hughes that the terrier is easy to read.
It starts by defining an item known by the names of Caedu and Dolhenllwyd of about five and a half acres lying between the lands of Heth Lloyd on the South part, the Pumrhyd on the North and the Dyfi on the East. This is clearly recognisable today as the field directly opposite the lych gate. There are other small parcels of land not identifiable today, but bringing a yearly rent of about five shillings, compared with the four pounds which the main field was worth. It continues: "We have no modus, but only twopence paid out of every tenement in the parish instead of Tythe hay, and one penny which is called a yearly offering. There never was a house or barn."
In the terriers of 1749 and 1774, in addition to a list of the rectorial lands, items in the church are also given: "the rector hath a pew, seven books including a Welsh bible, two Welsh Common Prayer folio, one Welsh book of Common Prayer and two parchment registers. One silver chalice without a cover or inscription, one pewter flagon, one pewter plate, two surplices, two cloths - one of linen, one woollen for the communion table, one napkin, one chest with three locks, one bell, two biers and three yew trees. The repair of the church and churchyard fence lies upon the parishioners". This list of items is actually for 1774 when Edward Owen was the rector. We can identify the items as follows: the two parchment registers are for 1735-1784 and for marriages from 1754-1812. These are now at the Nat.Lib. with facsimiles at the church. The silver chalice and the pewter flagon have been lost; the terrier of 1774 is their last mention. They are not recorded in the 1791 return made by the rector, Robert Nanney. The reference to a church bell complements a similar entry in the Rural Dean's report for the same period where it is stated that its condition is good. This is the existing bell. A few years ago the bell-cote was repaired, and it was found that the bell bore a superscription, in the following words:
COME TO PRAY, DON'T DELAY. 1742
The chest with three locks has also disappeared, probably replaced by the present strong iron chest of 1813.
The rural dean reports start in 1709. It is by William Davies of Llanwrin, "Found it in a tolerably good repair, of a country church and no great defects, but that the Holy Table wants to be railed about and the church to be adorned with choice sentences out of Holy scripture according to the canon. There is no house belonging to the rector".
The next report is for 1729 by David Wynne. He states that "part of the south wall of the church is decaying, the roof needs attention, the communion table, desk and pulpit were old and decayed. The altar table lacked a carpet and cloth. A good silver chalice and a pewter flagon and two pewter flagons. Two Welsh books of common prayer and an English one; a very old torn imperfect Bible. Sitting places for the parishioners much wanted. The churchyard partly well, and partly ill fenced. A register and a chest to keep the church utensils in".
Barely three years elapsed before the next report which is unsigned. It is stated that the rectory is worth £120 per annum - "no house unless Mr Hughes will appropriate the house wherein he lives to the church as it was intended". The church had a very poor appearance, being still without altar rails and the whole appeared neglected. Richard Hughes had obviously done little since 1729. The east wall was beginning to crumble and there were just a few plain benches for the parishioners, "the floor uneven, full of rushes and dust...pulpit and books to be got anew by the next correction. There is no school."
The next report is both unsigned and undated, but from its content it is clear that it post-dated 1732. The chancel had been repaired by this time," but the south wall was much out of repair. No railings about the communion table, benches in disorder. The communion plate was quite small but good. Table cloth to be provided immediately. One small bell, good...Service all in Welsh. Register in parchment well kept. The glebe is worth about 40 shillings a year, but no house thereon; rector is obliged to live in a hired house."
These Reports show clearly how poverty stricken Llanymawddwy church was throughout the 18th Century, a condition no different from the previous centuries, without a rectory for the rector, without seating accommodation, an uneven rush or dusty floor, the walls crumbling, a constant battle against the ravages of time. A far cry from the proud days of the pre-Norman era, when it boasted its stature as a mother church, with its daughter churches of Cemaes, Mallwyd and Garthbeibio.
The registers from 1739 to 1755 are signed by Lewis Jones, and are listed by Baptisms, Marriages and Burial for each year. They cease in 1755, and thereafter the only records are of marriage, in another register. These have been signed by curates such as Rhys Annwyl, Edward Watkin and Hugh Hughes. The reason that Lewis Jones employed curates at Llanymawddwy is that he was given the parish of Llanbedrog, Caernarfonshire in 1754, too far away to allow him but rare visits.
The next rector is Edward Owen who came in 1770. By this time, in addition to the names of the parishioners, their homes are also recorded. This started in 1702 with William Jones, but it was by no means a regular practice until the 1770s. We now get Blaen Cywarch, Esgair Adda, Pentre'r Wern, Ty Gwyn, Bedw Gwynion, Ty'n Ffridd, Llan, Perth y Felin, Cae Peris, Cilwern, Pen yr Erw, etc. Edward Owen did not employ a curate until 1776 when William Williams came. The reason for this is that in addition to being the rector here, Edward Owen had to combine this with the stewardship of Lord Bagot's estate. He managed to combine both jobs until 1791, although it could not have been easy and must have demanded frequent and extended absences from his parish. However, in the end His Lordship, becoming annoyed with his steward's involvement with Llanymawddwy's affairs, contrived to get him moved to a living much nearer the estate office at Llanfwrog by Denbigh. This was not too difficult, as his Lordship's brother was the Bishop of St. Asaph, in which see both Llanymawddwy and Llanfwrog were included. The rector of Llanfwrog did not raise much objection, especially when he realised that he could continue the employment of a curate at Llanymawddwy, and live at his family home at Nannau near Dolgellau, he being Robert Nannau.
William William's name does not appear in the registers after 1783. He was succeeded in early 1784 by a very well-known Welsh divine, Thomas Charles of Bala. He was only here for three months, but in that short time officiated at three weddings. It has to be realised that Thomas Charles had taken as his wife Sally Jones from Bala, and she was an active Methodist. Despite the fact that he was an ordained priest of the church, it must have been felt by his superiors that the taint of Methodism and enthusiasm were dangers that were best avoided, and so he was removed from his post after only three months.
The next curate was Thomas Richards from 1784 until 1801. His stipend was £30 per annum, the tithe of around £200 annually being the rector's. Thomas Richards was also a Methodist, but he stayed solidly within the church. Whilst a curate at Llancynfelin before coming here, he used to frequent the services at Llangeithio in mid- Cardiganshire held by Daniel Rowland, one of the three leaders of Welsh Methodism. He brought with him to Llanymawddwy a concern and spiritual care for the parishioners, and consequently he was admired and respected in the area. He and his wife Jane raised a large household of exceptionally talented children – all five boys became priests in the church and the three girls carried on their parent's good work throughout their lives.
In Ceunant y Felin not far from the church are to be seen initials cut in the soft shaley-mudstone of the numerous waterfalls. These have been carefully cut, and the initials include: R.R.1796, D.R.1792, D.R.1796, D.R.1798, T.R.1800, T.R.1805, T.C.R.1842. The first three represent three sons of Thomas and Jane Richards, respectively Richard, later the rector of Caerwys and of Meifod, David, later vicar of Llansilin from 1819 till his death in 1826, and Thomas the rector of Llangynyw from 1826 till 1855. Especially poignant is the last, that of T.C.R.1842. He is Thomas Cynddelw Richards, who came back to the place of his father's childhood, and carved his initials next to his father David who had died 16 years before. Here is a good place to note another initial cut in the smooth stone, that of Henry Thomas Edwards with the date 1849. He was the third son of William Edwards, rector of Llanymawddwy from 1834 till 1849. H.T.E. was born in 1837, thus he was only a lad of twelve when he cut his initials here, and very well and expertly done. He rose to become the dean of Bangor cathedral, a respected advocate of the church by the Nonconformists, and upholder of the Welsh language and of the Welsh see in the cultural life of the Principality. To him is attributed the fact that henceforth the ability to speak Welsh was considered essential in the appointment of new bishops.
It was during the curacy of Thomas Richards that Llanymawddwy was visited by John Malchair of Oxford, the well-known artist and musician. He met Mr Richards "the clergyman of the place" who showed him the stupendous view of Cwm Dyniewyd and of Moel y Ffridd from beyond Ceunant y Felin. The result is a drawing in pencil and Indian ink, entitled "Moel y Ffridd" which was presented by Fleming-Williams in 1995 to the Tate Gallery. In the catalogue to Malchair's work, it is described as "conveying better than almost any other drawing the intensity of Malchair's feelings in this sublime landscape, and the majestic power of the mountain that seems to stride across the composition."
After the appointment of Thomas Richards as rector of Darowen in 1801, various curates served at Llanymawddwy, among them Thomas Morgan, David Davies, William Pughe, David Evans and George Griffiths as well as two sons of Thomas Richards, Richard and David. During the curacy of William Pughe, the heavy iron safe to keep the church documents and valuables, was bought. It was presumably ordered and paid for by the rector, Robert Nannau, for it bears the legend:
LLANYMOWDDER REGISTER 1813
In 1819 William Wynne Owen was appointed the rector. He had been christened at the church 44 years previously by his father Edward Owen, the rector/steward. Charles Ashton, the notable Welsh historian, recalled in 1888 that the old inhabitants remembered Mr Owen as a kind and generous gentleman. He goes on to relate: "On many a wild and wet Sunday morning, no-one would be present except the parson and the bell-ringer. One of the most loyal members was Catrin Owen of the Bryn. The rector would then request the ringer before starting matins to go outside and check whether Catrin Owen was to be seen. If she was not, then he would say: We may as well start then, nobody else will come. But if anyone turned up, especially from a distance, he or she was made welcome and invited for a bite to eat at the rectory."
The church register makes quite clear however that Wynne Owen was largely an absentee rector until 1827, the curate George Griffiths officiating from 1816 until 1827. The probability is that the rectory would have been built by 1827, affording a suitable home for a rector - 200 years after the Mallwyd rectory was built. This date of the mid-1820s is confirmed in a list made in 1939 of the contents of the safe, the date 1822 being given for the rectory deeds. Wynne Owen came to live here at the rectory from 1827 until his death in May 1834. He is buried under the young yew tree north of the church.
Before moving on to consider the rectorship of William Edwards, we will quote from the Topographical Dictionary of Wales by Samuel Lewis of 1833 and 1838. "The living at Llanymawddwy is a rectory rated in the King's books at £16.18s.4d. The tithes have been commuted for a rent charge of £218. There is a glebe house, and the glebe comprises 12 acres valued at £18p.a. The church is an ancient structure in the early style of English architecture and contains 300 sittings, of which those in the gallery are free." Clearly therefore a gallery had been built by the time the Rev. William Edwards arrived in 1834. Apparently a major alteration to the church took place in 1685 according to a return made by William Edwards in 1849. This would place it in the time of William Ffoulkes, although as we have seen, there is no mention of a gallery in any of the terriers or rural dean reports of the 18th century. No trace of a gallery remains today, but we think it must have been sited above the area around the font, with stairs in the present vestry.
William Edwards arrived here over the mountains from Llanwyddelan in Montgomeryshire, with his wife mounted on the horse behind him, a distance of about twenty miles. That is how their arrival in Llanymawddwy is described by their son, Alfred George, the future Archbishop of Wales, in his interesting book "Memories", published in 1927. The church was described as mean and dark, the roof and walls poor, the pulpit and the altar dirty, everywhere signs of neglect and untidiness.
Llanymawddwy was the first parish as rector for William Edwards, and he showed early signs of exceptional industry. He restarted the Sunday school, appointing five adult teachers, purchasing a number of textbooks, in addition 50 Welsh testaments plus 5 Welsh Bibles. In his replies to a questionnaire of Bishop Vowler Short, he states that the average attendance was 110, and the number of communicants 45 monthly. A Bible class was held every Friday night and he also held services at Cywarch with the miners. He mentions the latest terrier completed in 1791 by Thomas Richards; this states that the altar table-now the vestry table-was in good condition, and makes the first mention of the stone font.
In the Charity Commissioners' report for 1846, it is stated that the school was visited on January 1st. School was held in the church and there were 39 boys and girls present. Seven could read mostly in Welsh, and only three could answer Scripture questions. "When I approached the church, I found the boys kicking football, although it was during school hours. They knew nothing of the English language. The master is a labourer and a weaver of very little education, and understands very little English." This report, typical of many others throughout Wales at this time, culminated eventually in a thorough overhaul of the education provided in Wales.
William Edwards left Llanymawddwy in 1849 on his appointment as Vicar of Llangollen, the future Archbishop of Wales being just a babe in arms then, and the future Dean of Bangor cathedral an active lad of 12. A memorial brass plate on the north wall of the church commemorates the Dean, who was highly was highly regarded in Llanymawddwy. William Edwards was also esteemed as a man, and as a hard-working rector. At Llangollen he and his family met and became friendly with George Borrow, who made Llangollen his main base when he was travelling about Wales in 1854 and compiling his most interesting book, "Wild Wales". He writes: " I found him to be a first-rate Greek and Latin scholar, and also proficient in the poetical literature of his own country." A delightful residence was the vicarage, situated among trees in the neighbourhood of the Dee, and Borrow and his wife spent an agreeable time with Mr Edwards and his family.