Capel Cilgwyn Llangybi

[nigelw]

Does anyone know the original location of Cilgwyn Chapel before it was moved to Llangybi village in 1840.  Genuki states it was in a farm called Cilgwyn, however maps of that period show a Cilgwyn Uchaf and a Cilgwyn Isaf.  Also what became of the grave yard there?

[brawd houdini]

Hello nigelw,

Several issues here,1st.of all-what denomination?Several non-conformist sites contain a lot of historical facts.2ndly it,s possible there was no 'Chapel' in the sense that it was probably just a 'meeting-house',which would indicate that there was no grave-yard and people were buried under sufferance at their local Church.

As to the location I don't know,however to refer back to the 1st. point you might be lucky and find out there.Hope this helps in some way.

Regards,brawd houdini

[nigelw]

It was a Methodist chapel, it physically existed as one as it was apparantly re built in the village and there were burials there.

Nigel

[brawd houdini]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you,I was hoping to be able to confirm that what I remembered about Cilgwyn was correct.
Anyway,what I suspect is that the Cilgwyn you're seeking is or was a country mansion,so I would suspect that it's the one shown on the recent Ordnance Survey maps.
This Cilgwyn has become a Golf Club and the other dim recollection  that I have is that they faced considerable difficulties regarding some antiquities or other to do with the buildings or the land and that planning was only granted subject to these being safeguarded.If you want to further pursue this I suggest you contact the 'Cambrian News' in Aberystwyth-local weekly paper,or perhaps Ceredigion County Council's planning dept. or Archives.
I'm also under the impression that this Chapel was the oldest established Chapel in Wales but again I can't prove this.
A lot of supposition and not a lot more.
Hope it helps in anyway.

[jencairns]

Hi Nigel

The Cilgwyn you are interested in shouldn't be confused with either the golf course, or the mansion. I don't think it is the oldest cause in Wales either, Llanvaches and others are older - but pretty old nevertheless.

Cilgwyn, where the dissenting cause met - for safety presumably - was CILGWYN UCHAF, Llangybi ie the upper of the two farms called CILGWYN (the other is Cilgwyn Isaf), which is on the same narrow road out of the village.

There wasn't a graveyard at the farm - or I have never heard of one - there is now no sign of the old days there, except (as the farmer tells me) that when ploughing you can feel the unevenness of the land.

There is a narrow lane above Cilgwyn Ucha' above a cleft in the land where a stream runs. I have been told that the preacher would stand on one side of the small ravine, and the congregation on the other...

There was a split from Cilgwyn in the 1700s, as members who objected to the heresies of the original group (ie they disagreed, basically, over interpretations of the Trinity and the means of achieving Salvation) decamped down the road to Llangybi village, where they have met ever since - this is the Congregationalist Chapel (Annibyniol) - Capel Ebenezer. 

Later Cilgwyn moved down to the village as well.  The old Cilgwyn chapel book (now lost) apparently related that they took all the stones from the original meeting house, together with the larch trees, and built a new chapel - still standing, but now unused, in the village. 

There was a further split from Cilgwyn (who became Wesleyan Methodist) by the Calvinistic Methodists - who built yet another chapel just down the road.  At one stage within two miles of each other there were four chapels (the other was Beddyddwr - Baptists) and two churches.   

People - members of the other chapels nearby - who still live in the village remember fondly the Cwrdd Nos (evening meeting) which was held once a month in Cilgwyn chapel.  The old Cilgwyn graveyard is still with the chapel in the centre of the village.  The details of the stones inscriptions are in the book I have given details of below.

On line there are some of the Baptismal entries in the Cilgwyn records -

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyCardigan.htm#PageTitle

Cilgwyn Chapel Llangybi 1770-1878

For records of monumental inscriptions see the James's fantastic work in

Beddargraffiadau A Mynegion (Monumental Inscriptions and Indexes)
Vol XV Gartheli Area - which includes the gravestones of Cilgwyn.

This is in the National Library of Wales Aberystwyth - and also, I believe, in Aber. Public Library.

I hope you find this helpful.

Cheers

Jen

[nigelw]

Thanks Jen for your informative reply.  Genuki Llangybi states that there are records of burials at Cilgwyn Chapel from 1820. As the chapel was moved down to the village in 1840 there must have been burials at the original site.   The Cilgwyn Register at the National Library lists the members who had died since 1820, however it does not state that they were buried there. 

I'm interested to know whether the chapel retained the old patryonic naming system when recording baptisms etc.  I've traced the baptisms of the five children of David and Mary Jones, Nantybwch, baptised between 1803 and 1817.  Interestingly the entries refer to them as the children of David John David and Mary David John his wife. 

Regards

Nigel

[jencairns]

Hi NigelW

Dont know the answers to your questions but I will make a few enquiries.  Those names definitely look like patronymics.

Cheers

[jencairns]

Hi Nigel, we spoke on this subject in 2008 - and wondered whether you were still interested in the subject of Capel Cilgwyn. I did find out a bit about burials there, and one of the older village folk whose family now farm the land, did tell me that they were told that there had been burials there, but where is now not known. 

Since we communicated I too have traced the baptism of at least one child of my great great grandparents (who lived in Llangybi) to the Cilgwyn surviving records. I think it likely that it was my great great grandfather who was the moving spirit here, as gggm came from Gartheli. And they too used the traditional patronymic system.

Regards....

[ian_jones64]

Hi, your gggm from gartheli, was this Trefynor?