LLANVAIR (LLAN-FAIR), a parish, in the union of FESTINIOG, hundred of ARDUDWY, county of MERIONETH, NORTH WALES, lf mile
(S.) from Harlech; containing 464 inhabitants. This parish is situated in the western part of the county, on the road
from Barmouth to Harlech, and upon the shore of Cardigan bay, over which it commands a fine and extensive view, and was
visited, towards the latter part of the twelfth century, by Archbishop Baldwin, accompanied by Giraldus Cambrensis, in his
tour to preach the crusades through the principality, who passed one night at this place in his way from Towyn to Nevin.
In 1810 an act of parliament was obtained for improving the common and waste lands, under the provisions of which two
thousand six hundred and fifty-nine acres have been inclosed, and of this extent a great part has been brought into
cultivation. The surface of the parish is strikingly varied with mountainous eminences, but the scenery is marked rather
with features of bold grandeur than of pleasing or picturesque beauty. The distant views presentseveral objects of
interest and variety, among which, as seen from the higher grounds, are the remains of Harlech Castle, occupying a
commanding eminence overlooking the fine open bay. The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £6.
10. 10., and endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty; present net income, £165, with a glebe-house;
patron, Bishop of Bangor: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £149. 17. 6.; and there is a glebe of three
acres, valued at £3 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient edifice, romantically situated in a very
retired spot, under the shelter of some precipitous mountains that rise immediately behind it to a considerable height. A
day school, containing about 15 boys and 15 girls, is supported by the trustees of Mrs. Bevan's charity; and there is a
Sunday school, in which about 30 males and females are taught gratuitously by Calvinistic Methodists. Samuel Pool, in the
year 1664, bequeathed a portion of land; Griffith Rowlands, in 1732, left £20 in money; and William Wynne, in 1761, and
William Morgan, in 1778, £10 each, to the poor, for whose benefit also several smaller charitable donations have been
made. With the principal portion of these bequests a piece of land was purchased in 1831 for £20, on which two small
houses were erected at a cost of £35; and in these two poor families are permitted to reside rent-free, the parish
allowing £2. 15. interest for the money expended, which sum, with £1. 10. from the Pool and Wynne benefactions, is
distributed at Easter and Christmas among the poor. On the farm of Gwerneinion, in the parish, are the remains of a
cromlech.