LLANVECHAN, or LLAN-YN-MECHAIN, a parish, in the union of LLANVYLLIN, hundred of POOL, county of MONTGOMERY, NORTH WALES,
7 miles (W. by N.) from Oswestry; containing 733 inhabitants. The name of this place is derived from its situation nearly
in the centre of a beautiful vale in the north-eastern part of the county, of circular form, and about three miles in
diameter, watered by the meandering river Cain, and from that circumstance called Mechain, or Mach Cain, "the tract of the
Cain." The parish comprises a considerable portion of fertile, amble, and pasture land, in a state of excellent
cultivation; and its entire surface, consisting of about five thousand acres, is now inclosed; the whole of the common and
waste grounds, together with those in the manors of Mechain Iscoed and Plus Dinas, having been allotted under the
provisions of an act of parliament obtained in 1789. Of the rateable annual value, the return for the whole parish amounts
to £4855, but exclusively of the township of Ll's to £4655. The turnpike-road from Shrewsbury and Oswestry to Llanvyllin
passes near the village, which has a prepossessing appearance, and derives much interest from the beauty of its situation.
The living is a rectory, rated in the king's books at X8. 15. 10.; patron, Bishop of St. Asaph: the tithes have been
commuted for a rent-charge of £558; and there is a glebe-house, with a glebe of nearly 31 acres, valued at £60 per annum.
The church, dedicated to St. Garmon, is an ancient and venerable structure, near Fynnon Armon, the well of the patron
saint, the water of which was formerly held in such veneration that the baptismal font was invariably supplied with it.
There are places of worship for Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A day and Sunday National school, established in
1832, by the Rev. Thomas Griffith, curate of the parish, and in which about sixty children are instructed, is partly
supported by subscription, and partly by payments from the parents; the master is paid a salary of £20 per annum. There is
also a Sunday school, held in the meeting-house of the Calvinistic Methodists, in which 40 males and females receive
gratuitous instruction. Mrs. Anne Vaughan, in 1715, and Mr. John Moody, in 1718, gave, by deed, rent-charges of £2 and £3
respectively; and Mr. Charles Edwards, in 1727, and the Rev. Dr. William Wynne, in 1776, each presented £50 in money, to
the poor: the third bequest has yielded nothing for the last fifty years; the fourth has been secured on the Mold turnpike
trust, paying an interest of £5 per cent. In addition to the above charities, William Allen, Esq., of Aylesbury, Bucks,
granted, in 1831, five shares in the Vauxhall Bridge Company, yielding a dividend of £4.10. per annum, which is
distributed in coal. At no great distance from the church, and close to the turnpike-road, are the remains of an ancient
British encampment; and above Bqngwkn, a residence rebuilt by Martin Williams, Esq., some years ago, are vestiges of
another; but of neither of them have any historical particulars been recorded. There are also in the vicinity several
other British encampments, including one called " Moel Dinam," which, from the resemblance of the names, Mr. Edward Llwyd
vaguely conjectures to have been the Mediolanum of the Romans. Within the limits of the parish are the remains of several
old mansions, now abandoned by their proprietors, among which the principal are, Bodynvoel, the residence of the Trevors;
and Brongam, the mansion of the family of Griffith, descendants of the Idnerths. The Rev. Walter Davies, A.M., late rector
of Manavon, eminent as a philologist and antiquary, and profoundly skilled in the literature and antiquities of his
country, was a native of this parish: he first rose to a very elevated station as a candidate, and subsequently as an
arbiter, in the grand Eisteddvodau of the principality; and published some useful and interesting works, among which are,
a translation of "Gisborne's Familiar Survey of Christianity;" an Agricultural Survey of North Wales, in one volume, 8vo.,
undertaken at the request of Sir John Sinclair, and a similar Survey of South Wales, in two volumes, at the request of
Lord Sheffield; besides communicating some valuable papers to various Cambrian periodicals, and aiding with his literary
and scientific acquirements many works relating to Wales and Welsh literature.