LLANVIHANGEL-GENEU'R-GLYN, or LANVIHANGEL-CASTELL-GWALTER (LLLAN-FIHANGEL-GENAU-Y-GLYN), a parish, in the union of
ABERYSTWITH, upper division of the hundred of GENEU'R-GLYN, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 5 miles (N. E.) from
Aberystwith; comprising the townships of Ceulanand Maesmawr, Cyvoeth-y-Brenhin, Cynnullmawr, Henllys, Scybor-y-Coed, and
Tirmynycli; and containing 3835 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the shore of St. George's Channel, is of
considerable extent, and is watered by the rivers Lery, Ceulan, Maesmawr, Llyvnant, and Davey: the greater part of it is
hilly, but that portion near' the coast is rather flat, and was subiect to partial inundation previously to the embankment
of the Lery within the last few years. The river Dovey, by which the parish is bounded on the north, separates
Cardiganshire from Merioneth, and also forms the boundary between North and South Wales; and the river Llyvnant, which
rises in the Plinlimmon mountain, and falls into the Dovey, divides it from-Montgomeryshire. Walter PEspee, one of the
Norman invaders, who bad acquired some lands in this part of the principality, erected a castle, for the security of his
possessions, on the summit of a lofty eminence near the church: this fortress, called Castell Gwalter, from which the
parish also derives a portion of its name, was destroyed in the year 1136, by Cadwaladr and Owain Gwynedd, sons of Grufydd
ab Cynan, who also took the castle of Aberystwyth.. The parish is supposed to have been the place of sepulture of the
eminent bard Taliesin, whose remains are thought to have been deposited in a cist-vaen on' the summit of the mountain Pen
Sam Ddil, and thence called Gwely Taliesin, or " Taliesin's Bed:" the popular tradition concerning. this bed is, that
should any one sleep in it for a might, he would be-- come either a poet or an idiot. The gwely is com- posed of six
stones, of which five are so placed as to form an oblong chest, and the sixths which consti.. tuted the covering stone,
and was more than six feet long and three feet six inches broad, has been removed and placed on one side: it is in the
centre of a circle of stones twenty-seven feet in diameter, ,surrounded by another circle of thirty-one feet in diameter.
Taliesin died about the year 570, but these relics are evidently of a much earlier date, and are, without doubt, of
Druidical origin, like numerous other remains found in this place. A remarkable sand-bank, termed Sam Gynvelin, or
Gwallog, stretches from the coast here, for several miles in a south-western direction, into the bay of Cardigan, and is
partly dry, and partly covered at the ebb tide with only from one to two fathoms of water, though immediately contiguous
the soundings vary from three to seven fathoms. Flannel is manufactured on a very limited scale: lead-ore is found in the
parish, and mines, some of which are rich in silver, are worked with spirit by different companies; the number abandoned
is very great. The river Dovey affords facility to the trade, which consists principally in the shipping of lead-ore and
bark, and the importation of timber, coal, and limestone. The small village of Carreg, situated at the mouth of the Dovey,
is well adapted for this purpose, as vessels of nearly three hundred tons' burthen can approach its wharfs, where the
craft employed are generally stationed. Tidybont, which stands on the road between Aberystwith and Machynlleth, at the
junction of the river Ceulan with the Lery, is also another considerable village in the parish, the well-wooded
scenerysurroundingwhich is remarkably pleasing and picturesque. The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's
books at £12; present net income, £221, with a glebe-house; patron, Bishop of St. David's; impropriator, T. P.
Chichester, Esq. Part of the township of Cyvoeth-y-Brenhin pays the great tithes to the vicar, who receives only one-
fourth part of the small tithes throughout the whole of this extensive parish. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a
spacious cruciform structure, in the later style of English architecture, appropriately fitted up for the. performance of
divine service; and it and a church yard are particularly admired on account of their secluded and rural aspect; the
latter being situated on a declivity, which is neatly laid out in terraces. A portion of land for an additional cemetery
was recently obtained, through the influence of the Commissioners for the building of new churches, without any
appropriation of the funds entrusted to their management by parliament. There are places of worship for Baptists,
Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A day school of 60 boys and 90 girls, in the township of Cyvoeth-y-
Brenhin, is supported by the trustees of Mrs. Bevan's charity; and a school in Cynnullmawr, containing about 30 children,
is endowed with £15 per annum, being the interest of a bequest of £300 by David Jones, in 1732, and John Jones, in 1833,
for the education of poor children of the entire parish. The other schools consist of daily ones, in which 85 children are
taught at the expense of their parents; and 15 Sunday schools, affording gratuitous instruction to 1320 males and
females. Traces of part of the ancient Roman road, Sarn Helen, leading from one old mine to another, as well as remains of
Roman stations and encampmeos, may be discerned on several of the hills in the parish.