LLANSANNAN (LLAN-SANNAN), a parish, in the union of ST-ASAPH, Higher division of the hundred of ISALED, county of
DENBIGH, NORTH WALES, 8 miles (W.) from Denbigh; containing 1406 inhabitants. This place derives its name from the
dedication of its church to St. Sannan, the intimate friend and companion of the father of St. Winifred, who lived here in
religious seclusion, and was buried near the remains of the latter at Gwytherin. The village is situated at the head of
the narrow vale of the river Aled, which rises in Aled at no great distance, and in its course through the vale forms some
interesting and picturesque cascades. The parish comprises a very considerable tract of arable and pasture land, of which
by far the greater portion is inclosed; the soil, though various, is tolerably fertile; and the rateable annual value is
returned at £3946. The surrounding scenery is almost totally devoid of natural beauty, and the country adjacent presents
little more than an uninviting prospect of dreary wastes and mountainous ground. In the small vale near the village stands
Dyfryn Aled, a splendid mansion, built by the late Mrs. Yorke, the heiress of the estate, and situated on the slope of a
hill opposite the old house, which was for several generations a seat of the Wynne family. Fairs, chiefly for the sale of
cattle, horses, sheep, and wool, are held annually on May 18th, August 17th, October 26th, and November 30th. The living
consists of a rectory in two comportions, and a vicarage, both in the patronage of the Bishop of St. Asaph. Each portion
of the rectory, of which one was united to the vicarage by act of parliament in the 29th and 30th of Charles II., is rated
in the king's books at £6. 10. 5.; present net income of the separate portion, £185. The vicarage is rated at £5. O. 10.;
present net income £376, with a glebe-house. The church is an ancient edifice, occupying a somewhat romantic situation,
but possessing no architectural details of importance. There are places of worship for Baptists and Calvinistic
Methodists. A National school, commenced in 1:419, and containing about 50 children, is partly supported by annual
subscriptions from the clergy, amounting to £15. 3., for the education of 30 children, the rest being paid for by their
parents; and in another day school about 20 children are instructed at their parents' expence. There are also four Sunday
schools, two appertaining to Calvinistic Methodists, and one each to Baptists and Independents, and conducted gratuitously
by members of their respective congregations; in which 535 males and females are taught. The benefaction table in the
church records four charities, amounting to £60, the interest of which was to be dispensed to the sick and destitute, but
it would appear from Gilbert's return of 1786, and other documents, that the principal was borrowed by the parish to
defray the repairs of the church; a small sum was paid annually out of the church-rate until 1835, when it was agreed at
vestry that it should be discontinued, and it is therefore lost to the poor.