VAINOR, or VAYNOR or MAENOR (Y-FAENOR), a parish, in the union of MERTHYR-TYDVIL hundred of PENCELLY, county of
BRECKNOCK, SOUTH WALES, ak miles (N. by E.) from Merthyr-Trivil; containing 2286 inhabitants. This parish comprises
the hamlets of Coedycymmer, Dy(rya, and Geld, in mbich last is the church, and is situated on the Lesser TM* river, about
two miles to the left of the turnpike-road from Beecham* to Mer,thyr-Tydvil. It includes an extensive tram of land, of
which a very considerable portion is uninclooed sod uncultivated; but the remainder produces very good crops of grain, and
excellent pasturage for sheep and cattle; and the annual value of the rateable property in the whole has been returned at
£2356. The surreanding scenery is pleasingly diversified, and the adjacent country abounds with interesting objects; the
views over the counties of Bream& Monmouth, and Glamorgan, being extensive and picturesque. Limestone is found in
various parts, and the procuring of it affords employment to a portion of the inhubitants, of whom the -rest are engaged
in agricultirre, and in the was at Merthyr-'l'yelvil. For the accommodation of the -persons occupied in the iron-works of
that place the village of Coedycymmer, in this parish, appears to -have arisen; it is built upon a tract of common,
without any regard to regularity or order, and is almost exclusively inhabited by those employed is the works, since the
establishment of which the parish has greatly increased in population. Some lead-ore has been occasionally discovered -
above .cynimer, near the turnpike-road, though not In sufficient quantity to remunerate the labours of the miner; and
twosmall woollen manufactories have also been carried on for some years; but the number of engaged is very inconsiderable.
17tee LINING is a rectory, rated In the king's books at f-3. a 11-4, and in the patronage of the Crown; present gross
income, £292, arising from tithes, producing £260, and glebe land £82. The advwwson prior to the Reformation, was vested
in the lords of Brecknock, but was forfeited on the at. minder of the Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry VIII.,
since which time it has remained with the princedom of Wales. The church, dedicated, according to some -authorities, to
et. Gwendoline, and as others state to St. Gwenvrewi, is an ancient edifice, -consisting of a nave, chancel, and small
tower, and -is pleasantly situated en the western bank of the Lesser Tlif, upon a shelving ledge of ground, which appears
to have subsided from the adjoining hill, or to have been torn from it by-some violent convulsion; it is a dark, low
building, not possessing any architectural claim to notice. In the outside wall is a stone commemorating the decease of a
woman whe lived during seven successive reigns, and died at the advanced age of 108 yeses. The parsonage-house is an
indifferent building, to which about twenty-seven acres of glebe land are attached. There are places of worship for
Independents, Calvinistic Methodists, and Unitarians: two day sehoels afford instruction to 160 children at their
parents' expense; and there are also four Sunday schools, of which one contains about 100 males and females, who attend
the Established Church, and the other three are connected with dissenters. An ancient stone, with an inscription greatly
defaced, and which is supposed to have been part of an old cross, is placed within a hundred yards of the twelfth
milestone on the turnpike-road from Brecknock to Merthyr, as a gate-post in a wall on the right-hand side of the road.
These crosses, in remote periods, were used for a variety of purposes: they were principally set up as landmarks, for the
division of property; when placed in a hedge, they prohibited foot-passengers from making a path across the field; when
on the road-side, and inscribed with the name of some of the primitive fathers of the British Church, they were Wended to
denote that Christianity had been preached in thatplace, and to inspire sentiments of devotion in the minds of travellers.
In process of time they multiplied exceedingly, and there is scarcely a parish in the principality which did not once
contain several of them. There are also numerous carneddau, or heaps of stones; two of which are particularly
distinguished, and are named respectively Y Garn Wen, and Y Garn Ddii, or "the white" and "the black cairns." Near the
church is a natural cavern, called Ogov Glaig, from which issues a small brook% and close to it is an artificial mound, or
barrow, but nothing is known of its origin, though it may probably have been raised over the remains of some persons of
eminence interred here. In various parts are pannau, or cavities, which are very common in limestone tracts. Hywel Rhts, a
poet of considerable genius though poor and unlettered, and author of several productions of considerable merit, was born
in the parish, and died in 1799.