Tregaron, Cardiganshire
Historical Description
Tregaron, a small market-town, a parish, and the head of a poor-law union in Cardiganshire. The town is 11 miles NE by N of Lampeter. It has a station on the Manchester and Milford railway, and a post, money order, and telegraph office (R.S.O.) The town is prettily situated on the river Brenig, within half a mile of its confluence with the Teifi. It was anciently a borough. There is a small town-hall in which The petty sessions for the Penarth division are held. The church dates from the 14th century, and was rebuilt and enlarged and the tower restored in 1879. In the churchyard are four ancient monumental stones. There are Calvinistic Methodist and Wesleyan chapels. Markets are held on Tuesdays, and fairs on the Tuesday before the first Wednesday in every month, 16 and 17 March, and Whit Tuesday. A statue of Henry Richards, M.P., who was a native and secretary of the Peace Society, stands in the town. The parish is also called Caron-is-Clawdd, and comprises 14,142 acres; population, 1575. Much of the surface is bog and mountain. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St David's; net value, £160 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of St David's. Twm Shon Catti (Tom Jones, the son of Catherine), the famous freebooter, was born near Tregaron about the end of the 16th century, and his cave is pointed out in the mountains near Ystradffin. Many of his exploits are probably mythical, and he became mayor of Brecon and high sheriff of Cardiganshire before his death.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Land and Property
A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cardiganshire is online.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cardiganshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Tregaron are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online: