Newcastle Emlyn, Newcastle in Emlyn, or Emlyn, Carmarthenshire

Historical Description

Newcastle Emlyn, Newcastle-in-Emlyn, or Emlyn, a market-town, the head of a poor-law union, petty sessional division, and county court district, and an ecclesiastical parish in Kenarth and Llandyfriog parishes, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire. The town stands on the river Teifi, 8½ miles W of Llandvssil station on the Llandyssil branch of The G.W.R., 10 SE of Cardigan, and 18 NNW of Carmarthen. It consists mainly of one long street running N of the bridge over the Teifi, which here forms the boundary between the two counties; the Cardiganshire portion is called Adpar, and was formerly a parliamentary borough. Newcastle Emlyn or Emlyn, as it is frequently called now, is supposed to have had a Roman origin; was once called Dinas Emlin; took that name and its present one from a castle of Rhys ap Thomas, built on the site of a previous castle of Llewelyn ap Jorwerth; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts; and gives the title of Baron to the Earl of Cawdor. It has three banks, and a post, money order, and telegraph office nnder Llandyssil. The railway was extended from Llandyssil to Newcastle Emlyn in 1895. The castle of Rhys ap Thomas passed to the Vaughans; was garrisoned by them for Charles I. in the civil wars; belongs now to the Earl of Cawdor; stands on the eminence called the Castle Hill, engirt by a curious reduplication of the river Teifi, as by a broad natural moat; and still retains an arched gateway about 14 feet high, flanked by octagonal towers. Beaches of the river, both above the town and below it, are beautifully picturesque. A weekly market is held on Friday. The ecclesiastical parish was constituted in 1843, and has a population of 1658, of which 1149 are in Carmarthenshire. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St David's; net value, £300 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of St David's. The church was erected in 1842, and is in the Early English style. There are Baptist, Calvinistic Methodist, and Congregational chapels. The county court, which is the chief public building, was erected in 1870. The workhouse is at Aberarad, about half a mile from the town.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Carmarthenshire is available to browse.

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online:

• South Wales Daily News
• The Cardiff Times
• Western Mail
• Carmarthen Weekly Reporter