Henfynyw

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Henfynyw
Cardiganshire
St. Davids Church, Henfynyw - geograph.org.uk - 50054.jpg
Location
Grid reference: SN46SE02
Location: 52°13’35"N, 4°16’9"W
Data
Population: 1,025  (2001)
Post town: Aberaeron
Postcode: SA46
Dialling code: 01970
Local Government
Council: Ceredigion
Parliamentary
constituency:
Ceredigion

Henfynyw is a parish in Cardiganshire to the south of Aberaeron. In 2011 the population of Henfynyw was 1,025.[1] The community includes the villages of Ffos-y-ffin, Llwyncelyn and Derwen-gam and has strong connections with St David.

By the twelfth century, Henfynyw church was dedicated to St David, and early Christian lore had it that Henfynyw was the place where St David had spent some of his early years. For instance, the 'Holy Bard of Brecon' (Gwynfardd Brycheiniog, flourished AD 1176) drew on this lore, when he included Henfynyw church in a poem. His "Ode to St David" listed the places in Wales that were then closely associated with St David...

"And fair Henfynyw, by the side of the glen of Aeron,
Fields prolific in clover, and woods full of wealth."[2]

There is now no sure evidence for Henfynyw in the life of St David, but Henfynyw church is ancient and has an inscribed stone in the east wall dated to the period AD 600–800.

References

  1. Welsh Government website; 2011 Census Returns and stats; accessed 9 May 2014
  2. Lines from the "Ode to St David" translated in the article "Aberaeron before the Harbour Act of 1807", Ceredigion: Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, Vol. 9, Nos. 1–4, 1980–1983.
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