Manordeifi
| Manordeifi | |
| Pembrokeshire | |
|---|---|
 The old parish church of St David | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SN2288242263 |
| Location: | 52°2’60"N, 4°34’59"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 478 (2001) |
| Post town: | Boncath |
| Postcode: | SA37 |
| Dialling code: | 01239 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Pembrokeshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Preseli Pembrokeshire |
Manordeifi is a parish in the hundred of Kilgerran, in the north-east corner of Pembrokeshire. Its population in 2001 was 478.
In addition to scattered settlement, the parish contains the villages of Abercych and Newchapel.
History
Manordeifi's old parish church, situated in the edge of the River Teifi floodplain, was abandoned in favour of a new church built on the hill top in the nineteenth century. The old church (mainly 13th-14th century) preserves many old features.[1] A coracle hangs in the porch, providing a means of escape during floods.
The population of the parish was: 745 (1801): 956 (1851): 631 (1901): 602 (1951): 402 (1981).
Notable houses
There was an unusually large number of substantial mansions in the parish, perhaps because of the picturesque scenery and good angling in the area. These included Clynfyw, Ffynone, Pentre and Castell Malgwyn.
Ffynone
The Ffynone estate at Boncath belonged at one time to the Morgan family of Blaenbwlan, from whom it was purchased by Captain Stephen Colby in 1752. The Ffynone mansion, a listed building[2] was built in 1795 by architect John Nash and passed down in the Colby family to John Vaughan Colby. His wife commissioned architect and garden designer Inigo Thomas to improve the house and lay out the terraced gardens.
John Vaughan died in 1919 and, having no sons, left the estate to his daughter Aline Margaret, who had married Captain Cecil John Herbert Spence-Jones, son of the Dean of Gloucester, in 1908; the marriage was a notable occasion, reported in great detail and an occasion for local celebration, despite there being no guests at the wedding and no reception owing to the bride's mother's state of health.[3] Spence took the additional surname of Colby by royal licence in 1920 and subsequently sold the property in 1927 to a Glamorgan businessman.[4]
The house, in 20 acres of woodland, was bought and restored from 1987 onwards by Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor and remains as of 2013 in the Lloyd George family.
References
- ↑ "Friends of Friendless Churches - Manordeifi". http://www.friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/CMSMS/index.php?page=manordeifi-history. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ↑ "Ffynone". http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pdf/CPG136/. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ "Marriage of Capt. Cecil Spence-Jones". Gloucester Journal (British Newspaper Archive). 20 June 1908. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000532/19080620/191/0009. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ↑ "National Library of Wales-Ffynone Estate Records". Archives Wales. http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=1&coll_id=20182&expand=. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
