Meline

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Meline
Pembrokeshire

Church of St Dogfael
Location
Grid reference: SN118388
Location: 52°-0’58"N, 4°44’34"W
Data
Post town: Crymych
Postcode: SA41
Local Government
Council: Pembrokeshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Preseli Pembrokeshire

Meline (also recorded as Meliney and Melinau) is a parish in the Cemais Hundred of Pembrokeshire. There is no settlement of this name.

History

While there is no settlement called Meline, the name may refer to a mill on one of the rivers that run through the north of the parish, including the Nevern and Brynberian.[1] Meline (as Malenay) appears on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire.[2] In 1833 the parish was described as including some ancient mansions as well as prehistoric features.[3] In 1835 the parish had a population of 492 of which 30 or 40 attended Sunday School in the summer months.[4] By the 1870s the population had fallen to 414 people, living in 108 houses and fell to below 300 in the mid-20th century.[5] At the turn of the 20th century Meline was sharing a Board School with Whitechurch (Eglwyswen).[6]

Parish

The parish, with an area of 4,523 acres, includes the hamlet of Crosswell, a number of other minor settlements and farms, and extends southwards into the Preseli Mountains.[1] It is mostly within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.[7]

The former parish church, in the northern tip of the parish,[1] is dedicated to St Dogmael (or Dogfael) and is a Grade-II listed building. It was built in 1865, replacing an earlier structure, possibly 13th century, some of which was incorporated into the present church, including the font.[8][9]

In 2017, the church was vested in the care of Friends of Friendless Churches, a charity that rescues redundant churches across England and Wales.[10]

A carved pew back from the earlier church is preserved at Penbenglog nearby, bearing the inscription (in Latin) "The pew of Matilda, wife of George Perrott, of Penybenglog, gentleman, 1626".[11] Penbenglog is a Grade-II listed house dating from the early 17th century, with earlier origins, and one of the oldest continuously-occupied sites in north Pembrokeshire.[12][13]

Notable people

  • Benjamin Evans (minister) (1740-1821) was born in the parish.[14]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "GENUKI: Meline parish map". http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Clydey/ParishMap.html. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 
  2. "Penbrok comitat". British Library. https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/zoomify83390.html. 
  3. "GENUKI: Meline". http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Meline/. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 
  4. Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command. 43. HMSO. 1835. p. 1314. https://books.google.com/books?id=_U0SAAAAYAAJ&dq=Meline+parish+church. 
  5. "A Vision of Britain through Time: History of Meline in Pembrokeshire". GB Historical GIS, University of Portsmouth. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/6785. Retrieved 11 September 2016. 
  6. "Meline and Whitechurch School Inspection". The County Echo. 15 September 1904. http://newspapers.library.wales/view/3665979/3665982/18/Meline. Retrieved 11 September 2016. 
  7. "GENUKI: St Dogfael, Meline, Church in Wales". http://www.genuki.org.uk/cgi-bin/churchmap?T=SP,CCC=PEM,ID=258. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 
  8. "British Listed Buildings: Church of St Dogfael". https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300019167-church-of-st-dogfael-eglwyswrw#.WmnyZSOLQl4. Retrieved 25 January 2018. 
  9. Cadw Church of St Dogfael (Grade II) (19167) Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  10. "Friends of Friendless Churches: Meline". http://friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/meline/. Retrieved 21 December 2018. 
  11. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire: VII - County of Pembroke. 1925. p. 226. https://books.google.com/books?id=qcOwIMflx7AC&dq=Meline+parish+church. Retrieved 10 September 2016. 
  12. "British Listed Buildings: Penbenglog". https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300019168-penybenglog-eglwyswrw#.WmnyGCOLQl4. Retrieved 25 January 2018. 
  13. Cadw Penbenglog (Grade II) (19168) Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  14. "Evans, Benjamin". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. https://biography.wales/article/s-EVAN-BEN-1740.