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Llandeilo Archaeology & History
Post-medieval
With settlement and commerce focused on Llandeilo Fawr alone by the 16 th century, the history of the post-medieval period is somewhat less complicated, although there remain many gaps in our knowledge of the development of the town and the life of its inhabitants, especially in the centuries between 1500 and 1800. We have a much better understanding about the town's development from 1800-1900, however.
In 1858, William Davies, in "Llandeilo Vawr and its Neighbourhood" gave a
description of how the town appeared a century earlier, in the mid-1700s, based on an old painting. Unfortunately, the painting did not show the northern and eastern parts of the town and therefore Davies' description gives only a partial view of 18 th century Llandeilo; "
Bridge Street is represented as being composed of six or seven houses in a row, which are straw thatched. The bridge, which spans the Towy, has four narrow stone arches ... The Old Church stands with its ancient tower on the spot now occupied by the present edifice, and near to it stands the Poor-house, with one or two little cottages in Church Street. The only house upon the North-East side is Mount Pleasant... Myrtle Hill seems to have rested on the same spot as it now stands upon. In Abbey Terrace, the Old Abbey lies in ruins... We believe that it was a kind of repository in connection with the celebrated Abbey of Talley, where tithes such as corn, poultry etc of this part of the country were deposited. The designation of the street was commonly "Heol Sgubor Abart," which meant Heol Ysgubor'r Abad, or Abbots-Barn Street...
The town was described in less than glowing terms by a visitor at the end of the 18 th century. In 1791, Mary Morgan complained about the miserable condition of Llandovery town, noting that Llandeilo was "much worse!"
I never saw a place that had a more deplorable appearance. The streets, if they may be called, are narrow, dirty, and half paved with stones with sharp ends upwards. The houses are built with a kind of stone; but it is so crumbling a nature, that they appear all to be falling into decay.
Ms Morgan did, however, have kinder words for the townspeople, who were;
...very decent in their manners, and in their outward semblance: they do not seem fit tenants for such wretched dwellings.
It is only in the early 19 th century that good map evidence becomes available, showing the town in detail. By this period, the town does not seem to have grown much outside its medieval core, focused on the churchyard. This is clearly seen in a map of 1826 drawn up for the Derwydd estate, which shows that the extent of the town was confined to Bridge Street, George Hill, lower Carmarthen Street, upper Rhosmaen Street and Church Street. The parish tithe map of 1841 shows an almost identical picture of the town. An important addition to the town in the early 19 th century, in terms of civic buildings, was the construction of the Shire Hall (PRN8730) in Carmarthen Street in 1802, to serve as a corn market, with a courtroom above and offices, prison cells and an armoury to the rear. One site of interest shown on both the 1826 and 1841 maps is a small tollhouse on the northwestern approach to the town.
This was the site of the Walk Gate, dramatically destroyed by Rebecca Rioters in 1843, whilst a detachment of Dragoons (sent to protect local tollgates) sat, unaware, in their billets in the Cawdor Arms and George Hotel.
But Llandeilo was on the threshold of better days. The construction of the Market Provision Hall by the Derwydd Estate (PRN26654) in 1838, and the present stone bridge over the Tywi in 1848, in place of the stone and timber bridge mentioned by William Davies above, were symbols of a determination to invest in the future of the town. Another key development was the building of the National School (PRN8731) during the 1850s, at the behest of Lord Dinefwr, in place of an earlier charity school (PRN50254).
This process of expansion was greatly boosted by the arrival of the railway in 1856. The siting of the railway station to the northeast of the town gradually drew new development in that direction. By the 1870s, significant changes occurred with the development of New Road and Crescent Road, redefining the northern and eastern boundaries of the town. When William Samuel wrote his "Llandeilo Present and Past in 1868, he describes New Road merely as " the new road which leads by a short cut to the market place." New Road is shown as a road connecting Rhosmaen Street and the top of Carmarthen Street as early as the 1826 Derwydd estate map, although no development seems to have occurred along its course before the 1850s or 1860s. Crescent Road is described by Samuel as an " as yet unopened road " indicating that it was only under development in 1868.
The 1 st edition of the Ordnance Survey's 1:10560 map (Carmarthenshire Sheet XXXIII.SE), surveyed in 1884-5, shows that by the 1880s, not only were New Road and Crescent Road present, but a new expansion had occurred along what was called Railway Terrace (now the portion of Rhosmaen Street northeast of the New Road/Crescent Road crossroads). This new development included the celebrated South Wales Brewery (PRN9038).
Beyond the edge of the town, the Ordnance Survey map also shows a saw mill (PRN18850) and a tannery as well as the Railway Station. But even in 1891, there is no development along Carmarthen Street beyond the top of New Road, and the White Hart inn is some distance from the town, effectively in open countryside.
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