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Concise History of Llandeilo - Part 2
from Llandeilo
by Eirwen Jones, 1984
Development in the 19th century
The town's cattle market was carved out of a quarry in 1905. Farmers in the district still refer to "Mart y cwar" [the quarry market] as distinct from the cattle market at Ffairfach. [Llandeilo's cattle market is no more and the site is currently a housing development. The cattle mart just across Llandeilo bridge at Ffairfach is, however, still open for business]
The town in its modern form developed, in the main, at the close of the 19th century. Considerable sections of the land were sold at this period by the landed gentry to enterprising burgesses. Yeomen farmers in the neighbourhood became businessmen. They speculated in buildings. Commerce prospered.
When the century opened, Llandeilo was considerably smaller than it is now. A post fixed on what is now Central Square marked the end of the town. All below was rural.
Street names
Dwellings were clustered around the Church, in Church Street, King Street and Bridge Street. These were centres of commerce in the annual fairs. Cows were sold in Church Street and Bridge Street. Most of the houses in these streets had thatched roofs. Pigs were sold in King Street and Market Street. Horses were sold on the Carmarthen Road. Farm servants assembled on the Church Square and in front of the Bear (Cawdor) Inn, waiting to be hired on an annual basis by farmers and tradesmen. When a contract was agreed upon, the master gave the employee a shilling or half-a-crown. This was the "earn", the outward visible sign of the agreement.
Visiting architects remark on the grace of the buildings in the town. Houses have been sited to follow the contours of the roads in their graceful curves. In general, the older houses are plain, dignified Georgian houses. This is particularly evident in the older streets. Neutral coloured messuages form a pleasing background to more pretentious buildings and to more spacious residences of warm and mellow Ruabon brick.
The names of the streets record in some measure the history of the town. Carmarthen Street, Bridge Street, Church Street are self-explanatory. At one time houses near the stone bridge carried the privilege whereby the householder could ply a coracle on the river. A great iron hook for hanging the coracle was fastened to the wall of the back-yard. This manifested special rights on the river. In 1885 salmon from the river Towy was hawked around the streets of Llandeilo at 4 pence a pound. Eggs were offered at 3 pence a dozen. Houses in the upper section of Bridge Street had spacious cellars. Householders had the right to brew and sell ale.
Wells
There were numerous wells in the town. The well in the grotto in Church Street was at one time called St. Teilo's Baptistry. It was regarded as a healing well. It was used more generally for culinary purposes. As the water emanated from the churchyard wall, a local wag was inspired to write:
In puddings and pies and leek broth you'll find The quintessence of mortals and swallow your kind
Carmarthen Street, leading from the provision market, was a busy thoroughfare. Moreover, the Shire Hall was situated in it, an important centre of administration. Manchester House (Smithfield) enjoyed a national reputation. It was renowned throughout Wales for the manufacture of the traditional tall Welsh beaver hat.
Rhosmaen Street serves as the main street. The name signifies "a moorland of stones". For centuries a tall stone stood significantly at the top of the hill. The original plan was for a main street which was much wider. A tendency developed, however to build in a forward direction. This resulted in a main street much more narrow, flanked with wide arches and several intriguing cul-de-sacs.
Why is Rhosmaen Street like the River Thames? The riddle has been repeated by children of the town through the generations. The answer is obvious when one stands on the Church Square. There is a bank on each side.
The visit of the Hanoverian King George IV to the town is commemorated in the names King Street, George Hill and George Street. He rode through the town on a horse, dined at Dynevor Castle and then rode on to Carmarthen and Laugharne.
Landowners perpetuated their names when they sold land in the town. Stepney Road is linked with the Stepney Estate, Llanelli. Alan Road was named after Alan J. G. Gulston Esq. of Derwydd. Dirleton Terrace, once a section of Rhosmaen Street, carried the name of his estate in the English Midlands.
With the advance of bureaucracy the names of several terraces in the town have been obliterated. Much local colour has faded for the small terraces were designated after the families and homes of people who had invested in the building of the houses.
Talley Abbey in the neighbourhood was a Premonstratensian foundation. Monastic lands extended into the town; hence the name Abbey Terrace, and Ysgubor Abad - The Abbot's Granary, at one time a huge depository of corn and of produce, brought there by tenants to the Abbey authorities. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1533 the great bell of the Abbey had been taken away to Exeter Cathedral where, as "Great Tom", it still rings curfew.
Quay Street is an anglicized misnomer; Heol-y-Cae led not to a quay but to a field [cae being the Welsh for field] and thence to a ford in the river, near the present railway bridge. It went by Dan-y-Graig, a foremost residence for many decades.
The south-eastern part of the town was developed as a residential area at the turn of the century. Houses were built on Cae'r Brodyr - the field of the Thomas Brothers. Many were built by the families of Messrs Williams, stone masons, and Jones Brothers, wheel wrights. The tradition of sound craftsmanship continued. A craftsman is a man who thinks with his hands. These men built in order to last. Cae'r Brodyr - and the name Y Cae still lingers. When the railway station was built, people who wished to travel by train avoided the long walk down past the town tannery and along the official Station Road. They went by a short "cut" along a footpath, from a point near the stone-cutter's yard in Rhosmaen Street through a field to the Railway Station. Hence the name Y Cae - the Field - for the area.
Latimer Road was named after a member of the Hughes family of Red House - Hugh Latimer Hughes. Its original name was Queen's Way, associated with the opening of the Drill Hall in Crescent Road to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Clarence Road was named after the monarch's eldest son, the Duke of Clarence. Clarendon Road bears the name of a 17th century statesman.
Blende Road is a reminder of the fact that a vein of pitch-blende passes through the town. Had this been an artery, the history of Llandeilo in the 20th century would have been very different. Mining operations were begun but the enterprise was short-lived. Houses for workmen were built on the nearby Slang - opposite the site of the County School. The term "slang" referred to marginal land, reserved by the squires to meet their debts at the gaming tables. In later years the site has been developed as a residential area.
New Road was true to its name in the second half of the 19th century. It developed from a lane leading to the upper part of the town. Heol Y Garreg Las, a recent housing estate, is a name which has a local geological meaning (Street of the blue rock). Diana Road bears the name of a member of the Dynevor family.
The policy of bilingualism has focussed attention on the original significance of the names of the streets.
Local government
In 1859 the 'town and village' of Llandeilo adopted the Local Government Act of 1858 under the Local Board. The first meeting of the Board was held on July 5 1859. Straightway the councillors undertook an enthusiastic policy in civic affairs. In 1862 negotiations began for the construction of a reservoir at Maesevan and the work of constructing and laying mains to the town was commenced. During the period 1874-78 practically the whole of the land owned by Alan Stepney-Gulston Esq. was sold and developed. In 1894 the Urban District Council was created under the Local Government Act of 1894. The first meeting of the Council was held on the 8 January 1895. This council too undertook an ambitious policy. In 1897 it obtained an additional water supply from the Baptistry at Llandyfan. In 1902 it set up its own electric power station and undertook to supply the town. In 1907-8 it purchased the cattle market. The first sales were held in 1908.
In 1974 there were widespread changes in local government. The region of Dyfed was founded and the town of Llandeilo was in incorporated in Dinefwr Borough Council. The Community Council is fully aware of its responsibilities.
[Note: in 1999 there was another reorganisation when Dinefwr Borough Council and Dyfed County Council were disbanded and the unitary authority of Carmarthenshire County Council created.]
Economic needs
In the past Llandeilo has been, in an economic sense, a market place for the surrounding rural district. Drastic changes in agriculture have resulted in the cancelling out of the sale of farm produce. Consequently the produce market, once so flourishing, has closed. A brisk trade exists in the two cattle markets, one centrally placed and accessible in the town and one in Ffairfach, the village beyond the bridge. Cattle sales are held at each on alternate Mondays and on specified dates throughout the year. [Note: the cattle market at Llandeilo is now closed.]
Unquestionably there are people deeply concerned with the commercial prosperity of the town, in the present and in the future. They see the need for enterprise within the town when the means of transit to larger markets at Carmarthen, Ammanford, Llanelli, Swansea and Haverfordwest are being rendered easy, rapid and comparatively cheap.
Civic leaders discuss the situation minutely. They realise the need to look forward. Progress is essential to thriving in these days of keen competition. Business in Llandeilo must not be stationary; it is essential to increase to its fullest extent the business capability of the locality, to make fullest use of the communications available
ii is essential also to find profitable employment for the greatest number of people in the town. It would be a sound policy if these people were employed in the manufacture of every raw product sufficiently afforded by the locality and thereby they would supply wants which are at present imported from distant parts; technically speaking, efforts are essential to attain the maximum and minimum respectively in local exports and imports. Enterprise needs to be fostered. In the past there have been flourishing woollen mills and tanneries and a sound tradition in the malting trade. There are possibilities waiting exploration.
Employment is at the present time centred in shops, hotels and offices such as the Post Office and departments of the Local District Council. There is a local supply of people and there are commuters from the surrounding area. An engineering company has fortunately taken over the provision market and gives steady employment. [Unfortunately the former provision market is no longer occupied.]
The problems are many. The rural countryside is changing continually. An increasing population has brought with it, into a Welsh community, social, ethnological and cultural crises. Concomitant with these are problems of health, housing, transport, urban and rural reservoirs, lighting and recreational amenities - the demands are many. Policies have to co-ordinate with those of central government and expenditure has to be curtailed because of the economic recession. With the help of logical support and also in the face of adverse criticism, the democratic Dinefwr Borough Council is, with considerable skill, meeting the essential needs of Llandeilo and its neighbourhood.
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