Llanfyrnach

Llanfyrnach is a village and parish in the hundred of Cemais, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The parish is in the community and ward of Crymych and is situated in a remote upland area on the headwaters of the River Tâf, about from Cardigan.

History

There is a small Norman motte close to the church. Much of the parish was unenclosed moorland until the start of the 19th century. Population doubled as numerous small farms were established following enclosure from the 16th century onwards.

There was an important lead mine on the north side of the village until the end of the 19th century. Mining occurred on a small scale for the sake of the low but significant concentration of silver in the ores, perhaps from as early as the 16th century. As a result of high demand for lead in the Victorian era, the mine was greatly extended in the 1840s, and had reached 520 m below the surface by the time of its closure in 1890.

The Whitland & Taf Vale Railway reached the village in 1873, and the village became a transport depot for the surrounding hill country, a role that it still retains although the railway closed in 1963. Lead and agricultural produce were shipped out, and heavy supplies, notably lime, were brought in.