Llangeitho


Llangeitho is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales, on the upper River Aeron, about west of Tregaron and north of Lampeter. The population was 874 in 2001, but fell to 819 at the 2011 census.

Nonconformism

The village is associated with Daniel Rowland and the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century. Rowland served as curate at Nantcwnlle and Llangeitho. The village chapel, built in 1760, became famous throughout Wales as a Calvinistic Methodist centre and thousands visited it to hear the preaching. Rowland was buried in the village and there is a memorial column to him. Two larger chapels were built, in 1764 and 1814, to replace the previous one.
Llangeitho saw several further periods of religious revival in that century. The strongest was in 1762, when rejoicing, dancing and jumping for joy earned the Welsh Methodists the nickname "Jumpers". William Williams Pantycelyn wrote in defence of the celebrations. The village was also the childhood home of David Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Language

Like much of Ceredigion, Llangeitho was a stronghold of the Welsh language, but in the 1970s, newcomers to the village contributed to a decline in the proportion of Welsh speakers from 83 per cent in 1971 to 55 per cent ten years later. The second figure recurred in 2011.
The 17th-century poet and minstrel Dafydd Llwyd Mathau is thought to have come from the Llangeitho area.
About north of the village is the mansion of Cwrt Mawr, where the antiquary J. H. Davies built up a valuable collection of Welsh-language manuscripts, known as the Cwrtmawr manuscripts. He donated them to the National Library of Wales, where they remain.

Church

The village church, across the river to the north of the village, is on an ancient site, but the current church was entirely rebuilt in 1821, retaining nothing of the medieval fabric, which included a double rood screen and three arches.
The church and parish are named after St Ceitho. The water of St Ceitho's Spring is said to have the peculiarity that it is cool in summer and tepid in winter.

Governance

Llangeitho gained a seat on Cardiganshire County Council in 1889. In November 2019, the member of what is now Ceredigion County Council to represent Llangeitho ward was David Rhodri Wyn Evans. The ward extends to some neighbouring communities and holds a population of 1,459.