Llandissilio

This article is about Llandissilio, Pembrokeshire. For the similarly-named village in Powys, see Llandysilio.

Llandissilio
St Tysilio parish church
Llandissilio is located in Pembrokeshire Llandissilio  Llandissilio shown within Pembrokeshire
Principal area	Pembrokeshire
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Clunderwen
Dialling code	01437
Police	Dyfed-Powys
Fire	Mid and West Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Preseli Pembrokeshire
Welsh Assembly	Preseli Pembrokeshire
List of places UK Wales Pembrokeshire

Llandissilio is a village and parish in east Pembrokeshire, Wales on the A478 road between Efailwen to the north and Clunderwen to the south. A largely ribbon development along the main road, the village is surrounded by farmland.

Name

The village takes its name from Tysilio, a 7th-century Welsh saint to whom the parish church is dedicated.

History

Ancient remains indicate that the area that is now the village of Llandissilio has been occupied for many centuries. For part of its history the parish of Llandissilio was in Carmarthenshire.

The parish was originally part of the Hundred of Derllys in Carmarthenshire.

A Visitation of the Archdeaconry of Carmarthen in 1710 found that of about 120 families in the parish, 40 attended church at Easter, 20 at Whitsuntide and 20 at Christmas and noted "the Minister suffers in his reputation for being addicted to drinking and swearing" and "the roof of the north side of the Chancell lies open to the wind & weather."

The population of the parish of Llandissilio West in 1801 was 281. By 1981 the population had grown to 458. In 1891, 97% were Welsh-speaking, and 75% spoke only Welsh; 10 years later those speaking only Welsh had fallen to 29%. By 1981, 70% still spoke Welsh, but only 1% were not English-speaking.

Evacuees, 1940

In 1831 nearly half of men over 20 years were agricultural labourers, and nearly a quarter were farmers employing them. The rest of the male population was engaged in retail or handicrafts.

Slate quarrying and corn milling were carried out in the 19th century.

Boys from Creek Road LCC School, Greenwich, London, were evacuated to Llandissilio during World War 2 (pictured). The War Memorial records the names of ten men of the parish who were killed in World War 1 and World War 2, and the memorial was Grade II listed in 2004.

Environment

Llandissilio is situated on the Landsker Borderlands Trail, a circular waymarked long distance footpath running through Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. The village is surrounded by farmland with deciduous trees. Near the south of the village is the source of the River Conyn which then flows south-west to meet the Eastern Cleddau.

Worship

Parish church ca 1885

St Tysilio Parish Church is in the Diocese of St David's. The church was Grade II listed in 1971 under the auspices of Cadw.

Blaenconin Baptist Chapel is on the outskirts of the village. Waldo Williams is buried there.

Education

Brynconin Community School (Welsh: Ysgol Brynconin) educates children from 3 to 11 years. Teaching is in English and Welsh languages, and (in 2011) 40% of pupils spoke Welsh at home.

Amenities

The village has a post office, two pubs (The Angel and The Bush), hotel, holiday park and retail premises.

Governance

The community of Llandissilio West, in which the village lies, is part of Maenclochog electoral division of Pembrokeshire County Council. The community of Llandissilio East is in Carmarthenshire.