A short history of

FELINFOEL

Felinfoel Mills

In 1831, the village is described in a parliamentary report concerning Llanelli. It states ‘There is a group of Houses at the Northern end of the Borough called Felinfoel; but it is completely removed from the Town and contains but three £10 Houses and one in the course of building, this will be a Farm-house; one of the three is a Mill, held on a Crown lease; another is a gentleman’s House; the remaining one is a Public house…’

According to some historians there is evidence that a medieval corn mill may have existed in the village by about 1399. A plan drawing dated 1815 shows a mill and its mill pond in Felinfoel.

According to local tradition, the name ‘Felin - foel’ is said to mean ‘bare’ mill or ‘bald’ mill, and is derived from the fact that an earlier mill on the river was a more ornate building than the mill which later replaced it. (However, there is documentary evidence to show that in 1709 it was called ‘Voyle’s Mill’). It appears that Felinfoel’s mills were used for cloth manufacture as well as for the grinding of corn, grist, wheat or flour. Glan Lliedi Farm also possessed a mill, which was used to drive a threshing machine.

Following the construction of the Cwm Lliedi reservoir (Swiss Valley) in 1878, the flow of the River Lliedi had been so severely diminished that, by 1902, a gas engine had been installed in Felinfoel Mill to drive its machinery. Sadly, in 1973, the mill that gave the village its name was demolished.

Felinfoel Mill c1815

Felinfoel 1815 Plan

Felinfoel Mill c1900

Felinfoel 1880 Map

‘Rebecca calls in for a drink’

By September 1843, the civil disturbances known as the ‘Rebecca Riots’, which had swept throughout West Wales, had reached Felinfoel. Following their attack on the harbourmaster’s house in Llanelli on September 6^th, 1843, the rioters, who were armed with firearms, made their way to a pub in Felinfoel where they fired a number of volleys and threatened the publican to produce some beer. According to the Victorian historian, John Innes, they then had a ‘big drink’! Finally, they disappeared into the mists of the night.

The Miners of Felinfoel

Although Felinfoel was heavily populated by coalminers, it did not possess any major collieries, the coal seams underlying the village being mainly worked from the nearby Gors/ Bryngwyn colliery complex at Dafen and the Castle colliery at Furnace. The only mining venture of note within the village bounds was the Llanlliedi colliery (the site of Pwll Bach Farm) which worked the Bushy seam between 1837 and 1842 and was later incorporated into the Gors/ Bryngwyn complex. In later years Felinfoel colliers travelled on the Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway to work at Cross Hands.

Christmas Evans, 1766-1838

Christmas Evans, one of the most famous Baptist ministers of Wales, visited Felinfoel in the summer of 1794. He preached there in the open air, close to the present Adulam Chapel. It was the one-eyed preacher’s debut in this part of the country. The young man of 28, rugged and rustic in appearance, is said to have resembled a ‘scarecrow’. However, he delivered his gospel message with such ‘fire and zeal’ that a strong wave of religious fervour continued for a long time after the preacher had finished his sermon.

The Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramway

The Carmarthenshire Railway began operating as a horse-drawn railway, linking Alexander Raby’s iron furnace in the village of Cwmddyche (later Furnace) to his shipping place on the coast. It was later incorporated into the Carmarthenshire Railway when an Act of Parliament was passed in June, 1802, allowing its construction. The railway linked Raby’s furnace and various collieries to important mineral sources in the Great Mountain area, Cross Hands. Interestingly, an 1801 plan of the railway shows it passing very close to the ‘Meeting House, Tŷ Newydd’ (Adulam Chapel). The railway, the earliest operating public railway in Great Britain, consisted of horse-drawn wagons running on cast iron tram-plates. The Railroad was later replaced by the Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway, which ceased operating on the closure of the Cynheidre Colliery. Its route is now marked by a cycle-way.

Adulam

According to tradition, a small community of Baptists were said to have met and worshipped in the district of Llanelli before 1653. John Myles, a minister of Ilston (Gower) is listed as a ‘Lecturer’ there in 1656.

‘Lower Mill’ is reputed to be one of their meeting places.

Following the restoration of the crown in 1660, Baptists were forced to worship in secret, hiding in houses and caves, as there was persecution of Nonconformist sects throughout the land. One such meeting place was in a cave not far from Felinfoel at a place called Goitrewen.

In 1689, an Act of Religious Tolerance was passed allowing nonconformists to worship openly. The first Baptist chapel in the district was that built at Felinfoel in 1709. It was then known as ‘Tŷ Newydd’ meetinghouse, the name that it bore until 1840 when the chapel was rebuilt. It then took the name of ‘Adulam’. The old Felinfoel millpond would have been a suitable venue for the chapel’s baptismal ceremonies. Today, a purpose-built baptismal pool can still be seen in the village, adjacent to the Lliedi Bridge.

Goitrewen

Tŷ Newydd

Baptismal Pool 1913

Adulam Chapel

Felinfoel House

Felinfoel house is said to have been built in 1803 by Thomas Hill Cox, brother- in-law and partner in business to Alexander Raby, the Llanelli industrialist. The house was later occupied by another industrialist, Richard Nevill (1817-1892).

Nevill was proprietor of both the Marshfield Ironworks and the Wern Foundry. The Nevills played an important part in the early development of Felinfoel. After the death of W. Y. Nevill in 1923, the house was put to a number of uses, which included a children’s home. It was finally demolished in 1978. Its site is now occupied by ‘Y Plas’ Residential Home.

Felinfoel Holy Trinity Church

The Holy Trinity Church was built and fully furnished by the close of 1857. It was consecrated by the famous Bishop of St. David’s, the Right Reverend Conop Thirlwall, in 1858. Prior to the building of the church, the Nevill family allowed their homes at Westfa and Felinfoel House to be used for services. A major part of the costs for building the church came from the industrialists, C.W. & R. Nevill.

Felinfoel Church School

Felinfoel Church School was built in 1863 with the help of the Nevill family who were strong supporters of education in Felinfoel. It opened its doors to 90 pupils in May of that year. After the closure of the school, the pupils were relocated to Swiss Valley County Primary School in 1969.

Felinfoel Brewery

Felinfoel Brewery is said to have commenced operating as a small cottage-brewing industry in the King’s Head Inn, Felinfoel, run by David John. A large brewery spanning the River Lliedi had been erected by 1878, becoming the present limited company in 1906. The most important landmark in its history came in March 1936 when, following experiments in the canning of beer it became the first brewery in Great Britain and second in the world to commercially can beer. Felinfoel continues to produce fine ales!

Westfa House

Westfa House was built c1845 for Charles William Nevill (1815-1888). He was the son of the industrialist, Richard Janion Nevill. On the death of his father in 1856, Charles took control of the industrial empire which included the Copperworks and a number of coalmines in Llanelli. In 1888, Westfa was purchased by the chemist, Gwilym Evans; he was the manufacturer of Quinine Bitters, which was a local ‘cure all’ elixir. In later years, Westfa House, which comprised three floors and 29 rooms, was converted into flats before being demolished in the 1980’s.

Felinfoel School

It is recorded that, as early as 1779, a school was operating in the village of Felinfoel at ‘Tŷ Newydd’ Baptist meetinghouse (Adulam) under the headmastership of David Hughes.

In the years between 1822 and 1848, the school was held in a number of buildings sited in the chapel cemetery until a more permanent and convenient school was erected in the centre of the village in 1848. By 1951 a new school, called Ysgol Y Babanod, was built for the infant pupils while the junior pupils moved to their new school in Ynyswen in 1975.

Felinfoel Rugby

In the 1975 – 76 season, Felinfoel Rugby Club celebrated its 100^th anniversary, claiming that it was the oldest rugby club in the Llanelli area. In its early years William Yalden Nevill captained the club, but perhaps the most famous rugby international captain to represent Wales was Felinfoel’s own Phil Bennett, O.B.E., who took Wales to a ‘Grand Slam’ victory in 1978.

Compiled by www.LlanelliCommunityHeritage.org

Lyn John, Ken Jones, Alec Jones, Vaughan Jones, John Williams, Hugh Morgan Lewis, Gwyn Daniel,

Original Artwork By: John Wynne Hopkins

Further Acknowledgments:

Lisa Jones and staff of Communities First Felinfoel,

Stuart Howells, John Phelps, Sandra Jones, Dr David Davies,

Dr Malcolm Symons, John Edwards, Robert Protheroe Jones,

Dafydd Roberts,

Prof Hywel Teifi Edwards, Huw Edwards, Heddyr Gregory,

Mark Jewell and staff of Llanelli Library,

John Davies Carmarthenshire Archives Services,

The Adulam Chapel Committee,

Phil Lewis Felinfoel Brewery,

Brian Cripps,

Chris Delaney, Anne Dorset and Staff of Carmarthenshire Museum Services.

Llanelli Community Heritage Committee

John Wynne Hopkins -Chairman.

Lyn John -Vice Chairman.

Ken Jones - The Secretary

Alec Jones -Treasurer.

Vaughan Jones -Webmaster.

John Williams – Newsletter Editor.

Hugh Morgan Lewis – Membership Secretary.

Gwyn Daniel – Funding Secretary.

Contact

Ken Jones - The Secretary - Llanelli Community Heritage,

Tel: 01554 772479.

E-mail Secretary@LlanelliCommunityHeritage.org