Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion

Attractions, history and amenities

Llanbadarn Fawr is named after the church of Padarn (the great church of Padarn), and dates from the sixth century. It predates Aberystwyth, whose castle was originally named after Llanbadarn.

Notable buildings include Saint Padarn's Church, a fine, partly Romanesque parish church on the site of the mother church founded by Padarn (Paternus) in the 6th century and which contains notable 18th-century wall monuments. The Garreg Fawr stone slab, reputed to be the capstone of a now-vanished chamber tomb, is mounted on a plinth in Llanbadarn Fawr Square. This slab once stood on four upright stones before being fractured by fire in the 19th century, after which it was reassembled and mounted in its present location. There is also a windmill in Llain-y-gawsai.

Llanbadarn Fawr has two pubs, The Black Lion and The Gogerddan Arms, and the University's Llanbadarn campus, which concentrates on subjects such as business, law, criminology and information science, and Coleg Ceredigion's Aberystwyth campus.

Padarn United F.C. play their football in the Cambrian Tyres League.

In the spring, summer and autumn months the village has train services provided by The Vale of Rheidol Railway to Devil's Bridge, Capel Bangor and Aberystwyth.

File:Gogerddan Map 110, A map of the Borough of Llanbadarn.png|A map of Llanbadarn Fawr, c.1800 File:Church of Llanbadarn Fawr, near Aberystwyth.jpeg File:Egwys Llanbadarn Fawr, Abersytwyth.JPG File:TrenLlanbadarnFawr.JPG File:Gogerddan Arms, Llanbadarn Fawr.jpg

Governance

Much of the community falls within the electoral wards named Llandbadarn-Fawr-Padarn and Llandadarn-Fawr-Sulien. The total population of these wards is 3,380

Dyfi Biosphere

In March 2024, the town joined the Dyfi Biosphere.

Notable people

• Tradition has it that the poet Dafydd ap Gwilym (ca. 1315/1320 – ca. 1350/1370) was born within Llanbadarn Fawr parish, as it stood in the fourteenth century, at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch. He wrote about the parish church in his poem "The Girls of Llanbadarn". This church can still be visited today.
• John Rowlands (1824–1891), pen name, "Giraldus", was a Welsh antiquary and educator. He was born at Nanteos Arms.

Notes

References

1. "Community population 2011".
2. (2008). "The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales". University of Wales Press.
3. Driver, Tony, ''The Hillforts of Cardigan Bay'', p. 28, 2016, {{ISBN. 978-1-910839-03-4)
4. Ibid
5. "Llain-y-Gawsai Windmill, Llanbadarn Fawr – The Mills Archive".
6. "Padarn ward population 2011".
7. "Sulien ward population 2011".
8. (3 March 2024). "Dyfi towns join UNESCO biosphere status as "areas of international significance"". The Cambrian News.