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The Land |
Llansantffraed History Society was formed in 1996 following a series of local history lectures given by Michael Freeman, Curator of Ceredigion Museum.
Members meet in Llanon Reading Room on the first Monday of the month except when this falls on a Bank Holiday. The meeting is then usually held on the following Monday. Membership is open to anyone who is interested in what we do and will abide by the constitution. Currently (2024) the annual subscription is £12. Visitors are welcome if space permits. The charge for visitors is £1.50 per meeting.
Our programme of events includes talks on a variety of subjects, some specific to the locality and others of a more general nature. We welcome outside speakers and encourage speakers, both experienced and novice, from within the society.
We also go on excursions, which are charged for on an "at cost" basis. These range from walks within the Llansantffraed Community area, visiting our immediate neighbours in Dyffryn Arth and Llanrhystud, exploring Llanina, Strata Florida, Tregaron, Aberystwyth and Cardigan, and a catalogue of visits to defensive sites in Wales such as Dolgellau, Montgomery, Rhaglen, Tenby and Pembroke. On one occasion we made a foray across Offas Dyke to Ludlow. So, although we take our name from parish, we try not to be parochial in the narrow sense.
Some of our members have systematically recorded the locations and inscriptions of gravestones in Llansantffraed Churchyard. This information has been deposited in the National Library of Wales and in Ceredigion Archives. Transcriptions of census returns and other parish records have also been undertaken. We are also continually adding to the index compiled for the society initially by Mr Michael Freeman.
We are members of Ceredigion Forum and participate in countywide events. We hold exhibitions from time to time in Llanon to make our findings more widely accessible and to encourage contributions of information from the community. One aim of the current project is to hold an exhibition on the web.
Thanks to a grant for equipment from Awards for All Wales, we are now producing a digital archive of photographs of Llanon Yesteryear from "The Jim Jones Collection". Most of the pictures appearing on these pages are reproduced from that collection with permission of the copyright holder, who wishes them to be seen but not copied for any commercial purpose. More images from the Jim Jones Collection can be found on The Peoples Collection Wales.
During August we undertake stewarding of the Thatched Cottage in Llanon on behalf of Ceredigion Museum.
We are very fortunate to have the National Library of Wales and the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in nearby Aberystwyth. Whatever you might be looking for will probably be in there somewhere. As novice researchers we recommend highly a visit to Ceredigion Archives.
We hope to add and change pages from time to time. Here are some tasters
The first bus service arrives in Llanon NOVEMBER 1907
The Main Road Llanon approached from Aberaeron
The main road, before the pavements were made.
A funeral procession winding it's way up the A 487 from Llanon towards Aberarth around 1900.
Picture courtesy of Ceredigion Museum
This is a typical 19th century cottage with two rooms downstairs. There is a central dividing passage and a crogloft covers the downstairs bedroom and passage.
There is no inglenook in the kitchen, but a beam supports an internal wood and plaster chimney hood.
The roof is built of timbers and uncut branches supported on half crucks built into the walls. Resting on the timbers is a continuous rope under-thatch which forms a base for the thatch, much of which is said to survive under the corrugated roof.
The cottage is the property of Ceredigion Museum. It is open to the public in August. Contact the museum for times and dates
The History Society will have a steward at the cottage at all times when it is open to view, and they will be able to answer any questions you may have.