Llanvaches
Encyclopedia
Llanvaches is a village
and community parish
located within the boundaries of the city of Newport
, Wales
. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire
and the preserved county of Gwent
.
of Chepstow
and the city of Newport
. The village lies just north of the A48 road
and below Wentwood
, with both Newport centre and Chepstow about 7 miles distant.
or Woolos and sister of Saint Cadoc
, who according to tradition lived a humble life as a shepherdess in the 5th century but was killed by robbers stealing her finest ram. Saint Tathan, Abbot of nearby Caerwent
, to whom the murderers confessed their crime, built a church on the spot where she was killed , which became known as Merthyr Maches and later Llanfaches (the letter m mutating
to -f- in Welsh
).
The parish
church largely dates from the 14th century and is dedicated to Saint Dubricius
(Welsh Dyfrig), with Bishops Transcripts dating back to 1725.
(1576-1642), Rector from 1617. In 1633, King Charles I
, advised by the Archbishop of Canterbury
, William Laud
, reissued the "Declaration of Sports
". This listed the sports that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days, and was published to counteract the growing Puritan
calls for strict abstinence on the Sabbath day. Wroth defied Charles' instruction to read the Declaration to his congregation, and in 1634 the Bishop of Llandaff
reported him to the Court of High Commission
, seeking to remove him from his position in the Church. In 1638 Wroth, along with fellow dissenter Walter Craddock, resigned, but continued to preach and gather followers. His preaching became so popular that people travelled from Somerset
, Gloucester
, Hereford
, Radnor
and Glamorgan
to Llanvaches to hear him, and it became necessary for him to preach in the churchyard because the church was too small to accommodate all those who attended. By 1639, although he had not formally left the Church of England, Wroth is likely to have been ejected from his living. He set up his Congregationalist chapel, "according to the New England pattern", completed in 1639, with the help of the leading Dissenter
, Henry Jessey
. The historic meeting at Llanvaches in November 1639 marked the real beginning of Non-conformity in Wales. Wroth died shortly before the outbreak of the first English Civil War
, and was buried beneath the church porch at Llanvaches. His will, at one time on display in the church vestry, concluded:
Two hundred years later the great linguist and traveller George Borrow
passed the chapel on his walk from Newport to Chepstow
, a journey later included in his "Wild Wales
".. The current Tabernacle URC
Chapel was built in the 1920s on the site of the original chapel.
of 599 silver denarii, hidden in a locally made cooking pot, were found at Llanvaches by a metal detectorist. The coins, which are dated to about AD 160, are now held at the National Roman Legion Museum
in Caerleon
.
and the Llanvaches community council
.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and community parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
located within the boundaries of the city of Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire (historic)
Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
and the preserved county of Gwent
Gwent (county)
Gwent is a preserved county and a former local government county in south-east Wales. It was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent....
.
Location
Llanvaches is located roughly midway between the market townMarket town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Chepstow
Chepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
and the city of Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
. The village lies just north of the A48 road
A48 road
The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen. Before the construction of the M4 motorway and the first Severn Bridge in the mid 1960s it was the principal route into South Wales. For most of its journey through Wales,...
and below Wentwood
Wentwood
Wentwood is a forested area of hills, rising to 309 metres , in Monmouthshire, South Wales. It is located to the north east of, and partly within the boundaries of, the city of Newport.- Geology :...
, with both Newport centre and Chepstow about 7 miles distant.
History
The village is named after Saint Maches (Latin: Machuta), a daughter of Saint GwynllywGwynllyw
Saint Gwynllyw Milwr or Gwynllyw Farfog, known in English in a corrupted form as Woolos the Warrior or Woolos the Bearded was a Welsh king and religious figure....
or Woolos and sister of Saint Cadoc
Cadoc
Saint Cadoc , Abbot of Llancarfan, was one of the 6th century British Christian saints. His vita twice mentions King Arthur. The Abbey of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorganshire, which he founded circa 518, became famous as a centre of learning...
, who according to tradition lived a humble life as a shepherdess in the 5th century but was killed by robbers stealing her finest ram. Saint Tathan, Abbot of nearby Caerwent
Caerwent
Caerwent is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and eleven miles east of Newport, and was founded by the Romans as the market town of Venta Silurum, an important settlement of the Brythonic Silures tribe. The modern village is built...
, to whom the murderers confessed their crime, built a church on the spot where she was killed , which became known as Merthyr Maches and later Llanfaches (the letter m mutating
Lenition
In linguistics, lenition is a kind of sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word lenition itself means "softening" or "weakening" . Lenition can happen both synchronically and diachronically...
to -f- in Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
).
The parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church largely dates from the 14th century and is dedicated to Saint Dubricius
Dubricius
Saint Dubricius was a 6th century Briton ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng and much of South-East Wales.-Biography:Dubricius was the illegitimate son of Efrddyl, the daughter of King Peibio Clafrog of Ergyng...
(Welsh Dyfrig), with Bishops Transcripts dating back to 1725.
The First Independent Church in Wales
The first Independent Church in Wales was founded at Llanvaches in 1638 by William WrothWilliam Wroth
William Wroth , a minister of the Church of England, is generally credited with the establishment of the first Independent Church in Wales in 1639...
(1576-1642), Rector from 1617. In 1633, King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, advised by the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, reissued the "Declaration of Sports
Declaration of Sports
The Declaration of Sports was a declaration of James I of England issued in 1617 listing the sports that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days. It was originally issued in consultation with Thomas Morton, bishop of Chester, to resolve a dispute in Lancashire between the Puritans and the...
". This listed the sports that were permitted on Sundays and other holy days, and was published to counteract the growing Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
calls for strict abstinence on the Sabbath day. Wroth defied Charles' instruction to read the Declaration to his congregation, and in 1634 the Bishop of Llandaff
Bishop of Llandaff
The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...
reported him to the Court of High Commission
Court of High Commission
The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastic court in England. It was instituted by the crown during the Reformation and finally dissolved by parliament in 1641...
, seeking to remove him from his position in the Church. In 1638 Wroth, along with fellow dissenter Walter Craddock, resigned, but continued to preach and gather followers. His preaching became so popular that people travelled from Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
, Radnor
Radnor
Radnor may refer to various places:United Kingdom* Radnorshire, Wales* New Radnor, Powys, Wales* Radnor Wood, Clun, Shropshire, EnglandUnited States* Radnor, Indiana* Radnor Township, Peoria County, Illinois* Radnor, Ohio...
and Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
to Llanvaches to hear him, and it became necessary for him to preach in the churchyard because the church was too small to accommodate all those who attended. By 1639, although he had not formally left the Church of England, Wroth is likely to have been ejected from his living. He set up his Congregationalist chapel, "according to the New England pattern", completed in 1639, with the help of the leading Dissenter
Dissenter
The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...
, Henry Jessey
Henry Jessey
Henry Jessey or Jacie was one of many English Dissenters. He was a founding member of the Puritan religious sect, the Jacobites. Jessey was considered a Hebrew and a rabbinical scholar.-Life:...
. The historic meeting at Llanvaches in November 1639 marked the real beginning of Non-conformity in Wales. Wroth died shortly before the outbreak of the first English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, and was buried beneath the church porch at Llanvaches. His will, at one time on display in the church vestry, concluded:
- "I leave my body to be buried where ye Lord shall please to call for mee praying him to bring my hoarie-head into the grave in his peace which passeth all understanding"
Two hundred years later the great linguist and traveller George Borrow
George Borrow
George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe. They figure prominently in his work...
passed the chapel on his walk from Newport to Chepstow
Chepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
, a journey later included in his "Wild Wales
Wild Wales
Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery is a travel book by the English Victorian gentleman writer George Borrow, , first published in 1862....
".. The current Tabernacle URC
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
Chapel was built in the 1920s on the site of the original chapel.
Llanvaches Roman coin hoard
In 2006 a hoardHoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...
of 599 silver denarii, hidden in a locally made cooking pot, were found at Llanvaches by a metal detectorist. The coins, which are dated to about AD 160, are now held at the National Roman Legion Museum
National Roman Legion Museum
The National Roman Legion Museum is one of the National Museums of Wales. It is located in Caerleon in the city of Newport, south-east Wales .-Background and History:...
in Caerleon
Caerleon
Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
.
Amenities
Although Llanvaches is set in a quiet, rural area the need for more houses and the boom in housing development means that the village has a rising population.Government
The area is governed by the Newport City CouncilNewport City Council
Newport City Council is the governing body for the city of Newport, one of the subdivisions of Wales within the United Kingdom. It consists of 50 councillors, representing the city's 20 wards. Since the 2008 election, the council has been controlled jointly by the Conservatives and Liberal...
and the Llanvaches community council
Community council
A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies...
.