Llanedeyrn

St Edeyrn's church, Llanedeyrn

Llanedeyrn (Welsh: Llanedern) is a district in the east of the city of Cardiff, Wales, located around 3.5 miles from the city centre.

Early history

The name "Llanedeyrn" is believed to be derived from a sixth-century monk and a Celtic saint named St. Edeyrn or Edern. During the sixth century, St. Edeyrn and a fellow monk, St. Isan, were given the task of spreading the faith and establishing places of worship. The first location chosen by the two monks was Llanishen. This area commemorates the first of the two monks St. Isan (Llan + Isan) and the other St. Edeyrn (the word "Llan" means settlement or place of worship in the Welsh language).

St. Edeyrn was reputed to have travelled widely and as a result there are churches in North and South Wales dedicated to his memory. St. Edeyrn gathered together a community of about 300 that lived and worshipped in the Llanederyn area. The original Norman style church dating back to 1123 exists only as stonework remnants beneath restoration work completed in 1888, the church today is a simple structure featuring a tower and five bells, adjacent to this church is a 15th-century public house called the Unicorn. The parish of Llanedeyrn rests on the banks of the river Rhymney and is visible nesting on a hill side above the A48(M), westbound on the approach into cardiff.

Nearby in Pen-y-Groes a Calvinistic Methodist school room and chapel was erected in 1840.

Recent history

In the late 1960s, Cardiff Council decided to create low cost social housing in Llanederyn, with an estimated 3,500 homes to be erected for 12,000 less well off people (2,000 homes owned by the city council and 1,500 private homes). The first of the estates within the area was opened in 1968. The council provided a selection of prefabricated and terraced houses and numerous 2, 3 and multi-storied flats were constructed.

Due to demand, a part-time police station was set up in Llanedeyrn and in 1974 the Maelfa shopping centre was built, followed shortly in 1975 by the Retreat public house adjacent to it. The public house The Pennsylvania closed down and reopened as the New Penn.

The area also features the first comprehensive school built in Wales, Llanedeyrn High School, which Colin Jackson attended in his youth.

The housing estates contained within the area of Llanedeyrn are:

Queenwood Wellwood Awel-Mor
Coed Ederyn Ael-y-Bryn Springwood
Hill rise Glenwood Wern Goch
Bryn Fedw Pennsylvania Coed-y-Gores
Roundwood Chapelwood Coed-y-Caegwyddau

See also

External links


Coordinates: 51°30′49″N 3°09′05″W / 51.51361°N 3.15139°W / 51.51361; -3.15139

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/31/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.