Abercych

Abercych is a village in the parish and community of Manordeifi, Pembrokeshire,{{cite book |author =Scourfield, Robert |author2 =Lloyd, Thomas |author3 =Orbach, Julian |title=Pembrokeshire |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Conn |year=2004 |isbn=0-300-10178-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AyK4f2_8H78C&dq=Abercych+Pembrokeshire&pg=PA119|page= 119}} of fewer than 100 houses scattered mostly along the sides of a small lane that runs along the western slopes of the Cych valley. It is {{convert|5.5|mi|km}} from the nearest town, Newcastle Emlyn.

File:160317 Nags Head Abercych (Tony Holkham).JPG

The village is rural with no industry except for a timber sawmill at the western end of the village. It has a village hall{{cite web|title=Abercych Village Hall|url=http://www.pembrokeshirehalls.org.uk/hall.php?hall_id=64|access-date=1 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402172151/http://www.pembrokeshirehalls.org.uk/hall.php?hall_id=64|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}} which hosts the Manordeifi Community Council meetings every other month,{{cite web|title=Manordeifi Community Council|url=http://www.pembstcc.co.uk/manordeifi-community-council|access-date=1 April 2015}} and two public houses: The Penrhiw Inn and The Nag's Head; the latter used to have its own microbrewery.{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=Top ten Pembrokeshire Pubs|date=11 July 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/jul/11/top-10-pubs-pembrokeshire-wales|access-date=1 April 2015}}

There is a number of small 'cottage industries' in the village including the magazine Sacred Hoop.

An annual dance festival has been held in the village since 2013.{{cite news|publisher=Tivyside Advertiser|date=30 April 2015|title=Innovative festival heads to Abercych|url=http://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/12923479.Innovative_festival_heads_to_Abercych/|access-date=5 May 2015}}

File:Clynfyw - geograph.org.uk - 67611.jpg

Clynfyw (also recorded as Clynfiew) is a 16th-century mansion rebuilt in the 18th century,{{cite web|title=Coflein: Clynfyw|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pdf/PHGS_033/|access-date=10 April 2015|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414024729/http://www.coflein.gov.uk/pdf/PHGS_033/|archive-date=14 April 2015}} It was owned by David Lloyd of Clement's Inn, London, who sold it to David Llewelin of Penalltcych, Clydey, in 1685. Llewelin's grandson, Owen Davies of Westminster, sold the estate in 1753 to Thomas Lewis of Llwyngrawys, Llangoedmor, Cardiganshire. The large Clynfiew collection of estate records from 1542 to 1916 is lodged at the National Library of Wales.{{cite web|title=National Library of Wales: Clynfiew Estate Records|url=http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=1&coll_id=77891&expand=|access-date=7 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100305/http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=1&coll_id=77891&expand=|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status = dead}} Since the mid-1980s Clynvyw has been a Community interest company care farm registered with Care Inspectorate Wales.{{cite web|title=Welsh Government: Care Inspectorate Wales: Clynfyw CIC|url= https://careinspectorate.wales/clynfyw-cic-domiciliary-care-agency|access-date=20 August 2019}} The farm has eight live-in staff and up to 40 day-students working on practical projects.{{cite news|title=North Pembrokeshire care farm faces big challenges during lockdown|author=Dave Parkinson|date=14 April 2020|publisher=Tivyside Advertiser|url=https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/18378117.coronavirus-north-pembrokeshire-care-farm-faces-big-challenges-lockdown/|access-date=14 April 2020}} In 2020, the manager, Jim Bowen, whose family have run the farm since the 18th century, accepted a Queen's Award for Enterprise from the Prince of Wales, its second such award.{{cite news|publisher=Tivyside Advertiser|url=https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/18393241.north-pembrokeshire-care-farm-clynfyw-gets-royal-seal-approval---second-time/|author=Dave Parkinson|date=21 April 2020|title=North Pembrokeshire care farm Clynfyw gets royal seal of approval - for second time|access-date=21 April 2020}}

Abercych is an ancient settlement, the Welsh placename of which means 'the mouth of the Afon Cych', referring to where the Cych joins the River Teifi. The earliest recorded settlement was a forge, now no longer in existence. The linear nature of the present village arose from the joining up of several discrete settlements: Pont Hercws, Forge Cych, Penrhiw, Pont Treseli and Abercych itself. There were about 30 houses in the 1840s.{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Abercych|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/lowerteifivalley/abercych.htm|access-date=1 April 2015}}

The village has two chapels: Ramoth Baptist Chapel (built 1827), and Bryn Sion Independent Chapel (built 1831).{{cite web|title=GENUKI: Manordeifi|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Manordeifi/index.html|access-date=1 April 2015}}{{cite web|title=Dyfed FHS: Manordeifi|url=http://www.dyfedfhs.org.uk/resources/PEM/mani|access-date=1 April 2015}}

The Cych is a small river, which is connected with the realm of Annwn in the ancient Welsh tale of Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed, the first of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi. There are several places on the upper reaches of the Cych that are seen as an entry point to the 'other worlds' (fairy realms), and there are some folk tales told by some local people about the magical nature of river and the valley.

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• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=6509249 Photographs of Abercych and surrounding area on Geograph]

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Category:Villages in Pembrokeshire