Editing Llangeitho

{{Short description|Village and community in Ceredigion, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = Wales
|welsh_name =
|constituency_welsh_assembly = [[Ceredigion (Assembly constituency)|Ceredigion]]
|static_image_name = Afon Aeron at Llangeitho.jpg
|static_image_caption = [[River Aeron|Afon Aeron]] at Llangeitho
|map_type = 
|official_name = Llangeitho
|community_wales = Llangeitho
|unitary_wales = [[Ceredigion]]
|lieutenancy_wales = [[Dyfed]]
|constituency_westminster = [[Ceredigion Preseli (UK Parliament constituency)|Ceredigion Preseli]]
|post_town = Tregaron
|postcode_district = SY25
|postcode_area = SY
|dial_code = 01974
|os_grid_reference = SN679597
|coordinates = {{coord|52.22|-4.02|display=inline,title}}
|population = 819
|population_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125905&c=Llangeitho&d=16&e=62&g=6491480&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1431438714681&enc=1 |title=Community population 2011 |access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref> 
| module=  {{Collapsible list
| framestyle=border:none;text-align:center; padding:0; |title=Community map
|1=[[File:Wales Ceredigion Community Llangeitho map.svg|240px]]<br />Map of the community
}}
}}
'''Llangeitho''' is a village and [[community (Wales)|community]] on the upper [[River Aeron]] in [[Ceredigion]], Wales, about four miles (6 km) west of [[Tregaron]] and {{convert|11|km|0}} north of [[Lampeter]]. Its population of 874 in 2001 fell to 819 at the 2011 census.<ref>[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=8&containerAreaId=790566 Office for National Statistics: ''Census 2001: Parish Headcounts: Ceredigion''] Retrieved 19 January 2010</ref>

==Nonconformism==
The village is linked with [[Daniel Rowland (preacher)|Daniel Rowland]], born here in 1713, and the [[Welsh Methodist revival]] in the 18th century. Rowland served as [[curate]] at Llangeitho and [[Nantcwnlle]]. The village chapel, built in 1760, became famous throughout Wales as a [[Calvinistic Methodists|Calvinistic Methodist]] centre. Thousands visited it to hear the preaching. Rowland was buried in the village and there remains a memorial column to him. Larger replacement chapels were built in 1764 and 1814.

Llangeitho saw several further periods of religious revival in that century, the strongest in 1762, when rejoicing, dancing and jumping for joy earned the Welsh Methodists the nickname "Jumpers". [[William Williams Pantycelyn]] wrote in defence of the celebrations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Eifion |date=1985 |title=Daniel Rowland |publisher=Banner of Truth |isbn=9780851514468}}</ref>

[[File:Bet Fach, Llangeitho who is 92 years old NLW3362623.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A local character in around 1885: Bet Fach at age 92.]]
==Language==
Like much of Ceredigion, Llangeitho was a stronghold of the [[Welsh language]], but in the 1970s newcomers contributed to a decline in the proportion of habitual Welsh speakers from 83 per cent in 1971 to 55 per cent in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welsh speakers by electoral division, 2011 Census |url=https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Welsh-Language/Census-Welsh-Language/welshspeakers-by-ediv-2011census |website=StatsWales |publisher=Welsh Government |access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref> By the 2021 census the percentage was down to 47%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2021 - Ceredigion County Council |url=https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/resident/census-2021/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=www.ceredigion.gov.uk}}</ref>

The Welsh-language poet and minstrel [[Dafydd Llwyd Mathau]] (c. 1601–1629) is thought to have come from the Llangeitho area.<ref>{{Cite DWB |title=Dafydd Llwyd Mathau |id=s-DAFY-MAT-1601 |last=Bowen |first=Geraint |author-link=Geraint Bowen (poet) |year=1959 |access-date=24 November 2016}}</ref>

About a mile and half (2.4&nbsp;km) north of the village is the mansion of Cwrt Mawr, where the antiquary [[John Humphreys Davies|J. H. Davies]] (1871–1926) built up a valuable collection of Welsh-language manuscripts known as the [[Cwrtmawr manuscripts]]. He donated them to the [[National Library of Wales]], where they remain.

==Church==
The village church, across the river to the north of the village, is on an ancient site, but the current church was wholly rebuilt in 1821, retaining nothing of the medieval fabric, which included a double [[rood screen]] and three arches.<ref>{{Coflein|num=400475 |desc=St Ceitho's Church, Llangeitho |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref>

The church and parish are named after [[Saint Ceitho|St Ceitho]]. The water of St Ceitho's Spring is said to have the peculiarity of being cool in summer and tepid in winter.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baring-Gould |first1=Sabine |last2=Fisher |first2=John |title=The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales and Cornwall and Such Irish Saints as Have Dedications in Britain, Volume 2 |date=1908 |publisher=C. J. Clark |page=102}}</ref>

==School==
The village primary school, Ysgol Gymunedol Llangeitho, changed names in 2012 due to an amalgamation becoming Ysgol Rhos y Helyg.<ref>[https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/400630 Ysgol Gymunedo Llangeitho. Retrieved 18 October 2020.]</ref> The nearest secondary school is Ysgol Henry Richard in Tregaron, which teaches in Welsh and English.

The earliest record of a school in the village marks the foundation of a mixed, Calvinistic Methodist school there in 1821.<ref>[http://archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/catalogue.php?searchwhat=*&searchfor=Wesleyan+Methodist+Collection&xsubmit=Search Historical records. Retrieved 18 October 2020.]</ref>

==Governance==
Llangeitho gained a seat on [[Cardiganshire County Council]] in 1889. In November 2019, the Llangeitho member of what is now [[Ceredigion County Council]] was David Rhodri Wyn Evans.<ref>[https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/eich-cyngor/cynghorwyr-a-phwyllgorau/cynghorwyr/] County Council website</ref> The [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|ward]] extends to some neighbouring communities, giving a population of 1,459.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/llangeitho-w05000382#sthash.wGMrwa5p.dpbs |title=Ward population 2011 |access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Llangeitho}}
*[http://www.christian-bookshop.co.uk/free/sht/langrv1.htm Llangeitho and Welsh revivals] by D. Geraint Jones. At the [http://www.christian-bookshop.co.uk/ Heath Christian Bookshop] website
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050216083833/http://www.britishsurvey.org/Ceredigion/Llangeitho/ Statistics about Llangeitho]
*[https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2750174 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Llangeitho and surrounding area]
*{{oscoor gbx|SN620600}}

{{Ceredigion}}

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[[Category:Communities in Ceredigion]]
[[Category:Villages in Ceredigion]]