Eglwys-B�ch (Eglwys-B�ch) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
EGLWYS-B�CH (EGLWYS-B�CH), a parish, in the union of Llanrwst, chiefly in the hundred of Isdulas, county of Denbigh, but comprising also the township of Maenan, which separately supports its own poor, in the hundred of Ll�chwedd-Is�v, county of Carnarvon, in North Wales, 6 miles (N.) from Llanrwst, on the road to Conway; containing 1632 inhabitants, of whom 1204 are in the Denbighshire portion, and 428 in that of Carnarvonshire. Its length from north to south is seven miles, and its breadth four; the surface is very hilly, and there is a great variety of soil, some being extremely barren, and some, on the contrary, tolerably fertile, yielding good crops of corn. The Denbighshire portion of Eglwys-B�ch consists of four townships. The village is situated in a pleasing and fertile vale, watered by the small river Tudor, and the vicinity abounds with agreeable and richly varied scenery: on the west side of the parish flows the river Conway. Near the north-western extremity of the parish is Bodnod, the head of the township of that name, and the residence of William Hanmer, Esq., to whom it passed by marriage with the heiress of the family of Lloyd, who appear to have held this property in the reign of James I. The old mansion was taken down by the late John Forbes, Esq., and a new one erected on a different site, in 1792, which was considerably enlarged and improved by the present proprietor, in 1829. It is a handsome edifice, pleasantly situated, and commanding extensive and richly diversified views over the Vale of Conway to the Snowdonian mountains. There are two other mansions, viz., Pennant Ereithlyn, belonging to the family of Edwards; and Maenan, to that of Lenthal. The manufacture of flannel is carried on by handloom weavers. From the Denbighshire part of the parish is a ferry across the river Conway, and near this point the navigation of the river is in some degree obstructed by the Arw rocks, which prevent vessels from ascending the river, except at spring tides. Fairs are held on February 24th, May 11th, August 24th, and November 24th; and a court leet and a court baron take place annually, in April, for the manor of Maenan, which extends over the whole of that portion of the parish within the county of Carnarvon, and claims all the privileges anciently enjoyed by the abbots of the monastery that formerly existed there.
The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at �6. 13. 4.; present net income, �220, with a glebe-house; patron, the Bishop of St. Asaph; impropriator, Lord Willoughby de Eresby. The church, dedicated to St. Martin, was entirely rebuilt in 1782, and is a neat spacious edifice, with a low square tower. There are one or two places of worship for Calvinistic Methodists. A National school, erected in the village by subscription, was endowed in 1835, by the Rev. Howel Holland Edwards, with a grant of �700 in the three per cent. reduced Bank annuities, now producing �21 per annum. The Calvinistic Methodists, also, have a day school, and three Sunday schools, in the parish. The parishioners are in possession of a bond of the trustees of the turnpike-road leading from Wrexham to Ruthin, &c., for �169. 12., and paying an interest of �8. 12. 8., charged on the tolls, arising principally from a grant of a similar instrument for �100, assigned to the vicar and churchwardens by Thomas Kyffins, in 1762. The interest is distributed in coal and clothing among the poor, who also receive the benefit of a rent-charge of �5.4. per annum, charged on the estate of Penllyn, the gift of an unknown donor, the amount being distributed on Sundays in bread among twelve aged women. |
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