Llanedeyrn (Welsh: Llanedern) is a former village, now a district and community, in the east of the city of Cardiff, Wales, located around 3.5 miles from the city centre. 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.
The name
The name used in English "Llanedeyrn" is in fact the perpetuation of an erroneous Welsh form.
In Welsh, the name as it stands is pronounced [ɬanˈeːdɛirn]. In English, it is pronounced /lænˈɛdɪn/ as if the name were Lanedin,[1] with Welsh [ɬ] becoming [l], and the difficult, for non-Welsh-speakers, "Edeyrn" becoming an easier "Edin".
The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (The Lives of the British Saints, 1908) states that there has been confusion between the names Edern and Edeyrn, and that Edern is "the Latin Aeternus, but it is commonly written in later Welsh Edeyrn, which is really a different name".[2] The name "Aeternus", or "Eternus" means "eternal, everlasting".
One reason for Edeyrn instead of Edern might have been a belief that it was based on Welsh "teyrn" ("king, prince, lord" in earlier Welsh, though nowadays "tyrant, despot, oppressor")
Most earlier forms of the name show it be Llanedern [ɬanˈeːdɛrn], although a couple do show "Edeyrn". The meaning is "church (of) Edern".[citation needed]
The local pronunciation when Gwentian Welsh was spoken here (until the early 1900s) was based on Llanedern. It was Llanetarn [ɬanˈeːtarn],[3] showing the typical south-eastern change of final-syllable [e] to [a] (also a feature of north-western Welsh, in Gwynedd and Anglesey (Ynys Môn)) and the provection of [d] to [t] at the beginning of a penultimate syllable.
A more standard form of this is Llanedarn (south-eastern provection being a somewhat stigmatised feature in Welsh), and this is the form used by Samuel Lewis in 1834 in his Topographical Dictionary Of Wales. He adds "Llan-edeyrn" in brackets after "Llanedarn".[4]
John Hobson Mathews (Mab Cernyw), editor of the "Cardiff Records, Being Materials For A History Of The County Borough From The Earliest Times" mentions Llanedern in Volume 5 (1905), in the "Schedule of Place Names".
"LLANEDERN (the church of Saint Eternus.) A village and parish in the Hundred of Cibwr, three miles north-east from Cardiff, on the main Roman road…."
He remarks further that "Llanedeyrn" is incorrect as it is not the historical form, as too is Llanedarn (which he spells with a final "e" – "Llanedarne") because it is a colloquial form. "The spellings "Llanedeyrn" and "Llanedarne" are alike erroneous; the first is founded on mistaken etymology, the second a barbarism."[5]
History
The village name is believed to refer to a 6th-century prince and Celtic saint named St Edeyrn or Edern.[6]
During the 6th 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 name commemorates St Isan (Llan + Isan) and the other[clarification needed] St Edeyrn (Llan means church or parish 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 Llanedeyrn 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 with a tower and six bells. Adjacent to this church is a public house called the Unicorn. The building dates to the 14th century and was converted[clarification needed] in the late 18th century.[6]
Nearby in Pen-y-Groes (Welsh: Pen-y-groes) a Calvinistic Methodist school room and chapel was built in 1840.
Comprising only a few buildings, Llanedeyrn became part of Cardiff in 1889.[6]
In the late 1960s, Cardiff Council decided to build low cost social housing in Llanedeyrn, with an estimated 3,500 homes to be erected for 12,000 poor people (2,000 homes owned by the city council and 1,500 private homes). The first of the estates in the area was opened in 1968. The council provided prefabricated and terraced houses, and many two-, three- and multi-storey blocks of flats were constructed.
In 1974 the Maelfa shopping centre was built[6] and a part-time police station was opened, followed in 1975 by the Retreat public house next door. The public house "The Pennsylvania", dating from 1972, closed down and reopened in 2004 as the "New Penn".[7]
Whoever chose the name “Maelfa” [ˡməɪlva] for the shopping centre is unknown, but Llanedeyrn has probably the only instance in Wales of “Maelfa” as a place name. It is a word used in nineteenth-century literary Welsh meaning "shop, market-place", first seen in 1803 in the Welsh-English Dictionary of lexicographer William Owen-Pughe and apparently coined by him. It is literally “profit-place” (mael = profit, advantage, benefit) and (-fa = suffix meaning “place”). “Mael” is in fact from Middle English “vail” (= profit, return, proceeds), from Old French “vail”, from Latin, and related to the English word “value”.[8]
Amenities
Llanedeyrn is home to several primary schools that offer education in the English language, including St. Philip Evans RC Primary School, Springwood Primary School, All Saints Church-In-Wales Primary School, and Llanedeyrn Primary School. Additionally, Ysgol Y Berllan Deg is a Welsh-medium primary school that serves the community. Llanedeyrn is also home to St Teilos Church in Wales High School, which provides secondary education for students in the area.
Llanedeyrn is home to the Powerhouse Hub, a community center that offers support and assistance to residents. Services include welfare and benefits advice, assistance with the housing waiting list, and support for homeless individuals.[9]
There is a Harvester restaurant in Llanedeyrn. There is a hotel on Circle Way East (next to Eastern Avenue) which was rebranded from Park Inn to Mercure Cardiff North Hotel in 2019.[10]
Housing Estates
The housing estates in Llanedeyrn are: Hillrise, Springwood, Glenwood, Coed-Y-Gores, St Phillip Evans Court, Bryn Fedw, Maelfa, Eastside Quarter, Roundwood, Chapelwood, Bryn Fedw, Pennsylvania, Jefferson Court, Lincoln Court, Ael-Y-Bryn, Coed Ederyn, Wellwood and Awel Mor.
Government
Location of the Llanedeyrn community within Cardiff
In 2016 Llanedeyrn became one of four new communities in Cardiff,[11] having previously been part of the Pentwyn community.[12] However, like many communities in Cardiff, it does not have a community council.
Llanishen is a district and community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the 2011 census was 17,417.
Llanrumney is a suburb, community and electoral ward in east Cardiff, Wales.
St Teilo's Church in Wales High School is a co-educational secondary school now located in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff.
Pontprennau is a ward and community in the north of the city of Cardiff, Wales, lying north of Pentwyn and Cyncoed, between the village of Old St Mellons and the farmlands east of Lisvane. The community had a population of 7,353 in 2011.
Cilcain is a village and community, near Mold in Flintshire, north-east Wales. The village has an industrial history and includes the Millennium Woods, a post office, a public house, a parish church, a primary school and a village hall.
Michaelston-y-Fedw is a small rural village and community to the west of the city of Newport, Wales, on the borders of Cardiff city and Caerphilly county boroughs. The population in 2011 was 296.
Pentwyn is a district, community and electoral ward in the east of Cardiff, Wales, located northeast of the city centre. Llanedeyrn is immediately to the south, Cyncoed to the west, Pontprennau to the north and the Rhymney River forms the eastern border. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 15,634.
Llan and its variants are a common element of Celtic placenames in the British Isles and Brittany, especially of Welsh toponymy. In Welsh the name of a local saint or a geomorphological description follows the Llan morpheme to form a single word: for example Llanfair is the parish or settlement around the church of St. Mair. Goidelic toponyms end in -lann.
Edern, formerly known as Edeyrn, is a village and until 1939 a civil parish, in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It is about 1 km southwest of the larger village of Morfa Nefyn, near Caernarfon Bay on the north coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, on the B4417 road. The Afon Geirch flows through the village en route to the Irish Sea.
Ynysboeth is a suburban area in the community of Abercynon, in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South East Wales.
St Edern's Church, Bodedern is a medieval parish church in the village of Bodedern, in Anglesey, north Wales. Although St Edern established a church in the area in the 6th century, the oldest parts of the present building date from the 14th century. Subsequent alterations include the addition of some windows in the 15th century, and a chancel, transept and porch in the 19th century, when the nave walls were largely rebuilt. Stained glass was also inserted into the windows of the chancel and transept.
Eglwysilan is an ecclesiastical parish and hamlet in Wales, within the community of Aber Valley in the unitary authority of Caerphilly County Borough.
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern is a mixed, Welsh-medium secondary school for pupils between 11 and 19 years old. The school is situated in Penylan, Cardiff, Wales. As of 2022, it had 907 pupils on roll, with 131 pupils in the sixth form. 18 per cent of pupils came from Welsh-speaking homes in 2017.
Saint Edeyrn was a pre-congregational saint of Wales, related to Vortigern and the royal house of Powys and the brother of Saint Aerdeyrn and Elldeyrn. Edeyrn is the patron saint of Lannédern in France and Llanedeyrn in Wales, where he founded a monastery of over 300 people.
Saint Isan was a 6th-century saint of South Wales and Patron Saint of Llanishen in Cardiff, Wales.
St Isan's Church is a listed Anglican church in the suburb of Llanishen, Cardiff. The church's origins are medieval, though the present building was extensively remodeled during the Victorian and Edwardian years.
St Edeyrn's Church is a listed Anglican church within the boundary of Old St Mellon's, Cardiff, though giving its name to the nearby area of Llanedeyrn.
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