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Lampeter

Coordinates: 52°07′13″N 4°04′56″W / 52.1202°N 4.0821°W / 52.1202; -4.0821
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the town in Wales. For the place in the United States, see Lampeter, Pennsylvania.

Lampeter
  • Welsh: Llanbedr Pont Steffan
Lampeter is located in Ceredigion
Lampeter
Lampeter
Location within Ceredigion
Population2,970 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSN578478
Community
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLAMPETER
Postcode districtSA48
Dialling code01570
PoliceDyfed-Powys
FireMid and West Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Ceredigion

52°07′13″N 4°04′56″W / 52.1202°N 4.0821°W / 52.1202; -4.0821


Map of the community

Lampeter (/ˈlæmpətər/; Welsh: Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); Llambed (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and Cardigan, and has a campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. At the 2011 Census, the population was 2,970. Lampeter is the smallest university town in the United Kingdom. The university adds approximately 1,000 people to the town's population during term time.

Etymology

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The Welsh name of the town, Llanbedr Pont Steffan, means "Peter's church [at] Stephen's bridge" in reference to its church and castle. Its English name derives from this, as does the colloquial Welsh name Llambed.[3] An alternative English spelling occurs as "Thlampetre" in 1433.[4]

History

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Lampeter Town Hall

The Norman timber castle of Pont Steffan ("Stephen's bridge" in English) occupying a strategic position beside the River Teifi was destroyed in 1187 after it had been conquered by Owain Gwynedd and was not rebuilt.[5]

Cardiganshire was one of the royal counties established by Edward I after the defeat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf) at Cilmeri in 1282, when Lampeter fell under direct royal control. But this had little effect on the town, and the Welsh language and culture continued to thrive. The first market charter was granted in 1284 to Rhys ap Meredydd who was given the right to hold a weekly market. As many as eight fairs were also held each year under successive charters.[6]

The town was ruled by a local aristocracy who lived in elegant mansions, including Brynhywel, Maesyfelin and the Lloyd baronets of Peterwell. As magistrates, they handed out the severest of penalties to offenders. The fairs and markets had become rowdy occasions with violence and drunkenness, and the stocks and whipping post in front of Lampeter Town Hall were frequently put to use in the 18th century.[6]

The town developed the crafts, services and industries to cater to the needs of the rural area. There were several woollen mills, one of which in the mid-18th century was already producing the complex double-woven tapestry cloth later to become associated with the Welsh woollen industry. There were also blacksmiths, a leather tannery, carpenters, saddlers, bootmakers and hatters. The town was one of the main centres on the Welsh drovers' road which carried cattle and sheep on foot to the markets in England. A large number of inns point to the town's importance as a rural centre.[7]

Lampeter's war memorial, sculpted by Sir William Goscombe John (1860–1952), was unveiled in September 1921.[8]

University

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Main article: University of Wales Trinity Saint David
The college c. 1835

St David's College was founded in Lampeter in 1822 by Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St David's, to provide training for those wishing to join the Anglican priesthood. It was the first institution of higher education in Wales and the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge. In 1852 it was granted a charter to award the Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree, and in 1865 another charter enabled it to confer BA degrees in liberal arts.[7] Its central building, based on an Oxbridge-style quadrangle, was designed by Charles Robert Cockerell.[9]

In 1971, it became a constituent part of the University of Wales as St David's University College and was renamed the University of Wales, Lampeter, in 1996. In 2008, the Lampeter institution's original charter was used to reform higher education in West Wales with the integration of Trinity College Carmarthen, further education colleges in Cardigan and Llanelli, and the technical college known as Swansea Metropolitan into the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.[10]

The university's Rugby Union team was the first in Wales. It was formed in the 1850s by Rowland Williams who introduced the game from Cambridge.[11]

Governance

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There are two tiers of local government covering Lampeter, at community (town) and county level: Lampeter Town Council (Cyngor Tref Llanbedr Pont Steffan) and Ceredigion County Council (Cyngor Sir Ceredigion). The town council meets at the Creuddyn Building on Pontfaen Road.[12]

Administrative history

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Lampeter was an ancient parish, which included rural areas as well as the town itself.[13] The town was administered as a borough from at least the time of Edward II (reigned 1307–1327).[14] A government survey of boroughs in 1835 found that the borough corporation had very few powers. The borough was therefore left unreformed when the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed most ancient boroughs across the country into municipal boroughs.[15]

The old corporation continued to operate, but was ineligible to take on any further functions. In order to provide more modern forms of local government, a local government district was created in 1866 with an elected local board.[16][17] The local board and old borough corporation then existed alongside each other until 1884, when the town was issued a new municipal charter formally incorporating it as a municipal borough. The reformed borough council took on the functions of the abolished local board.[14] The Local Government Act 1894 directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle borough boundaries, and so the parts of Lampeter parish outside the borough became a separate parish called Lampeter Rural.[18] Lampeter Rural was abolished in 1987 and divided between several neighbouring communities.[19]

The borough of Lampeter was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. A community called Lampeter was created instead, covering the area of the abolished borough. District-level functions passed to Ceredigion District Council, which was in turn replaced in 1996 by Ceredigion County Council.[20][21]

Culture

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Theatr Felinfach

Notable people

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Elin Jones, 2021

Sport

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Lampeter has a strong sporting community, which includes Cwmann and Llanybydder. Many sports are played in the town, with rugby union being the most popular. Lampeter fielded the first rugby union team in Wales. The sport is believed to have arrived in the late 1840s, meaning the town has a very long tie and history with the sport. The town is represented by Lampeter Town Rugby which is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets.[30]

Many other sports are played in the town, including association football, with the town being represented by a football team, their pitch being directly next to the main pitch of Lampeter Rugby Club. The football team has junior teams as well as a 1st and 2nd team. The town is served by a leisure centre, which has a gym, the main hall and modern tennis facilities. The town has a swimming pool and also a bowling green.[31]

Transport

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Main article: Lampeter railway station
In 1911, a branch line opened to Aberaeron

In 1866, transport in Lampeter was greatly improved with the opening of the railway linking Carmarthen and Aberystwyth. In 1911, a branch line opened to Aberaeron. Following the nationalisation of the railways, the passenger service to Aberaeron ceased in 1951. Passenger trains on the main line to Carmarthen and Aberystwyth continued until December 1964 when the track was badly damaged by flooding south of Aberystwyth and through trains were suspended. This was the era of the "Beeching Axe" and it took little political persuasion to decide that the cost of repairs would be unjustified. The remaining passenger services were withdrawn. Milk trains continued to the processing factories at Pont Llanio until 1970, and Felinfach until 1973. The line was eventually lifted in 1975. However, the section of the old line between Bronwydd Arms and Danycoed Halt still exists and is used by the Gwili Railway, a steam railway preservation society which operates a regular timetable during summer months.[32]

Regular bus services operate through the town, connecting Lampeter to Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Swansea. Two buses a day continue beyond Swansea, providing a through service to Cardiff.[33]

Twinning

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Lampeter is twinned with Saint-Germain-sur-Moine, France.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "town and electoral division population 2011". Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Lampeter Town Council | Cyngor Tref Llanbedr Pont Steffan".
  3. ^ Mills, A. D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198527589.
  4. ^ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP40/689, year: 1433; image seen on the website of the Anglo-American Legal Tradition: http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no689/aCP40no689fronts/IMG_0739.htm ; second entry, line 2
  5. ^ The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 6. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1974. p. 13. ISBN 9780852292907.
  6. ^ a b Jenkins, J. Geraint. Ceredigion: Interpreting an Ancient County. Gwasg Careg Gwalch (2005) pg. 27.
  7. ^ a b Jenkins, J. Geraint. Ceredigion: Interpreting an Ancient County. Gwasg Careg Gwalch (2005) pg. 29.
  8. ^ "Lampeter". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  9. ^ Whyte, William (2016). Redbrick: A Social and Architectural History of Britain's Civic Universities. Oxford University Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0192513441.
  10. ^ "History". University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Celebrating the roots of Welsh rugby". Welsh Rugby Union. 22 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Meetings of the Council". Lampeter Town Council. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  13. ^ "Lampeter Ancient Parish / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  14. ^ a b Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire and South Wales. 1895. p. 352. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  15. ^ First Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Part 1. 1835. p. 283. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  16. ^ Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into Municipal Corporations not subject to the Municipal Corporations Acts. 1880. p. 54. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  17. ^ "No. 23108". The London Gazette. 1866. p. 2704.
  18. ^ "Cardiganshire: Diagram showing administrative boundaries, 1971". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  19. ^ Langston, Brett. "Cardiganshire Central Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 6 October 2022
  21. ^ "Local Government (Wales) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 19, retrieved 9 October 2022
  22. ^ "Eisteddfod Rhys Thomas James Panyfedwen". Lampeter Town Council.
  23. ^ Evans, Janet. "Llais Llwyfan Llambed". bbc.co.uk/cymru.
  24. ^ "Museum celebrates Lampeter's rich history". uwtsd.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  25. ^ "Public to get say on £4.5m theatre plan". BBC News. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  26. ^ D. N. Thomas, Dylan Thomas: a Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow, Seren, 2000.
  27. ^ The Dylan town trail is described clearly in the following bi-lingual booklet, available at Tourist Information Centres in Ceredigion and online at town trail There's also a photographic guide to the town trail at The Dylan Thomas Trail in New Quay. S. W. Rhydderch's Rock Climbing in Silk includes work that provides a poetic introduction to the town (Seren 2001).
  28. ^ "Young nationalists of the FWA go on the march". BBC. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Attached Presbytery (RC), Lampeter, Ceredigion". Cadw. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  30. ^ BBC News (8 July 2004). "Wales' regional rugby map". BBC. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  31. ^ "Lampeter Bowls Club". Dewis Cymru. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Fatal accident at Bronwydd Arms station on the Gwili Railway". Rail Accident Investigation Branch. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  33. ^ "Lampeter to Cardiff". Rome to Rio. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Lampeter and St Germain Sur Moine, 2001, French seal of approval for town, Cambrian News, 15 February 2001". Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lampeter.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Lampeter.
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