Whitland

Whitland

infobox UK place
country = Wales
welsh_name=Hendy-gwyn
constituency_welsh_assembly=
map_type=
official_name= Whitland
unitary_wales= Carmarthenshire
lieutenancy_wales= Carmarthenshire
constituency_westminster= Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
post_town= WHITLAND
postcode_district = SA34
postcode_area= SA
dial_code= 01994
os_grid_reference= SN205165
OldMapsYear= 1891
OldMapsEasting= 220506
OldMapsNorthing= 216500
OldMapsCounty= 10carma451

Whitland ( _cy. Hendy-gwyn; literal translation: 'Old White House', or sometimes Hendy-gwyn ar Daf; 'Old white house on the river Taf') is a small town in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Tâf. Whitland is home to the elussive "Whitland Trout" noted for it's eggs and oily scales.

History

Traditionally Whitland is seen as the site of an assembly of lawyers and churchmen, sometimes described as the first Welsh parliament. It was called in 930 by Hywel Dda; literal translation: 'Hywel the Good' in order to codify the native Welsh laws.

Whitland takes its name from the Cistercian abbey in the medieval period. The monastery pre-dates Tintern Abbey but now is very much a ruin. The monks wore unstained white woollen cloaks, hence the name of the Abbey - "White land" or "Alba Landa". The monastery in Whitland was subject to Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. Much of the limestone was taken and used for other buildings. The magnificent setting of the ruin and the Abbey's layout can still be viewed.

The Hywel Dda interpretive centre is a publicly funded Culture centre. It boasts a fine garden using reclaimed stone. Hywel Dda the Good himself is a controversial figure amongst modern historians as having been the first to sell out to the EnglishFact|date=August 2007.

It is sometimes stated that the family of John Adams, the second President of the United States, came originally from the Whitland area. However, there is no truth in this story. The Adams family lived in north Somerset near Bristol from at least the early 15th century, before migrating to North America in the 17th century. This story is likely to have been invented by a prominent family surnamed Adams that once lived in the Whitland area, and is unfortunately still widely believed.

Amenities

The town is also home to a secondary school (Ysgol Dyffryn Taf) and a wide variety of sporting grounds. Its main industry was a dairy, but it was closed in 1994.

Whitland was also an important railway centre, being to junction to four branch lines - to Pembroke Dock, Fishguard, Fishguard via Puncheston and Cardigan. The latter was closed as a result of the review by Dr Beeching in the early 1960s, as a result the railway rapidly lost importance, and today has reverted to a branch line station.Whitland boasts many local sporting teams including Rugby union, Football (soccer), Cricket, Short and Long mat bowls, Darts, billiards etc. Many of these sporting clubs have junior sections. The Whitland Junior rugby section known as the Junior Borderers, because of the borderline location with Pembrokeshire, have seen many a star rise through their ranks. Prime example is Michael Phillips, Welsh international rugby player. Today they boast one of the best Under 16 squads in Wales, a team under the guidance of the senior 2XV coach Arwyn Thomas, and have not lost a game at all in the 2006-2007 season, and have participated in all of the Pembrokeshire Cup finals since they began in the Under 10 section. This season (2006-2007) they have already clinched the league title, whitout conceding more that 60 points in 12 games, and they are in the final of the Pembrokeshire Cup once again. The squad contains 2 Welsh caps, Scott Williams and Sion Morris, who are also Llanelli Scarlets representatives.

Whitland is twinned with the small town of Pipriac in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany.

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2742981 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Whitland and surrounding area]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Whitland — Recorded in various spelling forms including Whiteland, Whitland, and originally Whetland, this is a locational or residential surname. It is probably English but may be Welsh, as there is a place called Whitland in the county of Carmarthenshire …   Surnames reference

  • Whitland — Original name in latin Whitland Name in other language Hendy Gwyn, Whitland State code GB Continent/City Europe/London longitude 51.81889 latitude 4.61528 altitude 20 Population 0 Date 2011 07 31 …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • Whitland Abbey — (Welsh: Abaty Hendy gwyn ar Daf or simply Y Tŷ Gwyn ar Daf ; Latin, Albalanda ) was a Cistercian abbey near Whitland in south west Wales, now in Carmarthenshire.Whitland was founded on 16 September 1140 by monks from the mother house of Clairvaux …   Wikipedia

  • Whitland RFC — Rugby team teamname = Whitland RFC fullname = Whitland Rugby Football Club nickname = The Borderers location = Whitland, Wales country founded = 1910 (c) ground = Parc Llwyntygwyn capacity = 450 president = B.C.Cook OBE coach = league = WRU… …   Wikipedia

  • Whitland Abbey — Zisterzienserabtei Whitland Whitland Abbey Lage Vereinigtes Konigreich …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Whitland railway station — Infobox UK station name=Whitland other name=Hendy gwyn ar Daf code=WTL caption = The station as seen from platform one manager=Arriva Trains Wales locale=Whitland borough=Carmarthenshire platforms=2 start= lowusage0405=38,165 lowusage0506=39,034… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Cistercian abbeys in Britain — This is a List of Cistercian monasteries (called abbeys) in Great Britain. The first Cistercian abbey in Great Britain was Waverley Abbey in Surrey, founded in 1128. In the next few years further abbeys were founded in other parts of England,… …   Wikipedia

  • Welsh law — For the current Welsh law, see Contemporary Welsh Law. For the law currently in force in England and Wales, see English law. Drawing of a judge from the Peniarth 28 manuscript …   Wikipedia

  • Carmarthenshire — Not to be confused with Caernarfonshire. County of Carmarthenshire Sir Gaerfyrddin Geography Area Total  % Water …   Wikipedia

  • Cilymaenllwyd — The hamlet of Login. Note the narrowness of the valley Cilymaenllwyd is a community on the extreme northwest of Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It lies about 40 km west of Carmarthen, 20 km southeast of Fishguard and 30 km northwest …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”