Llanfair Talhaiarn

Llanfair Talhaiarn (Welsh: Llanfair Talhaearn), abbreviated to Llanfair TH, is a village and community approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Abergele in Conwy county borough, Wales. Until 1974 it was included in Denbighshire.

Map of Llanfair Talhaiarn, Abergele, UK

The village derives its name from the church dedicated to Mary "Llanfair" and the bardic name of the poet and architect John Jones (January 1810 – October 1869) which was "Talhaiarn". Jones was born at the Harp Inn (now known as Hafod y Gân) in Llanfair.

The village is situated on the River Elwy (Afon Elwy). The population was 979 in 2001, increasing to 1,070 at the 2011 census with 44% being Welsh language speakers.

Llanfair is accessible from the Abergele to Llanrwst road via an ancient three arch bridge that spans the Elwy and leads directly into the heart of the village, where can be found two old pubs, The Black Lion and The Swan Inn.

About 100 yards north of the old bridge is a more modern bridge that carries the main Abergele to Llansannan road across the river.

Nearby is Mynydd Bodran, a 287 m (942 ft) hill which towers above the River Elwy. From the hill are fine views of Snowdonia and the North Wales coast.

The village was once part of the estate of Garthewin. The first written records of Garthewin date to the fourteenth century, but both that house and a later Jacobean house were replaced in the 18th century by the present building, which was subsequently altered in 1930 by Clough Williams-Ellis. It was from the 18th century until the late 20th the home of the Wynne family and notable for a private theatre constructed in the stables by R.O.F.Wynne which in the 1950s saw the first performances of several of Saunders Lewis's dramas.