St Michaels Llanfihangel Abercowyn & Treventy House

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Travente : Llanfihangel Aberbythych

Originally the Lordship of 'Oysterlow' and owned by Sir John Perrot, this fine house is 150 feet above sea-level and overlooks the parishes of Laugharne, llandilo Abercowin and Llanfihangel Abercowyn including the Cowyn and Taf rivers merge.

Sir John Perrot died in the Tower of London in 1592, the lands were restored to his son Sir Thomas Perrot who died about 1595, leaving an only daughter Penelope, as heiress, she married Sir William Lower of St Wynnows, Cornwall, a renowned Scholar and Astronomer, who did live at Trefenty and died in 1615, he left two children, Thomas who died in 1661, and Dorothy who inherited Trefenty from her brother, and she married  Sir Maurice Drummond, they had only one daughter, Penelope who married Edmund Plowden of Plowden Hall, Shropshire, the house stayed in this family until the 1870's, when it was sold to the Church Commissioners, and eventually in 1920 was sold to the university of Wales, the house is still well preserved and the farm as I have already mention is farmed by Mr & Mrs Thomas.

Ordnance Survey Reference : SN304133

The Photographs on the left are of the original Church of St Michael's, which as one can see are now derelict and ruinous. The Parish of Llanfihangel Abercowin is bordered on the East by the River Cywyn and the West by the River Taff and merge a hundred yards or more from the church, which is on the West Bank of the Cowyn, where there is still a landing point, This is where and how, many, if not most of the parishoners would have travelled to and from the church, thus the reason for what today would seem a very strange and desolate place to build a parish church. There are still gravestones etc within the church compound, the very quietness of the area, gives one a strange feel.

Infact just a stones throw from St Michaels of Llanfihangel Abercowyn, we will find the ruins of Llandilo Abercowin church once again this church is at the point where the rivers Cowyn and Taf meet but on the East bank of the Cowyn.

To get to this isolated ruin, one has to travel on the main A40 Carmarthen to St Clears road, travel some six miles from Carmarthen until the more recent St Michaels Church can be seen on the left, almost right on the A40.  Then we have to travel for maybe two or three miles until we come to a 90 degree bend in the road which is sign posted to 'Llanybri' we don't turn the bend but follow the road straight ahead until we come to 'Trefenty' which is an ancient Double-piled house which stands about 150 feet above sea level, we have to walk through the farm and then through several fields to the church which is some hundred or more feet below. ( a photograph of 'Trefenty' is on the left).

We had a very interesting conversation with Mr Thomas and his wife, who now farm 'Trefenty'. 

Some time ago an artist painted a rather impressive painting of the ruined church and had it hung alongside other local churches and paintings in the Black Lion Public House at St Clears. Another time, in their wisdom the commissioners of the Church in Wales, decided to sell the church and grounds to some religious organization, for want of a better word one would say a 'cult', needless to say the locals were not to happy, shortly afterwards the landlord of the Black Lion, found the painting of the Church smashed and broken on the floor of the lounge, whilst all the other paintings still stood untouched, no one had entered that part of the pub for some days, strange!  The church was never sold, and can be seen today as you will find in the photographs on this page.