Llanon Community
The village of Llanon is located on the coast of Cardigan Bay, 11 miles south of Aberystwyth and 5 miles north of Aberaeron on the main A487 coast road.
It is part of the parish of Llansantffraed, which consists of three communities - Llanon, Llansantffraed and Nebo. The community is represented by a local parish council made up of elected residents, and comes under the wider administration of Ceredigion County Council.
Llanon History
The village is named after the church of Llan non - the mother of St David.
The village enjoyed a prosperous 18th and 19th centuries built on farming and seafaring industries; shipbuilding employed 130 men in 1861 out of a population of 1300. During this period much of the current village was developed; several chapels and a school were built, and the village enjoyed a large range of shops and services including five pubs and a brewery, three blacksmiths, shoe makers, wheelwrights and a bakery.
Recent developments include the "Cylch Peris" council estate to the north of the village, a sheltered housing complex in the middle of the village and numerous small private estates, particularly in Llansantffraed.
Llansanffraid - Llanon by Samuel Lewis's in 1833
Extract from Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Wales 1833
"LLANSANTFRAID (LLAN - SANT - FRAID), a parish in the lower division of the hundred of ILAR, county of CARDIGAN, SOUTH WALES, 11 miles (S. by W.) from Aberystwith, containing 1206 inhabitants. The village, which is situated on the road from Cardigan to Aberystwith, consists only of a few houses of mean appearance : the parish is noted for its abundant produce of barley. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Cardigan, and diocese of' St. David's, rated in the king's books at £ 6.13.4., endowed with £400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Bishop of St. David's. The church, dedicated to St. Bridget, is a commodious edifice, agreeably situated near the shore of Cardigan bay. There are places of worship for Independents and Calvinistic Methodists. Leland has recorded the existence here of a large building, but he was unable to determine whether or not it was the abbey of Llanfride, of which mention is made in the book "De Dotatione Ecclesiae S. Davidis." Giraldus also speaks of Llansanfride nunnery, but it is equally uncertain whether this was situated here. The average annual expenditure for the maintenance of the poor is £304.5."
Llansanfraid Church, St Bridget
Llansanffraid - Llanon (Llan-non) Barley Crops
During the 19th century the constant produce of continuous barley crops in the parish of Llansanffraid and Llan-non required a lot of fertilizer, the local farmers found seaweed in particular, with its high concentration of nitrogen and trace elements, was a excellent substitute for the more exspensive Lime. Sea-sand was the cheif manure of the Llan-non barley tract, in perpetual alternation with seaweed.
