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Tregaron

Coordinates: 52°13′11″N 3°56′07″W / 52.21962°N 3.93517°W / 52.21962; -3.93517
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For the estate in Washington, D.C., see Tregaron Estate.

Tregaron
Henry Richard's statue and the memorial hall in Market Square
Tregaron is located in Ceredigion
Tregaron
Tregaron
Location within Ceredigion
Area86 km2 (33 sq mi)
Population1,213 (2011)[1]
• Density14/km2 (36/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSN679597
Principal area
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTREGARON
Postcode districtSY25
Dialling code01974
PoliceDyfed-Powys
FireMid and West Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
Wales
Ceredigion
52°13′11″N 3°56′07″W / 52.21962°N 3.93517°W / 52.21962; -3.93517

Tregaron (Welsh: [treˈɡaːrɔn] "town of St Caron"[2]) is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales. It is sited astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi, and is 11 miles (18 km) north-east of Lampeter. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the ward of Tregaron was 1,213 and 67% of the population could speak Welsh;[1] Tregaron is a community covering 33 square miles (85 km2); two-thirds of the population were born in Wales.[3]

History

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Tregaron received its royal charter as a town in 1292.[4]: p7  It owes its origin and growth to its central location in the upper Teifi Valley. It was the market town for the scattered agricultural communities in the broad, fertile countryside to the south and the rich landowners with extensive holdings in the uplands to the east, the home of many sheep and few people. To the north was Cors Caron which was a fertile land when drained, and to the west a hilly region with self-sufficient farmers on smallholdings of a few acres. These people all converged on Tregaron for the weekly market and the annual fair, Ffair Garon, where the sale of poultry, pigs, cattle and horses took place. The charter for the yearly fair was granted by Edward I in the 13th century.[5] Sheep fairs were held in May and June and two hiring fairs took place in November. A large number of taverns and inns in the town catered for the influx of country folk to these events.[6]: p30 

In the middle of the 18th century, Matthew Evans kept an inn in the town. He had two sons and a daughter who were celebrated robbers and collectively known as Plant Mat ('Matthew's children' in English). They lived for several years in a cave near Devils Bridge which still bears their name. They terrorized the district and would give to their friends a glove to act as a passport and identify them to their brethren. It was difficult to apprehend the trio because of the narrowness of the entrance to the cave which made it impossible to storm. After several years of success, they committed a murder and, eventually being taken, were sentenced to death and executed.[7]: p240 

Tregaron was a main gathering place for the drovers who, before the advent of rail transport, herded large numbers of cattle, sheep and even geese hundreds of miles to the markets of southeast England. Many Tregaron men were drovers and accumulated considerable wealth in the process. They acted as news carriers and unofficial postmen and some were adept at avoiding tollgates.[6]: p31 

The Tregaron area had a number of water-driven woollen mills and was a centre for the manufacture of hosiery. Woollen socks were knitted at home by men, women and children and sold at the market, often to dealers who resold them in the industrial valleys of South Wales.[6]: p32 

Culture and community

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The Talbot Hotel
St Caron's church
The Desert of Wales seen from Drygarn Fawr, a wild area north of Tregaron

The church is dedicated to St Caron. He was a man of lowly origins but "his courage and generous deportment obtained him the sovereignty in Wales: he made war against the Romans, reigned seven years and was buried in Tregarron".[7]: p242  He is almost certainly the same person as Carausius (Roman name)[8] who took power in Britain in 286 and was assassinated in 293 by Allectus (also see Carausian Revolt). According to Geoffrey of Monmouth in the translation from Welsh "there was a young man of the name of Caron, of a British family, but of low degree, who... went to Rome, and solicited the Senate to grant him permission and aid to protect the sea coasts of Britain... [He] proposed to the Britons that they should make him king... Allectus with three legions... overpowered him..."[8] An early Christian stone slab bearing the name Carausius and the Chi Rho symbol is preserved in Penmachno. The church has a tower and stands on a rocky eminence. It consists of a simple nave and chancel.

Other notable buildings in the town include the 13th-century Talbot Hotel, which supposedly has an elephant buried in its grounds.[9][10] The remote chapel Soar y mynydd is close to Tregaron. In March, 1977, a cottage near Tregaron was one target of an Operation Julie police raid in which vast quantities of the drug LSD were seized.[11][12]

Nearby Cors Caron (Tregaron Bog), is known for its adders, buzzards, red kites, and polecats. The River Brenig is noted for its brown trout and eels. The river has been the subject of dredging and flood-protection works to provide 1-in-100-year flood protection to the town and improve the environment for wildlife along a stretch of river.[13]

Music and the arts

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An annual eisteddfod is held in the town each September, drawing performers from all parts of Wales and beyond. Eisteddfodau have been conducted at Tregaron for a century or more. The Caron Male Voice Choir was formed in 1969 and has performed in Europe and America as well as the UK.[14] The National Eisteddfod was held in Tregaron in 2022 after being postponed in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.[15][16]

Sport

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The town holds an annual festival of harness racing in August, which attracts racegoers from across the UK; this was started in 1980 by the Tregaron Trotting Club.[17] A race day is now held early in May each year.[18]

The Tregaron Rugby Football Club plays in Division Two West C of the Welsh Rugby Union, having won promotion from Division 3 in 2015.[19]

An association football team, Tregaron Turfs F.C., plays in the Central Wales Football League Southern Division.

Transport

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The nearest National Rail station is Aberystwyth, which facilitates services to Shrewsbury and Birmingham on the Cambrian line.[20]

Tregaron once had its own railway station. In 1860, government approval to subsidise the construction of a railway from Manchester to Milford Haven was granted. At the urging of local people, led by David Davies and supported by Joseph Jenkins, capital was subscribed for a station at Tregaron.[21]: pp 70–72  The Pencader–Lampeter section was completed in January 1866. The grand opening of the entire line was held the following year at Aberystwyth on 12 August 1867, providing a boost to the economy of the town.[21]: pp 79  In 1965, Tregaron's train service was withdrawn and the station closed, after the line was badly damaged by flooding south of Aberystwyth.

The town is served by several bus routes, which connect to Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Lampeter; there are more sporadic services to other neighbouring small towns and villages. There are no buses in the evenings or on Sundays and bank holidays. Services are operated by First Cymru, Mid Wales Travel and Evans Coaches.[22]

Education

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The Tregaron district has a 'through-age' school (ages 3 to 16 years), Ysgol Henry Richard,[23] administered by Ceredigion County Council.[24]

Notable people

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Henry Richard, 1870

Twinning

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Tregaron is twinned with Plouvien, in Finistère, France.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Area: Tregaron (Ward)/ Welsh Language Skills, 2011 (QS206WA)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  2. ^ Mills, A. D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198527589.
  3. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Tregaron Parish (W04000401)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  4. ^ Tregaron: Images of a country town Tregaron and District Historical Society & Landmark Publishing UK, 2006. ISBN 1-84306-197-X
  5. ^ Jones, Emrys Tregaron: The Sociology of a Market Town in Central Cardiganshire in "Welsh Rural Communities", Ed. Davies E., Rees A. D., University of Wales Press, Cardiff 1960, p. 71
  6. ^ a b c Jenkins, J. Geraint: Ceredigion: Interpreting an Ancient County. Gwasg Careg Gwalch, 2005
  7. ^ a b Meyrick, Samuel Rush. The History of Cardiganshire. S. A. Collard (1907]
  8. ^ a b Geoffrey of Monmouth; Roberts, Peter (1811). The Chronicle of the Kings of Britain. London: E Williams. p. 93.
  9. ^ "University archaeologists to dig for Tregaron elephant". BBC News. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  10. ^ The Tregaron Elephant Project: Myth, story and legend Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine at School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, April 2011
  11. ^ "On 26 March 1977, in Wales, England and France, Operation Julie officers swooped and arrested some 120 suspects." BBC Wales account Archived 9 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Operation Julie: How an LSD raid began the war on drugs BBC Magazine 12 July 2011)
  13. ^ Tregaron Flood Alleviation Scheme, Ceredigion Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine. Best Practice Awards 2010 at British Precast website
  14. ^ Caron Male Voice Choir at BBC Mid Wales
  15. ^ "Eisteddfod 2022; National Eisteddfod". eisteddfod.wales.
  16. ^ Covid: Wales' National Eisteddfod postponed until 2022. BBC News, 26 January 2021
  17. ^ Tregaron Trotting Club article at BBC Mid Wales
  18. ^ Tregaron Trotting Club Official site[dead link]
  19. ^ Tregaron claim SSE SWALEC Division 3 West C title at Wales Online
  20. ^ "Timetables". Transport for Wales. May 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  21. ^ a b Phillips, Bethan Pity the Swagman (Cymdeithas Lifrau Ceredigion Gyf., Aberystwyth 2002)
  22. ^ "Stops in Tregaron". Bus Times. 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  23. ^ "First Minister of Wales officially opens Ysgol Henry Richard". BBC News. Ceredigion County Council. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  24. ^ "Primary Schools". Ceredigion County Council. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  25. ^ Henry Richard Manuscripts Archived 2016-01-07 at the Wayback Machine at National Library of Wales. Accessed 6 January 2016
  26. ^ "Twinning database". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011.
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