Newcastle Emlyn is a small market town in Carmarthenshire, Wales with a population of around 1,200 located at a crossing point over the river Teifi into neighbouring Ceredigion. Known in the Welsh as "Castellnewydd Emlyn", which is a literal translation of the English (and vice versa.)
It was originally nothing more than a few cottages, as Adpar on the other side of the river in Ceredigion was the major town in the area. This changed when the Welsh ruler Maredudd ap Rhys built a stone castle around the year 1240, taking advantage of the natural features to construct a castle within a bend in the river. (The castle was blown up during the Civil War and only ruins now remain.)
Around this castle a a settlement grew up which was known as Trecastell (Castletown) until the beginning of the 14th century when Trecastell was made into a borough by royal charter, and was then known for a time as Newtown in Emlyn, as the town stood within the ancient Welsh cantref of Emlyn.
Notable for being one of the first towns in Wales to have electricity when in 1907 a Swansea engineer named J R Parkington converted an old corn mill into a hydro-electric power station to provide street lighting for the town.
Table of References
- http://www.newcastleemlyn.info/
- http://www.newcastle-emlyn.com/