"It is believed the missionaries of the Celtic Church first came to the area round Groes Faen. They were followers of St Bridget (or St Bride), known in Welsh as Sant Ffraid (an Irish Saint whose Saint’s Day is 1st February). Not far up the hill from Groes Faen is a natural spring sanctified as Ffynon Sant Ffraid although it is not clear whether the spring was sanctified by the missionaries or they settled at Groes Faen because of the already sanctified water source.
There is a deed of a gift of land in Llansantffraid Edeyrnion, made prior to 1190 AD. By 1254 the Parish of Llansantffraid had an income of £2 from tithes.
The site of the original church was land close to the river, believed to be below the property known as ‘Riverdale’, built in 1881. Which side of the river is unclear, as there are footpaths on both sides. At that time the church owned considerable land in the area.
By 1563 the population of the parish was some 405 persons. Searching old records one finds reference to ‘townships’. These are nearly always the names of farms, many still the seat of a local single farm. In post medieval times these ‘townships’, might have been home to as many as a hundred and fifty people with up to thirty or forty dwellings. They were really little gatherings of people grouped together and supporting, and supported by the parent ‘farm’. Reference is made on various documents to the townships of Llan, Rhagatt, Hendreforfydd, Bodorlas, Morfydd, Tir Llanerch, and Carrog amongst others.
It is believed the original church was lost in 1601. According to an Englyn (a stanza or verse) by a local contemporary poet, Thomas Evans of Hendreforfydd);
‘Dyfrdwy, Dyfrdwy fawr ei naid
Aeth at Eglwys Llansanffraid,
Y Llyfrau bendigedig
A'r Gwppan Arian hefyd.’
which translates as;
‘The Dee of the great leaps
Took Llansanffraid church,
The sacred books
and the Silver Chalice also.’
“If anybody would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list ”