LLIW VALLEY

CEFN STYLLE

Kevenystlle otherwise Berthllwyd 1738 Coleman NLW;
Cefn Stylle 1884 OS map; 1958 OS 1;25,000;

Cefn & poss. pistyllau ‘montain ridge of the springs, wells’. This is the name of a small-holding between Gowerton and Berthllwyd.
The first element 'cefn' is almost certainly 'mountain ridge'. This is a common place-name element and occurs locally in Cefn Bryn, Cefndrum etc.
The second element 'stylle' is not so straight forward. It looks to be connected to the Welsh word 'pistyll' - 'spout, well, cataract' etc. If so, it would probably be the contracted form of the plural 'pistyllau' in its dialectic form of 'stylle'.
The meaning of the combined elements would then be 'moutain ridge of the springs, wells etc.'
If there are a number of springs, wells in the immediate locality, then that would confirm the meaning. The 1884 OS map shows two wells, one near Cefn Stylle, the other near the adjacent Felin-fach.

2.7.07
----------------------------------------------

PENLLERGARE or PENLLE’RGAER

Penller gâr
1650 G. S. Penllergar
1845 Mon. Inscr. Llndlo Tlbnt. [AR]. Penllengare (sic)
1724 Col D.D. 846 Penllergare
1729 EBMSW
1733 Glam Deeds GRO
1813 OSM unpublished GRO Penllergare Estate
1817 SWMRS pub. 5 1963 Penllargare
1809 Pnllrgr A, 666 NLW Penllergae (sic)
1826 Lewis Weston Dilwyn(2) NLW Penllergaer
1729 Pnllrgr B NLW
1821 Lewis Weston Dilwyn NLW
1828 Ffynnone 2 NLW
1849 Nevill 2686-2691 NLW Penllyrgaer
1747-8 Badminton 2, 1480-93 NLW Penllyrgare
mid 18th cent. Badminton 2, 2139 NLW Pennlergare
1799 Pnllrgr B, 51 NLW
Penlle’r-gaer
1967 GWPN
2004 NLW

Penllyrgare
otherwise
Tyr penlle yr gare
1789 Pnllrgr B, 20 NLW

The above samples of recorded forms of the Penlle’rgaer name demonstrate a variety of orthographies. Whatever the spellings, the one common factor is the nature of the elements within this place-name. One way or another, each of these examples has tried to reflect the four elements of the name viz. Welsh pen, lle, ’r and caer which, translated gives ‘the top end of the place of the fort’. Welsh pen has a number of meanings, and here I believe it to indicate both an elevated position, and a territorial terminus.

The fort is probably the auxiliary Roman fort at Garngoch common. If we take the geographical position loosely as that of the earlier Penlle’r-gaer estate rather than the present village, which inexactly and partly occupies the site of the previous Corseinon Common, then its proximity to Cadle further strengthens the etymology. Cadle (Cadley 1552),popularly thought of as a place of battle, [poss. influenced by Hywel ap Maredudd's battle of 1136, located on plains between Loughor and Swansea by Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188 ], is more likely to be indicative of a training or parade ground for soldiers. This cadle may well have been the training ground of the soldiers stationed at the aforementioned Roman auxiliary camp, and within the territorial boundaries of that camp, while the land at Penlle’r-gaer was at the upper boundary of that territory.

The earliest form of 1650 (written in the Cromwell survey of Gower) has a circumflex accent over the final vowel. This represents the local pronunciation of the final element ‘caer’ (mutated ‘gaer’). Penllergare has an anglicized scribal transmission of the final element. All the examples are written attempts at reproducing, in various orthographies, the elements within the place-name. The elements are Welsh, and as such, should be written accurately in modern Welsh orthography as Penlle’rgaer. J. Elwyn Davies in A Gazetteer of Welsh Place-Names suggests Penlle’r-gaer.

Penlle’rgaer and Penlle’r-gaer both represent correct Welsh spellings of the elements. Personally, I prefer a simplistic Penlle’rgaer to the more elaborate Penlle’r-gaer. The others noted above, including Penllergare contain either grammatical or orthographical imperfections. THE EARLIEST RECORDED HISTORICAL NAME FOR THE PLACE,(ESTATE OR COMMUNITY), IS Penller gâr, WRITTEN IN 1650. THIS EQUATES WITH PENLLE'RGAER IN MODERN WELSH ORTHOGRAPHY. [Further reading: - ‘Penllergare or Penllergaer?’ Jeff Childs, p.127 – 131 Morgannwg Vol XLVII 2003.] Deric John 14.07.06

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WAUNARLWYDD

1585 Gweine Arlloid …. The Lorde’s Meade; 1588 - Weine Arlloid alias Lordes Meade;

Waunarlwydd is the name of a village situated to the south of Fforestfach and Cocket on the outskirts of Swansea The place-name contains two elements GWAUN – meaning MOORLAND, HEATH
and ARLWYDD - used in Glamorgan for ARGLWYDD meaning LORD.
c.f. Prysg yr arlwydd, coetgae’r arglwydd etc.

The English Lordes Meade above is a translation of the Welsh Gwaunarlwydd with meade synonymous with meadow. Gwaunarlwydd is lenited to Waunarlwydd following the Welsh prepositions ‘i’ and ‘o’. The LORD or ARGLWYDD was the Lord of Swansea and Gower.
Over the years, the de Breoses, Mowbreys, Herberts, Somersets, Earls of Worcester and Dukes of Beaufort have held this lordship. WAUNARLWYDD, the LORD’S MEADE, is to the south of Fforestfach whereas the PORT MEADE [Portman Meade 1432, Port Meade 1589] is to the north of that village. In this context port = town, [portman = townsman or burgess]. PORT MEAD was the land of the burgesses of Swansea while GWAUN YR ARGLWYDD, or in its present form, WAUNARLWYDD was the land of the marcher LORD of Gower.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GORSEINON / CORS EINON

Corseinon 1717 CMA Trevecka 2 NLW;
Gorseinon 1764-65 Welsh Piety;
Gorseinon village 1764-65 WP
Corse Inon 1799 Yates Map
Corseynon fawr 1824 Penllergaer B NLW;
Gorseinon Station 1878 OS;

Until 1873 the place-name Gorseinon, or more correctly, Corseinon, referred to a farm, a small village and some common land located in Llangyfelach parish near the present day village of Penlle’rgaer. The Gorseinon village of 1764-5 above is at this location. Parts of the settlement we know today as Gorseinon were previously Loughor Common, Melin Mynach and Rhydymaerdy in the hamlet of Tirybrenin in the parish of Llandeilo Tal-y-bont. The railway station at Rhydymaerdy was opened in 1867 by the Llanelly Railway & Dock Co. owners of the Swansea [Victoria] to Pontardulais line. The station was also known as Loughor Common. This line was acquired by the London and North Western Railway in 1873 and the station was named Gorseinon Station [1878 OS] as it was located relatively near to Gorseinon village and Gorseinon Common. The subsequent industrial settlement that developed around the station also adopted the Gorseinon name, [Gorseinon Tinplate/Sheet Works, 1881; Gorseinon Steel Works 1899.] and ultimately grew into the new town of Gorseinon. The old Gorseinon village is known today as Penlle’rgaer, a name taken from the nearby Penlle’rgaer mansion and estate of Lewis Weston Dillwyn fame.

The Gorseinon place-name contains two elements CORS and EINON.
CORS is Welsh for bog, fen or marsh. It should not be confused with English gorse, ‘a wild prickly evergreen shrub with yellow flowers’ which is Welsh ‘eithin’. Einon is a personal name but the recorded names are too late to indicate or identify any particular Einon. Corseinon becomes Gorseinon with lenition of the initial consonant usually following the prepositions i and o. [to and from] e.g. Rwy’n mynd i Gorseinon or Mae e’n dod o Gorseinon.
Gorseinon is pronounced Gorsinon in local Welsh parlance. Gorseinon < Corseinon = Einon’s bog or fen. © Deric John, March 2003.