What's in a name?

As discussed in our previous edition, many Welsh place-names refer either to geography or to man-made features of significance built into the landscape. A perfect example of this is places that include the prefix Pont at the beginning of their names. There are more than a dozen towns, villages and hamlets in the three counties that begin with the word Pont, such as Pontfaen and Pontyglasier in Pembrokeshire, Pont Rhyd y Groes and Pontsian in Ceredigion and Pontarsais, Ponthenri and Pontiets in ...

What's in a name? When it comes to places in Wales, quite a lot as it happens. Welsh place-names are often descriptive of geography and landscape or identify specific buildings, features or individuals. This is particularly true of towns, villages and hamlets which grew up around a church or chapel.Of the 600-plus named places in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, more than 100 refer to a place of worship in their name. However, while church – eglwys – and chapel &nda...