page_title: Llys y Fran
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Llys y Fran / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Llys-y-fran Reservoir Dam Taken from the car park on the far side of the reservoir
context_page_description: Llys y Fran is a small village and parish in the community of New Moat on the southern slopes of the Preseli Mountains in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The parish includes the small settlement of Gwastad. A notable feature is Llys y Fran Reservoir and Country Park, a popular tourist attraction.
context_section_description: The present parish church dates from the 12th century, with alterations and improvements in the ensuing centuries, and is dedicated to St Meilyr, a 6th-century Celtic saint. Llys y Fran was originally a chapelry; in the 16th century it was controlled by various landowners in the district, but it does appear (Llisvrayne) as a parish on a 1578 map. One of the church's two bells is dated 1632. By 1833 it was the parish church. It is a Grade II listed building.
  The parish was in the ancient Hundred of Dungleddy in the Diocese of St David's. In 1833 the population was 202, and most of the parish was enclosed arable and pasture.
  Llys y Fran parish includes the hamlet of Gwastad, where there has been a Calvinistic Methodist chapel since 1836.
  There may have been a timber castle north of the church, but the remains may have been destroyed when the reservoir dam was built. The site is known as Y Castell (The Castle).
  In 1887 the parish extended to 1,466 acres (593 ha) and had a population of 194.
  The teacher and composer William Penfro Rowlands (1860-1937) was born at Llys y Fran.
  There is no collective war memorial to the individuals from the area.
  Llys-y-Frân dam was constructed between 1968 and 1972 by Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd. The reservoir it impounds covers 212 acres (86 ha) and is surrounded by a grassland and woodland Country Park of 350 acres (140 ha), including the area of the reservoir. It is managed by Welsh Water and is one of 81 reservoirs in Wales. The dam is 100 feet (30 m) high and the lake is fed by the River Syfynwy (or Syfni) that also feeds Rosebush Reservoir a few miles upstream to the northeast.
  In 2008, a refurbished hydro-electric scheme was completed, raising the power output to an average of 26 kW; the original turbine generated considerably less. In 2017 Welsh Water announced a £4 million investment to enhance the park's facilities, to be completed in 2019, but in 2019 the project was put on hold when the construction company went into administration. A new construction company was appointed, with work scheduled to be completed in 2020, until which time the park and reservoir remain closed.
caption: Llys y Fran Reservoir Dam in 1972
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