; ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire.
The town is north-west of Swansea and south-east of Carmarthen. At the 2021 census, the community had a population of 25,366, and the built up area had a population of 42,155. The local authority was Llanelli Borough Council when the county of Dyfed existed, and it has been under Carmarthenshire County Council since 1996.
Toponymy The anglicised spelling "Llanelly" was used until 1966, when it was changed to Llanelli after a local public campaign. It remains in the name of a local historic building, Llanelly House, and this is sometimes confused with the village and parish of Llanelly, in south-east Wales near Abergavenny.
Llanelly in Victoria, Australia, was named after the town of Llanelli, using the spelling current at that time.
History
The beginnings of Llanelli can be found on the lands of present-day Parc Howard. An Iron Age hill fort once stood which was called Bryn-Caerau (hill of the forts). Evidence suggests there were five hill forts from Old Road to the Dimpath. During the Roman conquest of Wales, it is unknown whether the area of Llanelli was part of the Silures tribe or the Demetae tribe. There is evidence of a Roman camp near St Elli shopping centre. It is unknown when it was built, and it was completely abandoned shortly after construction either due to the Romans thinking the area was completely worthless or due to a raid by either rebellious local Britons or an Irish raid. During the post-Roman period, the area of Llanelli may have been heavily populated with Pagans as there's evidence of a pagan worship temple under the Saint Elli church, it may have had frequent raids from Brycheiniog and Dyfed in order to Christianise the area to which it would eventually fall into Dyfed. During the early medieval period, it is said a saint named Elli, or Ellyw, who in legend is the son or daughter of King Brychan established a church on the banks of the Afon Lliedi. The original church would have been a wooden or partly stone, thatched structure. According to early Welsh transcripts, the church of Carnwyllion, i.e. the mother church of the cwmwd, was at Llanelli. The current St Elli's Church dates from the 14th century although extensive restorations were completed in 1911.
According to the Red Book of Hergest during the Norman invasion of Wales, Rhys Ieuanc and his uncle Maelgwn ap Rhys took the allegiance of all the Welsh of the Kingdom of Dyfed apart from one region. Cemais would not pay allegiance and thus Rhys Ieuanc and his uncle, Maelgwn ap Rhys, attacked and pillaged the area moving on to attack the castles at Narberth and Maenclochog. At this time, Rhys Ieuanc moved against Cedweli and Carnwyllion with his forces besieging and burning Carnwyllion Castle in 1215.
Llanelli was industrialised in the early 19th century as the global centre for tinplate production.J. Paxton (1999), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Places, 3rd ed. London: Penguin. Lying near the Western fringe of the South Wales Coal Field, Llanelli played an important role in industry, with coal exported through three small docks along with the copper and tin produced within the town itself. Although Llanelli is not located within the South Wales valleys, coal from the Gwendraeth and the Loughor Valleys was transported to Llanelli for export. The Stepney Family and other prominent families (including the Raby family, Howard family and Cowell family), played an important role in the development of the town. Aside from industry, Llanelli is also renowned for its pottery, which has a unique cockerel hand-painted on each item. A collection of this pottery can be seen at the Llanelli Museum in Parc Howard.
Llanelli people are sometimes nicknamed "Turks". There are several theories on this nickname: Llanelli allowed the docking of a Turkish ship when Swansea dockers were on strike in the 1920s, Llanelli tinplate workers wrapped their heads like turbans to deal with sweat, or it is a reference to the 4th Battalion of the Welch Regiment fighting against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I.
The built-up area, as defined by the Office for National Statistics, extends beyond the Llanelli community to include parts of the neighbouring Llanelli Rural community.
In March 2024, the Llanelli Chamber of Trade and Commerce, supported by the Llanelli Town Council and MP Nia Griffith, officially launched a campaign to seek city status for Llanelli. Advocates emphasized the bid as an opportunity to promote local culture, and attract economic investment.
Culture and language National Eisteddfod Llanelli hosted the National Eisteddfod six times between 1895 and 2014.
Welsh language In the mid-20th century, Llanelli was the world's largest town in which more than half the inhabitants spoke a Celtic language.The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2008. It is ranked as the seventh largest urban area in Wales. According to the 2011 UK Census returns, 23.7 per cent of Llanelli town residents habitually spoke Welsh. However, the area around Llanelli is a Welsh stronghold, in which 56 per cent do so in communities such as Llwynhendy and Burry Port.
During the 1950s, Trefor and Eileen Beasley campaigned to get Llanelli Rural Council to distribute tax papers in Welsh by refusing to pay taxes until their demand was met. The council reacted by sending in the bailiffs and selling their furniture to recover the money owed. The Beasleys finally won their campaign in 1960 when the council published bilingual rate demands.
Economy In 1991, Llanelli was a distinct travel to work area, but a 2001-based revision has merged it into a wider one of Swansea Bay.
Manufacture Several firms, including Tata Steel Europe tinplate at Trostre and Dyfed Steels, are based in the Llanelli area and service the automotive industry. The Technium Performance Engineering Centre was developed at Llanelli Gate as a business incubator for businesses in the automotive, motor sport and aerospace sectors.
The traditional industries of Llanelli have gradually declined in recent decades. Local government has responded by seeking to attract tourism with developments such as the Machynys Golf Course, retail parks at Trostre and Pemberton, and the Millennium Coastal Park. The core shopping area has now moved largely from the town centre to the Trostre/Pemberton area.
Brewing The longstanding Felinfoel Brewery is in Felinfoel, just outside the town.
James Buckley was an ordained Methodist minister, born in Oldham, Lancashire in 1770, who after moving to Llanelli towards the end of the 18th century became involved in establishing a small brewery. After the death of the owner, Buckley gained possession of the brewery and changed its name to Buckley's. In 1998, the brewery was bought by Brains Brewery, which transferred production to its facility in Cardiff. Brains produces The Reverend James, a bitter named after Buckley. Since then, the Llanelli brewery has been partly demolished.
Leisure and tourism Developments include the Llanelli Scarlets rugby stadium, the Old Castle Works leisure village (see below) and a National Hunt racecourse at Ffos Las near Trimsaran. Machynys Ponds, a Site of Special Scientific Interest notable for its dragonfly population, lies a mile to the south.
Religion Church in Wales
The parish church of St Elli has a medieval tower. The body of the church was rebuilt by G. F. Bodley in 1905–1906. It is a Grade II* listed building. Several other churches in the town are also listed buildings, but made redundant by the Church in Wales and now in private ownership. They include All Saints' and St Alban's.
Nonconformism
From the early 19th to late 20th centuries, Llanelli was a major centre of Welsh nonconformism. At the end of the Second World War there were 22 chapels in the town. The history of the chapels has been chronicled in a book by the former BBC journalist Huw Edwards. Edwards noted that many of the chapels had closed and others were in sharp decline, he suggested that if the decline continued, only two or three were likely to survive as functioning chapels in the 2020s.
The best-known of Llanelli's chapels is probably Capel Als, where David Rees was a minister for many years in the 19th century. Llanelli had seven other Independent (Congregationalist) chapels, namely Tabernacle, Lloyd Street, Siloah now closed, Soar now closed, Ebenezer, Dock Chapel, and Park Church (the only chapel where services were conducted in English). The Tabernacle Chapel built in 1872–1873 by John Humphreys of Morriston overlooks the Town Hall. There is a prominent four-pillared Corinthian arcade at the entrance. The building was Grade II* listed in December 1992. It is used as a venue by the Llanelli Choral Society. Other listed chapels include Bethel Baptist Chapel in Copperworks Road, Park Congregational Chapel, Zion Baptist Chapel at Island Place, and Hall Street Methodist Church. Calfaria Baptist Chapel, built in 1881, is Grade II listed.
Situated on Waunlanyrafon, across the road from the police station, is the Roman Catholic Church, Our Lady Queen of Peace Church.
Llanelli has an Islamic centre on Station Road and Baptist churches spread throughout the town and surrounding areas.
Sport
Rugby union The town's rugby union teams – the Scarlets, who compete in the United Rugby Championship, and Llanelli RFC in the Welsh Premiership – play at Parc y Scarlets, which opened in November 2008 in Pemberton. Previously they had played at Stradey Park, home to Llanelli RFC for over 130 years and one venue used for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, hosting the match between Argentina and Samoa on 10 October 1999.
The Welsh folk song "Sosban Fach" (Little Saucepan) is mostly associated with Llanelli RFC.
Many rugby clubs have notable scalps collected from touring international sides but Llanelli has in its rugby history one of the greatest scalps ever. On 31 October 1972, in one of the most famous results in rugby union history, Llanelli beat the New Zealand national team 9–3 in front of around 20,000 spectators. Llanelli centre Roy Bergiers scored the only try of the game, charging down a clearance by All Black scrum-half Lin Colling after a penalty from Phil Bennett rebounded back into play off the crossbar.
There is a strong junior rugby core, including club sides such as Felinfoel, New Dock Stars, Llangennech and the Llanelli Wanderers. In 2005, Coedcae School won the Inter-Schools Cup of Wales with an 8–5 victory over Brynteg Comprehensive.
Rugby league Llanelli's West Wales Raiders play in RFL League 1, the third tier of rugby league in England and Wales. The club is based at Stebonheath Park.
Association football Stebonheath Park is the home of football club Llanelli A.F.C., which plays in the Cymru Premier, the top tier of Welsh football. The town has many active local teams and tournaments such as the 2018 Challenge Cup, where West End United beat Trostre Sports AFC.
Bowls Llanelli hosts the annual Llanelli Open Bowls Tournaments, the oldest and most prestigious of which, the Roberts-Rolfe Open Singles event, has been run since 1926 and has a first prize of £600. The contests are held from July to September in Parc Howard.
Golf The Llanelli area has two golf courses: the Machynys Peninsula Golf & Country Club which hosted the Wales Ladies Championship of Europe from 2005 until 2008, and Glyn Abbey Golf Club, which was named Welsh Golf Club of the Year 2009.
Snooker