Melin Trefin

The little hamlet of Trefin lies between Fishguard and St David's. There was a flour mill here for more than five hundred years. 

Originally the name was 'Trefaen' which means 'village on a rock'. Later, it became known as Trevine, but it is now spelt Trefin.

One of the most famous poems in the Welsh language 'Melin Trefin' was written by the Welsh poet and celebrated bard, Crwys, and speaks of the mill no longer grinding in Trefin.


Cerys Matthews, the singer and mother of Glenys Pearl y-Felin and Johnny Tupelo Jones, was married to Seth Riddle in Rehoboth Chapel, Trefin.

Quite a few years ago my daughters and I went to Cardiff, to listen to Cerys and Tom Jones singing  'Baby it's Cold Outside'. (Who needs Nashville?)

John Knapp Fisher, a favourite artist of mine, captures the essential loneliness of the Trefin area.  The paintings have a lime washed quality, a frugality that I find appealing. This is wind scorched country, where rocks sprout in the coarse grass and thorn trees bend and twist to avoid the weather.
If you go down under a moonlight sky, remember Crwys's words:

'Nid yw'r felin heno'n malu, yn Trefin ym min y mor'.