The village of Blaencelyn can be found to the North east of Llangrannog. The stream Fothau lies on the one side of the hill and Dewi Fach on the other. The two streams meet at Glandwr in the parish of Llandisiliogogo before meeting the Dewi Fawr on their journey to the sea at Cwmtydu. It appears that Dylan Thomas refers to the River Dewi in Undermilkwood, “the singing bubbling gurgling Dewi” following his visit to the Crown Inn, Llwyndafydd.
The original name for Blaencelyn was “Banc Elusendy” (charity house hillock). It is thought that the charity house was where Blodfa is today, below the present day shop and Post Office. Catrin Lewis lived there and sold bread and kept the money in a bucket of coal, like an honesty box, outside the door. At one time there was a blacksmith in the upper end of the house on the square also named Blaencelyn. 8 of the famous Cilie family, well known for their poetry, were born here. In the lower part of Blaencelyn house there was the Green Dragon public house. Dai ‘Genesis’ was the landlord but he was illiterate. He kept a record in a Bible he kept under the counter by putting a mark in the book of what each customer owed him. After the days of the pub there was a clothes shop and a kitchenware and crockery shop here.
There was also a blacksmith at Celyn Parc where the current shop is. But as the tractor became more more familiar in agriculture there was less demand on the work of the blacksmith. St David’s Church was opened in 1895 but it closed in 2002. There is a grave there for a sailor from Norway whose body was washed up on Llangrannog beach during the First World War. During the same period a body part was also washed up and the remains were buried at St David’s cemetery. There is a long history of several sea captains in the village and local area and also a long history of agriculture with the number of farms dwindling in recent years.
On the outskirts of Blaencelyn stands Capel y Wig which celebrated 200 years in 2013. It is sad to note that 6 chapels and 1 church has closed over the last 50 years in the Llangrannog locality.