The village of Cwmann lies on the outskirts of Lampeter, just over the river Teifi and so whilst Lampeter is in Cardiganshire, Cwmann is in Carmarthenshire. Cwmann has developed in an expansive linear fashion, principally along the A482 and A485. This means that Cwmann measures approximately half a mile east to west and half a mile north to south, but the land between the roads consists principally of farmland, and remains undeveloped. The village of Cwmann also encompasses much smaller settlements that may once have been distinct hamlets. These are Parc-y-Rhos, Ram and Treherbert.
The 2nd edition of the 6inch OS maps, published in 1906, shows that there was a large tannery - 'The Tivy Side Tannery' (NPRN 305058) located on the Cwmann side of the river Teifi. Further south east, in the Treherbert part of Cwmann, there were two taverns - The Lock & Key and The Ram Inn (NPRN 17754). Other amenities in the village at the turn of the century included the school, a church dedicated to St. James (NPRN 116863) and two chapels - Bethel Welsh Independent chapel (NPRN 6633) and Caersalem Welsh Baptist chapel (NPRN 6635). Little had changed by the time the fourth edition of the 6inch OS map was published in 1938.
More houses were built in the twentieth and twenty first century, so that today there is an almost unbroken line of houses running north-east along the A485 from St. James's church, all the way along Treherbert Street (A482) and down to Ysgol Carreg Hirfaen - a distance of approximately a mile and a half - with more houses in the near vicinity, such as at Parc-y-Rhos. Although the Lock and Key seems to have closed, The Ram Inn remains open and there is an additional public house - The Cwmann - is located near the site of the old tannery. The original school marked on the 1906 map has also closed, but on the other side of the road a new school - Ysgol Gynradd Hirfaen - was opened in 2009, 'following the closure of nearby schools and, as a result, it serves a wide area.' It educated approximately 120 children aged three to eleven through the medium of Welsh. The village also has a community park focused around the village's First World War memorial (NPRN 419453). Although Caersalem Welsh Baptist chapel seems to have closed, the church and Bethel Welsh Independent chapel remain open.
Sources: modern and historic OS maps; Estyn report on Ysgol Gynradd Hirfaen, published in January 2015.
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 28th November 2018.