Henllan farm is situated approximately two and a half miles south west of Llanboidy. According to heritage consultancy Trysor, 'Henllan Farm is shown on the Ordnance Survey's Original Surveyors Drawings Tenby map sheet, surveyed in 1809, but named as Brynblewyn, the earlier name for the holding. This was the first detailed map of the whole country and shows that a collection of buildings already stood at the location occupied by the modern farmyard. This early survey did not map field boundaries, but does differentiate between enclosed and unenclosed land and appears to show the land around the farm as an enclosed area.'
'When the Ordnance Survey published their 1 inch to 1 mile scale First Series map for the area in 1819, based on the 1809 survey, essentially the same picture is presented. This map shows a little more detail of the farmyard at Brynblewyn, indicating that several buildings stood there, although the detail is insufficient to identify the function of individual buildings.'
'The first detailed map of Henllan Farm and its field system is the Henllan Amgoed parish tithe map of 1846. This shows that the farm was 227 acres in area. It also shows that most elements of the modern field system on the holding were already present by the 1840s. At this time the tenant was Catherine James and the owner one Nathaniel Rowlands. The tithe map appears to show a building in the position of the present dwelling at Henllan Farm, to the northwestern corner of the farmyard, where a building of similar size and shape has survived to the present day. Both buildings are shown on a roughly northeast to southwest alignment.'
'The detail of the farmyard layout on the tithe map compares to that shown on the 1889 and 1907 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey maps. These both show buildings in the same position as those shown on the tithe map, as well as a second linear building to the east of the house, also arranged northeast to southwest, which also seems to still stand today. Smaller buildings are also shown at the northern and eastern edges of the farmyard area.'
'By the early 21st century the farmyard area at Henllan had extended northwards as a range of ever-larger agricultural buildings were constructed as the farm developed into a large dairying holding. The historic core of the farmyard survived this expansion, and the principal buildings built during the 19th century are still recognisable at the southern end of the farmyard complex.'
It seems that the farm changed its name from Brynblewyn to Henllan more than once - the census of 1841 'shows that the farm was known as Henllan by this time' but the 1871 census 'shows that the farm had reverted to its earlier name of Brynblewyn.' However, ten years later on the 1881 census, the farm was once again referred to as "Henllan Farm" and 'recorded as being 210 acres in extent.'
Source: Trysor report entitled 'Henllan Farm, Henllan Amgoed Carmarthenshire Historic Environment Appraisal' by Jenny Hall and Paul Sambrook, published July 2014
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 5th March 2019