The Church in Wales parish of Bridell is on the A478, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Cardigan and consists of a few private houses, the church (St David's) and Plas Bridell Manor house, a 19th-century mansion which, until 2019, was a nursing home.
[3] In the churchyard of St David's is a 9 feet (2.7 m) high stone cross whose inscription appears unreadable, but has been deciphered as Nettasagri maqi mucoi Briaci, and commemorates a man named Nettasagri, the son of the kin of Briaci.
In 1890, local clergy were reported to be in "great distress" through the failure to collect tithes amounting to £1,738 over six parishes, with Bridell owed £249; previous attempts at recovery had been "crushed by riotous crowds".
[6] Pen-y-Bryn (English meaning: top of the hill), also referred to as Penybryn, is a small village situated on the northern side of the parish at a crossroads dominated by the Pen-y-Bryn Arms public house on one side and the Grade II-listed Penybryn Baptist Chapel, established in 1818 and rebuilt in 1869,[7][8] on the other.
The Pen-y-bryn Arms has stood at the crossroads at least since the 18th century and enjoys both local and passing trade, standing as it does on the main route into Cardigan from the south.