of the economy, with tea, salt, rum and tobacco being some of the things smuggled into the local area. There are records in the national archive showing an extensive smuggling ring run by the Powell and neighbouring Stedman families. The smuggled goods were bought into Penparcau to avoid the excise men stationed in Aberystwyth. There is also interesting domestic architecture that can be assigned to Richard Emrys Bonsall such as the Ebeneser Chapel, still in use today. The plans for many of these buildings can be found at the National Library of Wales. A famous feature that existed in Penparcau was the toll house. It was built in 1771 and stood at the southern junction of Penparcau (hence the name Southgate). It was built of local slate stone and was roofed with Pembrokeshire slates. David Jones of Dihewyd was appointed as the first gatekeeper in November 1771, and the first tolls were charged on 23 March 1772. The building contains just one room, one end being used for the collection of tolls. A single fireplace at the opposite end of the house was used for heating and cooking. Toll houses were very unpopular with people in rural areas who had to pay to travel along the roads. At St Fagans the house has been furnished in the style of 1843, the period of the Rebecca Riots when many tollgates were destroyed in Wales. Turnpike Trusts were eventually abolished in 1864 with county councils taking over responsibility for building and maintaining the roads but the Penparcau toll house remained a residence until the 1960s. Culture The United Kingdom Census 2001 reported that over 40% of the residents of Penparcau spoke Welsh and used Welsh daily, larger than any other individual census zone within that area, when compared to the other census data sets. Notable residents David John de Lloyd (1883–1948), a Welsh composer and musician was raised and lived in the village. Tom Beynon (1886–1961), Presbyterian minister, author and historian. D. Gwenallt Jones (1899–1968), a Welsh poet, critic and scholar lived in the area; bardic name Gwenallt. Eurfyl ap Gwilym (born 1944), economist, politician and deputy chairman of the Principality Building Society Geraint H. Jenkins FBA, FLSW (born 1946), historian of Wales and retired academic; born and raised in the village. Mike Jenkins (born 1953), author and poet; brought up in the village; father of Bethan Jenkins, politician Simon Thomas (born