"A township in that part of the parish and union of St. Asaph which is in the hundred of Isdulas, county of Denbigh, 2 miles (S.) from St. Asaph, containing 586 inhabitants, of whom 257 are in Wigfair. This township is situated on the left bank of the river Elwy, and near that river is a beautiful and romantic dingle, in which is a fine spring, called Y Ffynnon Fair, discharging about 100 gallons of water per minute, and strongly impregnated with lime. It is enclosed in a richly-sculptured polygonal basin, which was formerly covered by a canopy supported by ornamental pillars, and was then much resorted to as a cold bath. Adjoining the well are the ruins of a cruciform chapel, in the decorated and later English styles, parts being overgrown with ivy. Prior to the Reformation, this was a chapel of ease to St. Asaph, and was served by one of the vicars to that church. ..... The river Elwy, the banks of which are finely wooded, is here crossed by a majestic bridge, called Pont-yr-Allt-Goch, of one arch, eighty-five feet in span." [ A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 1849, Samuel Lewis]
The new parish of Cefn was formed by an Order in Council on 7 February 1865. It comprised the two Denbighshire townships of Wigfair and Meiriadog, which had until then been in the parish of St. Asaph, Flintshire.