History of Ynys Fawr, History Report by James M. Burton Nov 2018

Ynys Fawr (Big Island) is a small plot of land that sits on the edge of the in Abercynon, in Rhondda Cynon Taff, S/. It is currently being revamped as community allotments by a team of volunteers in 2018, so I thought it pertinent to seek any history regards the land to ensure proper insight was given when considering future use, and help us know how it was formed.

The Cynon river was formed over many millennia after the retreat of the last ice age. Up until the arrival of man it meandered through a low lying wooded valley, frequently flooding. Gradual clearance of woodland floodplains for agriculture turned most of the valley floor into fertile meadow-lands for cattle, the annual flood bringing valuable silts onto the land. Thus it came into ownership of Celtic tribes, which were conquered by the English Crown and given over to the church. It is debated that the monasteries at under Llanwonno or Caerleon Abbey farmed this land until the reformation whence it was given over to the Mathews family of Aberaman. The first document that I have discovered relating to the land without in-depth research is within the Tithe schedule of 1844. It was then owned by Richard Basset Esq of Beaupre Castle and leased to George Forest Esq who further sublet to Thomas Evans, tenant of Blaen-nant y Fedw Farm nearby. The area was known then as Abertaff-ar-Cynon, relating to the confluence of those two rivers.

Tithe Schedule for Abercynon, 1844 (National Library of Wales)

Landowner Occupier No. On Plan Name of Land & State Premises Basset, Richard Esq Forest, George Esq Part of Blaennant Y Fedw 1135 Ynis Fawr meadow 1136 Coed Pasture wood 1137 Cae Calk meadow 1138 Cae Calk meadow Transcript of Tithe Schedule for Abercynon, 1844 (National Library of Wales) Tithe Map for Abercynon, 1844 (National Library of Wales) (Ynis Fawr No.1135 area dotted)

The area can be traced in the tithe map comparing to modern day maps as a thin strip of land named ‘Ynis Fawr’, No.1135. It has not changed shape since this time. But we can see that the Ynys Meurig bridge lower down is present with a path running north from it, stopping at field no.1136, which was pasture woodland, known as ‘Coed’ (wood). Nearby was field 1137 and 1138, both known as ‘Cae Calk’. Calk means nothing in Welsh, it is an English mutation of the word calch, lime. My supposition is that as this path runs from here to the Aberdare canal it was used to either store or burn lime for loading onto the barges destined for . Abercynon was a major docking point prior to this time. In the modern day that path extends into field 1136 and 1138 and runs alongside 1135. Thus parts of ‘Coed’ and ‘Cae Calk’ were incorporated into ‘Ynis Fawr’ on the coming of the railways, the footpath extended to provide access. Richard Basset Esq can be reliably traced in county genealogies as being a Captain of the Royal Artillery, born 1797, who descended from a noble line of Normans. The Bassets were based at Beaupre castle, near Cowbridge, beaupre from the French beautiful meadow. In the 1600’s they came into the ownership of the Mathews estate of Aberaman through the marriage of one of Richards ancestors, Sir Richard Basset to Elizabeth, widow of James Mathews. It is reasonable to assume this is how they are found as landowners of Ynis Fawr, as part of Blaenant Y Fedw farm in 1844 through the process of pre-nuptial marriage endowments. George Forest Esq is a little harder to trace, but I believe he was part of the Forest family, iron foundry owners in Neath. Blaenant Y Fedw farm is named after the nearby stream, literally translating to ‘Head of the Bedw Stream’, bedw, meaning birch (tree). Thomas Evans the farmer and guardian of the land was no doubt a noble native descended from the very first Welsh tribes.

Coming of the Railways 1851 Shortly after this the Aberdare railway was opened in 1851, as stated, cutting the valley in two, passing very near to Ynys Fawr, I would presume on the raised elevation as it is today, due to frequent flooding. Several parts of fields are amalgamated into one, as can be seen on the 1876 OS map below. There was heavy use of this line to transport coal and goods, but also by legions of miners’ families to Barry on their Summer days off. 1876 Ordnance Survey Map (Ynys Fawr no.975)

Influx of Coal Miners 1890s With the coming of the railways there followed an influx of labourers who willingly parted from their toil in the fields, for the toil of the underground coal seams, for slightly better pay and cheap, quick built houses, a plethora of which was built on the opposite side of the tracks, as seen in the 1900 map below, note one of the streets named Basset Street in honour of its former landowner. You may also note that the topography of Ynys Fawr has completely changed between 1876 and 1900. A huge gouge of land has been bitten from the middle of the area. I can debate that it was either a ferocious storm that changed the course of the river, or the retrieval of gravel for the house building that was to blame.

1900 Ordnance Survey Map (Ynys Fawr no.1068) The Frequent Floods If we look into newspaper reports of the period, we do indeed find evidence of ferocious storms that drowned the lower valley floor, killing many, with reports of topographical change. They were principally in 1872, 1882, 1894 and 1909. It adds weight to the argument that this was the cause of the reduction of the land.

Wartime Allotments 1914 In time, with such an influx of workers, there was hunger not only for land, but for blood. When the finest men of the borough were sent off to be slaughtered in the Somme, those with reserved occupations starved at home through the blockades, leading I presume to the Bassett family donating Ynys Fawr to the community for use as wartime allotments, as seen in the 1919 map below. It is from this time that many artefacts have appeared from the ground, old mattocks, clay pipes, medicine bottles, crockery (see pics below). Note that the large tract of ground that we think was swallowed by the floods has been filled in again. Digging into this ground we see that it is filled with slag from coal tips and much of the above mentioned rubbish. So we can assume that after either the floods or denudation by builders, the meadow, and its repair and use as a tip, was no longer suitable for agricultural use, being as it was also cut off by road, river, houses and railways over time. 1919 Ordnance Survey Map (Ynys Fawr no.1068)

2004 Revamp From evidence of further maps we can see Ynys Fawr was used as allotments up to the 1940s, whence a leisure area with tennis courts was built to the north, and the allotments split in two, the southern half being used until around the 2000s, but then became neglected. In around 2009 a new project called ‘Green Valley Centre’ sought to bring the area back to life, with huge grants from the lottery and the EU to support community gardens, willow coppice, fishing areas, bee gardens and school growing areas. It was a very successful scheme with large investment into planting, paths, signs, water pumps and greenhouses. However local gossip suggest greed and corruption got the better of the committee involved in the project, and by 2012 it was again in a neglected state.

2018 Revamp In early 2018 Jan Werrett gained the lease to the land under a local landholder and set up a ‘not for profit scheme’ known as the ‘Cynon Valley Organic Adventures’. They have initially tidied up the area, cutting back 5 years of overgrowth and aim to provide community gardens for those in need. Additional Map Images

Ynys Fawr aerial photo from 1945 showing many allotments (Google Maps)

Ynys Fawr satellite view 2001 showing some allotment usage (Google Maps) Ynys Fawr satellite view 2006, showing neglect (Google Maps)

Ynys Fawr satellite view 2010, showing ‘Green Valley’ Revamp (Google Maps) Ynys Fawr satellite view 2018, showing partial C.V.O.A. revamp (Google Maps)

Richard Basset genealogy (part) from ‘Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Vol 1’ ed H. Colburn, 1847. Note Sir Richards daughter m. the son of James. He then married the widow of James. Reference

National Library of Wales Tithe Schedules 1844 https://places.library.wales/browse/51.648/-3.328/14?page=1&alt=

Old Maps https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/308500/195500/12/100196

Floods in Aberdare National Library of Wales Newspapers https://tinyurl.com/ybh2pfky

Cynon Valley Organic Adventures https://www.facebook.com/organicadventure/

Burkes Landed Gentry 1847 (Google Books) https://tinyurl.com/y8ndc5n7

Division of land between Caerleon and Margam Abbeys in Aberdare Harley Charters (British Library) Page 554 [851] 75A 32. (Synopsis in Book III/IV Cardiff Archves W/83 iii/iv)