Unearthing Welsh History

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 4-1-2006 | Jonny Beardsall

[blam]

Unearthing Welsh history

(Filed: 01/04/2006)

An archaeologist digs deep in his pocket to find a medieval town, reports Jonny Beardsall

That an amateur archaeologist was prepared to pay £32,000 for 4.5 unremarkable acres at Trelleck, Monmouthshire, must mean Welsh sons of the soil are salivating with glee. But so convinced is Stuart Wilson that the field is the site of a lost medieval town, he still insists it was money well spent a year after he bought the land.

Broken but valuable: archaeologist Stuart Wilson holds a roof tile dug up at the site

Mr Wilson, 27, and friends at the Monmouth Archaeological Society, have a strong hunch that, 700 years ago, Trelleck was not only the industrial heart of Wales, specialising in the manufacture of iron, but also its largest and most prosperous town. So in an attempt to confirm this, they have, for three years, been burrowing in fields to the south of the present day village.

Last year, Mr Wilson pricked up his ears when a tenant farmer mentioned that his landlord, Monmouth County Council, had asked him to move his sheep from an adjacent field as it was soon to be sold at auction. "Although we hadn't dug there yet, we'd always looked at this particular field as an area of archaeological significance because it has a road frontage, which is a good clue when looking for a settlement," he says. "It was old pasture land, which implies that the earth is stony for some reason and too difficult to plough."

Mr Wilson seized his opportunity, secured a £20,000 loan and tipped up at the auction. Building on the field looked unlikely, so he was surprised to clock a developer at the sale.

Too nervous to bid, his father stepped in. "Soon it was just the developer and us left in and, in the end, we went higher than I'd intended to get it," recalls Mr Wilson, who is a toll collector on the Severn Bridges.

Ken Morgan, of chartered surveyors Newland Rennie and Wilkins - which auctioned the field - was not surprised. "Grazing has been making over £4,000 an acre even in blocks of 20 and 40 acres and, in February, we even sold 19.6 acres between Cardiff and Newport, for £13,800 an acre. Many buyers are non-farmers. Some want to scramble bikes on it, others keep horses and now someone wants to dig it up… these days we never worry about what people want to do with it."

After breaking the good news to his archaeological mentor, Stephen Clarke - the Monmouth society's chairman - both men were in the Valley of the Kings … here was the opportunity to dig to their heart's content.

"I'd always wanted a piece of ground where I had full control as, normally, when you dig somewhere, you are forever reinstating the topsoil when you take a break. When you return, you have to dig it all up again," he says. Not any more. Digging began last spring.

Labour of love: Stuart Wilson's caravan at Trelleck

"We soon found a significantly large building with wide stone foundations and floors which dates from 1250-1350, which does suggest that this is the site of a medieval town," he reports.

But, if he is not intent on any development, will he ever see a return?

"I could sell the stone, rubble and topsoil that we've already removed and, as I'm the landowner, any artefacts I find are mine. If I turn up something of value and the Crown wants it as treasure trove, they must pay me the market value for it," he says.

Mr Wilson now parks a caravan on the site, which provides rudimentary shelter. "I've gathered from the council that I might well be allowed to reconstruct a building I find at some stage, in much the same way as Channel 4's Time Team does," he says.

With this in mind, he has spoken to the programme makers. "They bring the benefits of cash and expertise but I'm led to believe that they do tend to take over if you invite them in. The thing is, this is my little baby - do I want some big organisation telling me what to do?" Most would agree not.

[Ciexyz]

Welsh bump!

[Ptarmigan]

Some people think Welsh came to America around 562 AD. Prince Madoc supposedly landed in Mobile Bay, Alabama. I have heard stories of Welsh people conversing with Indians.

[blam]

"Some people think Welsh came to America around 562 AD. Prince Madoc supposedly landed in Mobile Bay, Alabama. I have heard stories of Welsh people conversing with Indians."

Read my link in post #20. I live in Mobile and we have a plaque here on the bay commerating his (supposed) visit in 1170AD.

[Ptarmigan]

Check it out later. I wonder if any Welsh could of went East to Asia and possibly went as far as China, Japan, and Korea?

[Myrddin]

Diolch yn fawr!

BTW, "channel 4" is a reference to BBC-4 aka Sianel 4, the Welsh channel on the BBC. A "caravan" is a travel trailer commonly pulled behind a car as a recreational vehicle.

The time frame for the building corresponds nicely to the time frame of the last real Prince of Wales.

[Myrddin]

If you have the opportunity, visit the National Library in Aberystwyth. If the records exist, they will probably have a copy there. I was very surprised when they retrieved the original paper document dated 1851 that put my great grandfather and his sisters under the legal guardianship of their uncle in Llanfihangel y Creuddyn. That paper shifted the focus of my research from Ysbty Ystwyth to LLanfihangel y Creuddyn. The cemetery is filled with headstones with the family name that go back to the early 1400s. I'm going to have to take an extended trip to tend to the cemetery, clear the briars and record all the family information. The village is so small that nobody takes the time to maintain the cemetery.

[Ptarmigan]

I read that Araucanian/Mapuche, Inca, and Mayan have the same rate of Rh negative blood as Celts (Welsh, Irish, Scots, Galicians), Basques, and Guanche. I would not be surprised if they are related to each other.

[bd476]

Here is the very best resource I have found on the web thus far for tracing Welsh ancestry. The owner of the site accepts only verified family histories which he posts himself. He runs a yearly e-mail address check for anyone who has a listing on his site. The reference links on the site are kept updated.

The owner of the site lives in South Wales and is also a professional photographer. He accepts photographic commissions from those interested in viewing places where their Welsh ancestors lived. He has posted many beautiful photos depicting life in Wales and historical landmarks. Welsh Family History Archives

[Myrddin]

Thanks for the reference. I do most of my research in person. I can read and speak Welsh sufficiently to read the headstones and the old church records. American Airlines lost my luggage on the last trip in April 1999. That delayed and derailed the whole point of the trip. My wife and I arrived at Heathrow at 9:30 AM Saturday morning and didn't see our luggage until the following Tuesday at 5:30 PM. We had to be back in London at the airport Thursday night.

[Thumper1960]

Was King Willie married to Queen Hildebeast of the Rodham (and how) Clan?

[bd476]

One of my dreams is to visit Wales and do my research there. When I began researching my Grandmother's early years in Wales, I was told that Welsh genealogy is the hardest to trace.

However, I have been relatively successful, at least in filling in many details of my family's Welsh heritage to around 1810. Before that date, I either have to pay someone, spend a lot of time at an LDS Family History library or fly over there myself.

Still it has been a challenging search because I'm researching one of the most common Welsh family surnames.

[NZerFromHK]

Just an interesting question: why do Americans differentiate between Welsh, English, Scots, Scots-Irish ancestries? From my conversations with native British born friends, they (most NZers are from Britain in ancestry) consider themselves simply British in heritage.

[bd476]

"American Airlines lost my luggage on the last trip in April 1999. That delayed and derailed the whole point of the trip. My wife and I arrived at Heathrow at 9:30 AM Saturday morning and didn't see our luggage until the following Tuesday at 5:30 PM. We had to be back in London at the airport Thursday night."

Oh that is terrible! I can only dream of what it would be like to visit. I have at least one living cousin by marriage still in Wales. I'm sure there are many more, because my Grandmother was third oldest from a very large family. She and her younger sister were the only ones from that branch of my family to move to the United States.

By the way, I found Welsh Family History Archives recommended on one of the legitimate Welsh historian sites. The owner of WFHA charges nothing for people to list on his site. He supports himself as a photographer and said that he wanted to do something nice for his adopted homeland Wales. His site is a rarity in the genealogy circles.

[bd476]

NZerFromHK wrote: "Just an interesting question: why do Americans differentiate between Welsh, English, Scots, Scots-Irish ancestries? From my conversations with native British born friends, they (most NZers are from Britain in ancestry) consider themselves simply British in heritage."

NZerFromHK one might look to an individual's personal history to find the answer as to why New Zealand citizens with British ancestry consider themselves to be All British descendants with no differentiation of the individual countries of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Also if most of New Zealand is inhabited by people with ancestry traced to the British Isles, the difference might be that the United States is more of a cultural melting pot.

While researching Welsh ancestry, I came across records of many Welsh who emigrated from Wales to Australia and New Zealand beginning around 1840-1860. There were also prisoner ships which transported incarcerated British subjects to Australia.

If one's closest ancestor from Great Britain arrived in New Zealand in 1840-1860, it would be surprising if they had much information at all.

[Ciexyz]

Off to check out that link on the Welsh family history, thanks for posting.

[Never2baCrat]

Aberystwyth, my home town. "Croeso" to my fellow Taffy's. Nice to know there are many out there who are Freepers too.

[bd476]

You're welcome!

[RightWhale]

One idea: The Brits were from Wales. Those living east of Wales were Saxon, i.e., invaders from the Continent.

[Myrddin]

However, I have been relatively successful, at least in filling in many details of my family's Welsh heritage to around 1810. Before that date, I either have to pay someone, spend a lot of time at an LDS Family History library or fly over there myself.

One angle that makes things difficult is the original patronymic naming tradition in Wales. It was common to identify a person by the name of the house where he lived AND 3 generations of patriarchal reference. The English didn't like that, so they forced the Welsh to adopt the English custom of having a surname in 1754. The Welsh didn't like being forced to take surnames, so they rebelled by inventing surnames based on possessive forms of given names. The classic is Ioan -> Jones. Son of Owen 'ab Owain' -> Bowen. Son of Hywl 'ap Hywl' -> Powell.

The switch to use of surnames in 1754 will force you to dig into parish registries and become somewhat competent in reading Welsh.

[Myrddin]

I found a couple cousins still living around Pontrhydygroes. One runs a garage and hauling business. The other is retired and lives a short distance away. We have a common ancestor in a home built in 1777. That's my starting point to resume the search backwards on the next trip.