Category: Welsh History & Heritage
Essays on the social, cultural, local and built history of Wales, with particular emphasis on mid Wales, rural communities, historic places and the people whose lives shaped them. This archive complements the more detailed subject guides across the site.
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Llandrindod Grammar School: The County School and Its Lost Alexandra Road Building
The history of Llandrindod Wells County and Grammar School, from the 1892 campaign and Victorian building in Alexandra Road to its later use, closure and demolition around 1987–88.
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Llanwrin: A Montgomeryshire Village, Its People and My Family’s History
The history of Llanwrin in the Dyfi Valley, its medieval church, Victorian village life and the many generations of my Davies and Jones ancestors buried in the parish.
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Rhydoldog House: The Oliver and Sladen Families, the Elan Valley and a Changing Radnorshire Estate
The history of Rhydoldog House near Rhayader, from the Oliver and Sladen families and the Elan Valley reservoirs to Laura Ashley and Charlotte Church.
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Tuberculosis at Ceniarth: The Disease That Devastated a Montgomeryshire Farming Family, 1888–1894
Between 1888 and 1894, five members of the Owen family of Ceniarth near Machynlleth died of tuberculosis. A documented history of the tragedy and its effect on a…
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Owen Jones Davies (1875–1958): From Caeadda to the Welsh Settlement of Wood River
Owen Jones Davies (1875–1958) left Montgomeryshire for North America, establishing a farm at Wood River, Alberta, and helping sustain its Welsh chapel and choirs.
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The White Horse Hotel, Machynlleth: Fire, Farming Families and Life on Maengwyn Street
The White Horse Hotel on Maengwyn Street: a history of Machynlleth’s Edwardian public house, the 1911 fire and rebuilding, and Evan and Elizabeth Owen of Ceniarth.
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Thomas Davies of Penlan and Gwernstablau (1864–1930): Farming, Family and Public Life in Montgomeryshire
Thomas Davies (1864–1930) of Penlan and Gwernstablau: an upland sheep farmer, Llanwrin parish councillor and member of the Davies family of Caeadda.
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John Pugh of Glyncaerig (1834–1912): From Farm Labourer’s Son to Montgomeryshire Landowner
John Pugh (1834–1912) rose from agricultural labouring roots to ownership of Glyncaerig near Llanwrin. His life links the Pugh, Glandwr, Maescelyn and Caeadda families.
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Machynlleth Fairs and Markets: Trade, Farming and Rural Life in Victorian and Edwardian Montgomeryshire
The fairs and markets of Victorian and Edwardian Machynlleth, from livestock trading and historic tolls to railways, agricultural shows and the farming families of Montgomeryshire.
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The Tragedy of Maescelyn: The Jenkins Family and the Loss of an Upland Farming Home, 1906–1913
The deaths of Elizabeth Jenkins and her infant daughter in 1906, the loss of Maescelyn farm, and the dispersal of a Montgomeryshire farming family.