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Thursday 31 October 2013

Violence, Murder & Ghosts – a colourful history of Old Plas






Recently the Royal Commission has undertaken a new interpretation of Old Plas, Llantwit Major, to record the building through a restoration project, part funded by Cadw, that will see the ruinous mansion become a home once again. Through the research to accompany the survey a number of interesting stories came to light about the Vann family that once lived here.

Old Plas in Llantwit Major has a long history, dating back some five hundred years; it holds a full history as the second seat of the Vann family of Marcross. The Vanns were not the most peaceful family Llantwit Major had seen, with tales of violence and corruption; they found themselves the suspects of murder, civil unrest and eventually they become a part of the ghosts of ‘Llantwit Castle’.




The first of which comes in the year 1527 when Thomas Vann is found guilty of the murder of a John Fleming underneath the Town Hall. After first pleading innocent, Thomas admits that it was him that held the knife that was driven into John Fleming, killing him in cold blood; but Thomas was spared prison and the executioners block, being tried and duly pardoned. The Vann had done it, he had gotten away with the ultimate crime, albeit with a fine and the knowledge that he would not be able to rise through the ranks of the gentry.

Later that century, the Vanns are at it again, in 1598 Edmund and his younger brother Edward are hauled in front of The Court of the Star Chamber for inciting violence. The incident unravelled in an interesting manner... On Sunday 9 October 1597, Edmund, Edward and a number of accomplices burst into St Illtyd’s Church during service to attack the Seys of Boverton. This started with the stabbing of one of the Seys, before continuing around Llantwit Major for several hours where they are reported to have caused ‘a ryott and other misdemeanours’, with the use of daggers and throwing of stones causing utmost damage to the town and people. Several hours passed before Sir Edward Stradling of St Donats, a Justice of the Peace, put an end to the violence, with the use of a small armed band of soldiers, and escorted the Seys home under armed guard. So, forward in time to 28 August 1598 and The Court of the Star Chamber; Edmund, Edward and their accomplices are being held in Fleet prison before both sides give evidence. Needless to say the brothers were found responsible for the incident and, by 9 February 1599, fines were handed out, Edmund was fined £1,000 (over £160,000 today!), with £100 to Roger Seys, whilst Edward was fined 500 marks. After this the family became more peaceful, until it died out in the early eighteenth century...or did it?

Over 100 years pass and we find ourselves in the early nineteenth century, the industrial revolution is gathering pace and the parents of Llantwit Major want to control their unruly children. Old Plas becomes the focus of a haunting, a floating spectre is said to be seen haunting the old mansion; a ‘Dutch’ ghost is in residence. The ghost is said to have been that of a sailor, but whether he met an unfortunate end in Old Plas or on the rocky shores nearby, it is not known. The idea of the Dutch ghost is intriguing, the story is said to have come about to help control the local children, who were causing mischief and mayhem in the town. It is likely that the name Vann had remained in local memory and, with increased mobility during the industrial period it was probably linked with the Dutch prefix of ‘Van’, hence the ghost becoming Dutch!



Link to Coflein: http://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/19521/details/OLD+PLAS%3BLLANTWIT+CASTLE%3BLLANTWIT+PLACE%3BOLD+PLACE%2C+THE/

By Ross Cook


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Wednesday 30 October 2013

Tair Chwedl Arswydus o’r Archif ar gyfer Nos Galan Gaeaf





Fe fuom ni’n edrych drwy ein harchifau’r wythnos hon am rai o’n cofnodion mwyaf iasol ar gyfer Nos Galan Gaeaf. Roedd yn sicr yn iasoer yn ein storfeydd ond y rheswm am hynny mae’n debyg yw bod y tymheredd yno yn cael ei reoli! Croeso i’n dewis cyntaf, Ffowndri Tubal Cain yng Nghaerdydd - allwch chi weld rhywbeth annaearol yn y llun hwn?

DI2011_0165 Hawlfraint y Goron.

Ymddangosodd y ddrychiolaeth hon ar un o’r cofnodion ffotograffig olaf sydd gennym o Ffowndri Tubal Cain, sydd wedi’i dymchwel erbyn hyn. Roedd y ffowndri yn Tyndall Street, Caerdydd a chafodd ei sefydlu rhwng 1869 a 1871. Yn nes ymlaen, yn yr ugeinfed ganrif, roedd yn cael ei galw’n Penarth Industrial Services Ltd.

Ar gyfer ein hail ddewis, fe symudwn i Sir y Fflint a’r adeilad mae pobl yn honni yw’r ‘Tŷ Mwyaf Aflonydd yng Nghymru’. Croeso i Blas Teg. Mae llu o straeon ysbryd am y plasty. Hoffech chi fyw yn yr adeilad mawreddog hwn?

DI2007_0869 Hawlfraint y Goron.

Cafodd Plas Teg ei gomisiynu ym 1610 gan Syr John Trevor AS, syrfëwr llongau’r Frenhines. Credir mai Robert Smythson oedd y pensaer. Yn fewnol mae’r tŷ wedi’i adfer yn llwyr yn ddiweddar, a’r unig nodweddion gwreiddiol sydd ar ôl yw’r grisiau, rhai pyrth ac un lle tân. Ond mae tu allan yr adeilad wedi aros yr un fath fwy neu lai.

Ein dewis olaf yw llun o gae yng Nghas-gwent. Beth allai ystyr y patrwm diddorol hwn fod?

AP_2011_1146 Hawlfraint y Goron.


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Monday 28 October 2013

Ffair Lyfrau Hanes Lleol - Amgueddfa Abertawe






Ar Ddydd Sadwrn, 2 Tachwedd 2013, bydd staff y Comisiwn Brenhinol yn mynychu Ffair Lyfrau Hanes Lleol Sefydliad Brenhinol De Cymru yn Amgueddfa Abertawe, rhwng 10am a 4 pm. Yn ystod y diwrnod bydd cyfle i brynu llyfrau newydd ar hanes lleol, llyfrau ail-law a hynafiaethol, mapiau a phaentiadau  hanesyddol, cardiau post a llawer mwy. Bydd awduron, cyhoeddwyr a pherchnogion siopau llyfrau, cynrychiolwyr cymdeithasau hanes lleol, yn ogystal â staff y Comisiwn Brenhinol, ar gael drwy gydol y dydd i ateb ymholiadau a sgwrsio ag ymwelwyr. Dewch yn arbennig i’n stondin ni, lle bydd ein holl gyhoeddiadau ar werth, gan gynnwys tri theitl a gyhoeddwyd yn ddiweddar: Fields of Play: The Sporting Heritage of Wales, Y Tu Mewn i Gartrefi Cymru / Inside Welsh Homes a Worktown: The Drawings of Falcon Hildred, i gyd gyda gostyngiad o 10%. Mae’r diwrnod yn siwr o fod yn gyfle gwych i bawb, felly dewch i ymuno â ni!


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Friday 25 October 2013

Gwaith adfer Nash yn Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi





Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi, Sir Benfro.

Dyddiad y digwyddiad: 1 Tachwedd 2013, 19:30
Lleoliad: Hwlffordd

Bydd yr hanesydd pensaernïaeth Richard Suggett yn rhoi sgwrs gyda lluniau ar “John Nash ac adfer Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi” am 7.30pm, Dydd Gwener, 1 Tachwedd 2013 i Gymdeithas Hanes Sir Benfro yng Nghanolfan Picton, Hwlffordd. Bydd y ddarlith yn edrych ar fyd braidd yn amheus y busnes codi adeiladau yn y cyfnod Sioraidd ac at yrfa John Nash, pensaer y rhaglaw dywysog, yn arbennig. Ceisiodd John Nash ailadeiladu ei yrfa yng Nghaerfyrddin yn dilyn methdaliad ac ysgariad rhyfedd yn Llundain. Bydd y ddarlith yn rhoi sylw i rai o dai ac adeiladau cyhoeddus llai adnabyddus Nash a godwyd yng ngorllewin Cymru yn y 1790au. Roedd yr her o sefydlogi tu blaen gorllewinol Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi yn drobwynt yng ngyrfa Nash. Yn sgil llwyddiant y gwaith hwn, daeth Nash yn bensaer o fri cenedlaethol.

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Wednesday 23 October 2013

Castell Grogwynion … Fort of the white … Ceramics?





The Early Mines Research Group supported by Sarahjayne Clements, CBA bursary holder, RCAHMW, and Keith Haylock, PHD Researcher, Geography Department, University of Aberystwyth, excavating Castell Grogwynion Hillfort.
A small excavation was undertaken at the Iron Age hillfort Castell Grogwynion last week in an attempt to identify a potential Iron Age metal working site located on the northern terrace of the fort. Early mines are fairly elusive archaeologically and searching for them has been the focus of over twenty years’ research by the Early Mines Research Group. Evidence of Iron Age metal working is particularly rare in Ceredigion, despite the importance raw materials evidently held for Iron Age material culture.

Aerial Photograph of the Iron Age hillfort, Castell Grogwynion.

The excavation at Castell Grogwynion was the conclusion of a series of surveys conducted on three north Ceredigion hillforts, Castell Grogwynion, Darren Camp and Pen Dinas, for a research project by Keith Haylock at the Institute for Geography and Earth Sciences (IGES), Aberystwth University, in collaboration with The Royal Commission, and with permission from Cadw.

Using a special portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) ‘gun’ Keith can find out what metals are present in the soils of the hillfort, with the aim of finding high concentrations of prehistoric metal working evidence. This equipment has revolutionised non-destructive archaeological identification of early mine areas, through the detection of metal slag and smelting activities.
Keith Haylock, operating pXRF survey.
The results of the Geophysical Survey taken in 2012. Areas of interest are highlighted with red, 1 = the area excavated.
Out of the three hillforts surveyed only Castell Grogwynion, in English “The fort of the white pebbles”, demonstrated high lead readings, which were focused on the terrace. Geophysical survey in 2012 by ArchaeoPhysica LTD further confirmed this concentration.

To test the nature and date of the lead concentration, Dr Simon Timberlake and the Early Mines Research Group, carried out a limited excavation on the terrace at Castell Grogwynion in early October.

The Early Mines Research Group excavating.
Some of the seventeenth or eighteenth-century pottery recovered at Castell Grogwynion.

Rather than an Iron Age smelting site, far more recent evidence of seventeenth or eighteenth-century lazy-bed cultivation was discovered with lead-glazed pottery and other domestic rubbish tipped into the soil. These findings confirmed that a nearby platform and cultivation terraces within the hillfort, first identified by Louise Barker during the new Royal Commission survey, were indeed the remains of a post-medieval upland cottage settlement.

Post Excavation Analysis.
Post medieval cottage settlements are fairly common in the Welsh landscape, however the structural evidence is rarely accompanied by any artifactual remains. Although Iron Age finds were limited to a single sling shot, it was exciting to discover the sheer quantity of pottery uncovered through the excavation, surprising in such a remote location. Further scanning the pottery with the XRF gun revealed the cause of the initial high metallic reading: the glazing of the pottery contained an unusually high lead content.  The leaching of the lead glaze into the soil was hypothesised to have been the most likely cause of the high metallic readings. The discovery of this pottery demonstrated the importance of XRF for archaeological survey ― it can detect vital and less structural remains including spoil heaps and rubbish dumps, where the most significant artifactual data is often recovered.

All in all it was great to be part of this excavation and watch the story of the Iron Age hillfort unfold and exciting to be part of such important research into the varied uses of new and powerful forms of archaeological remote sensing.
 
Kimberly Briscoe and Sarahjayne CBA Community Bursary Holders, RCAHMW, Castell Grogwynion.
By Kimberly Briscoe, Community Archaeology Placement Holder.


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Tuesday 22 October 2013

Beth sydd mewn enw? Mae angen eich cymorth ar Haneswyr ac Ieithyddion!






Dydd Mawrth, Hydref 22 2013 bydd gwefan newydd yn cael ei lansio a fydd yn manteisio ar wybodaeth gwirfoddolwyr i gofnodi holl enwau lleoedd Cymru fel yr oeddent yn ymddangos ar Fapiau Ordnans ar ddiwedd y cyfnod Fictoraidd.

Mae Cymru1900Wales.org  yn brosiect cydweithredol sy’n torri tir newydd. Fe’i datblygwyd ar y cyd gan Gomisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, Prifysgol Cymru a Chasgliad y Werin Cymru.

Ar wefan cymru1900wales.org gofynnir i chi astudio mapiau hanesyddol Cymru, a gyhoeddwyd gan yr Arolwg Ordnans rhwng 1899 a 1908, a chofnodi lleoliad yr holl destun a ddangosir ar y mapiau; enwau trefi, pentrefi, coedydd, ffermydd, afonydd, nentydd, plastai - popeth! Mae hyd yn oed elfen gystadleuol i’r broses hon fydd yn siŵr o gael gafael ynoch; po fwyaf o enwau lleoedd a gofnodir gan wirfoddolwr, yr uchaf fydd eu safle yn y Siart Cyfranwyr.

Meddai Dr. David Parsons, Uwch Gymrawd Prosiect Enwau Lleoedd ym Mhrifysgol Cymru: “Rydym yn gobeithio defnyddio gwybodaeth gwirfoddolwyr ar-lein i gael ffurfiau hanesyddol enwau lleoedd, a chael gwybod hefyd am amrywiadau modern neu enwau eraill sy’n cael eu defnyddio’n lleol. Nid oes meddalwedd sy’n gallu casglu’r wybodaeth hon yn awtomatig, felly mae gwir angen i bobl fynd ar-lein, cofrestru a’n helpu.”

Ychwanegodd Tom Pert, Rheolwr Datblygu Ar-lein yng Nghomisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru: “Mae hwn yn gyfle gwych i ni gasglu llawer iawn o wybodaeth yn gyflym iawn. Trwy’r broses hon bydd lleoliad pob melin, carreg filltir, efail a doc yn cael eu cofnodi a’u defnyddio i hybu Cofnod Henebion Cenedlaethol Cymru. Bydd pob gwirfoddolwr yn ein helpu i gwblhau cofnod cyflawn o dirwedd ddiwylliannol Cymru ar ddiwedd y cyfnod Fictoraidd.”




Meddai’r Athro Lorna Hughes, Cadair Casgliadau Digidol, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru: “Mae’r wefan hon yn torri tir newydd, ac mae Cymru’n arwain y ffordd i weddill y Deyrnas Unedig. Mae prosiectau cymorth torfol o’r math hwn wedi bod yn llwyddiannus iawn wrth gasglu gwybodaeth ar gyfer seryddwyr neu fiolegwyr. Rydym yn sicr y bydd y prosiect hwn yr un mor llwyddiannus, ac yn paratoi’r ffordd i ymchwil pellach a wneir ar y cyd ynghyd â phrosiectau gwirfoddoli ar-lein yn y dyfodol”.

Gwybodaeth Bellach:
Elin-Hâf post@llgc.org.uk neu (01970) 632471
Gwefan: www.cymru1900wales.org


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Monday 21 October 2013

The Royal Commission at Glamorgan Family History Fair 2013





On Saturday 12 October the Royal Commission was delighted to once again have the opportunity to promote Coflein and People’s Collection at the annual Glamorgan Family History Society Fair, at Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre. The Royal Commission’s online database, Coflein, makes our archive, the National Monuments Record of Wales, available remotely to the public. It contains details of many thousands of Welsh sites, monuments and buildings, including a wide selection of images. The People’s Collection Wales website brings together some of the material from Coflein, the National Library of Wales and National Museum of Wales, as well as material uploaded by a large number of other organisations and individuals. With over 650 people attending Saturday’s event, Royal Commission staff members, Nikki Vousden and Jon Dollery were kept very busy demonstrating the two websites!

Coflein is the perfect tool for finding places relating to family history research.  The Coflein search facility displays a selection of information, including the name, location and type of site, monument or building. A site description is also provided, together with catalogue information for items relating to the site in the National Monuments Record of Wales archive. A search of our records using Coflein’s newly improved mapping function was able to provide one gentleman with information about the chapel where his relatives are thought to be buried.

There was much interest in our examples of the many diverse and fascinating items uploaded by the people of Wales to the People’s Collection Wales website. They include letters, videos, school and family photographs, street scenes and countless other items portraying the lives of ordinary people in Wales- many of which will relate to individual family history research.

We also demonstrated how People’s Collection historic Ordnance Survey mapping layers and modern aerial photographic layer can be used to track changes in the landscape over time. We were able to help one lady find the place her relatives lived, named in historic documents but no longer existing on the ground!

Locating a place that no longer exists using People’s Collection Wales’s historic Ordnance Survey mapping.

People were encouraged to upload the pictures and documents generated by their own family research onto the People’s Collection website. This way, important family memories will not only be preserved, but your story will add to the rich and ever-growing story of the people of Wales. People’s Collection Wales is funded by Welsh Government, who is committed to maintaining it as an archive, meaning that everything uploaded to the site will remain accessible to family researchers of the future. With the whole website, including its historic mapping layers, due for a complete refresh in January, it will be more user-friendly and easy to use than ever before!

The Royal Commission’s Jon Dollery explains how to use the People’s Collection website as a tool to find people and places related to family history research.

By Nikki Vousden, Data and Technology Team.


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Friday 18 October 2013

Y Darlun Mawr, Ynys Môn






Cymerwch ran yn nigwyddiad y Darlun Mawr yn Oriel Ynys Môn ar 30 Hydref 2013, 10.00 – 12.00 a 13.00 – 15.00.

Dewch i ddarganfod awyrluniau unigryw o Ynys Môn a gafodd eu tynnu bron 100 mlynedd yn ôl gan beilotiaid eofn Aerofilms Ltd. Chwilotwch yn yr amgueddfa ac oriel gelf a dewch o hyd i’ch hoff beth yn y casgliadau. Yna gallwch helpu i greu baner anferth wedi’i seilio ar yr holl luniau a gwrthrychau rydych chi wedi’u gweld. Caiff y faner ei harddangos wedyn yn yr amgueddfa ac oriel gelf.

Mae’r sesiynau am ddim a byddant yn para am ddwy awr.

Rhaid bwcio’ch lle.
Ffoniwch (01248) 724444 neu e-bostiwch oriel@ynysmon.gov.uk
Rhosmeirch, Llangefni, Ynys Môn LL77 7TQ
Bore 10.00 – 12.00
Prynhawn 13.00 – 15.00

Prosiect ar y cyd rhwng Prydain Oddi Fry a Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn.


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