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Upland Ceredigion South-West Historic Landscape Characterisation

Upland Ceredigion South West

 

Afon Groes

Dispersed farms in a landscape of small, hedged fields spread along the valley floors of several minor rivers and bounded by upland characterise the Afon Groes landscape.

Berthddu

Dispersed farms and fields of improved pasture divided by earth banks and hedges characterise the Berthddu historic landscape character area.

Berwyn

Berwyn consists of the floor and lower sides of an upland, steep-side valley. Fields are small and divided by stony banks or dry-stone walls. There are just a couple of farms.

Blaen Sychnant

Deserted cottages and abandoned fields set in improved pasture with pockets of rough grazing characterise the Blaen Sychnant historic landscape.

Blaenau Caron

Fields divided by banks and hedges or by dry-stone walls, and dispersed, small farms spread across the open floor and lower slopes of the Afon Groes and its tributaries characterise the Blaenaucaron landscape.

Bwlchddwyallt & Blaengorffen

Large fields of improved pasture and dispersed farms are the main components of the Bwlchddwyallt and Blaengorffen historic landscape area. Small stands of scattered deciduous woodland give a parkland feel to parts of the landscape.

Capel Helaeth

Capel Helaeth consists of 19th century dispersed smallholdings and cottages in a landscape of fields of pasture. Many of the traditional hedged boundaries are now derelict and are replaced by wire fences. Several deserted cottages and smallholdings are present.

Cefn Meurig

Small irregular fields separated by banks and hedges or, less commonly, dry-stone walls, and a settlement pattern of dispersed farms are the main components of the Cefn-Meurig historic landscape character area.

Cnwch

Cnwch is pocket of unenclosed moorland surrounded on most sides by 20th century coniferous plantations. There are no settlements in the area, but the remains of stone quarrying are a historic landscape component.

Cors Caron

Cors Caron is a large, raised bog within the upper valley of the Afon Teifi.

Craig y Bwlch

Open moorland with evidence of former settlements and field systems, and a large working stone quarry are the main components of the Craig y Bwlch landscape.

Craig y Fintan

Craig-y-Fintan is a block of unenclosed steep valley side, as well as a plateau rising to over 450m, that are now separated from wider tracts of moorland by a coniferous plantation. There are no settlements, but old dry-stone field boundaries are evident.

Craig Ystradmeurig

Craggy moorland with pockets of improved pasture characterise the small historic landscape area of Craig Ystradmeurig.

Cwm Berwyn

Coniferous plantations established in the 1960s form the main components of the Cwm Berwyn historic landscape. These were mainly planted over open moorland, but a number of old field systems and settlements, and Bronze Age funerary and ritual sites are also covered by the forestry.

Cwm Gwyddyl

Dispersed farms and cottages – some abandoned - lying in a wide, open valley are some of the main components of the Cwm Gwyddyl landscape. This area appears to be mainly unenclosed rough grazing, but closer inspection reveals numerous old field boundaries and pockets of improved pasture.

Cyrtau & Brynhownant

Cyrtau and Bryn-Hownant historic landscape character area consists of medium-sized fields of pasture on a hillside sandwiched between landscapes of lower-lying farms/farmland and higher unenclosed moorland.

Dolbeudiau Dolyrychan

Dolbeudiau – Dolyrychain historic landscape character area is composed of dispersed farms and small- and medium-sized fields of improved pasture.

Ffair Rhos

A fairly dense distribution of 19th century cottages and smallholdings that probably originated as squatter settlements, in a landscape of rough grazing and a little improved pasture comprise the landscape of Ffair Rhos.

Fulbrook

Fullbrook is a landscape of dispersed, small farms and small fields divided by banks with hedges, lying on hilly ground to the west of Cors Caron.

Geufron Hendrefelen

A few dispersed farms and small irregular fields of pasture divided by banks with hedges characterise the Geufron – Hendre-Felen historic landscape character area.

Gwar Castell

Gwar Castell originated as an 18th and 19th century squatter settlement, but now all but one of the many houses here have been abandoned. Apart from pockets of improved pasture, the land has reverted to rough grazing/moorland.

Heolfryn & Dolbeudiau

Heolfryn and Dolbeudiau landscape consists of a regular field system of earth banks topped with hedges that originated in the late 18th and early 19th century, and a few dispersed farms and houses.

Llethr Llwyd

Open moorland with numerous Bronze Age funerary and ritual sites, and the remains of several Medieval and post-Medieval settlements characterise the Llethr Llwyd historic landscape character area.

Llwynmalus

Small- and medium-sized fields divided by hedges on earth banks are the main components of the small historic landscape character area of Llwynmalus. There are no settlements.

Mynydd Bach Ystwyth Valley

Mynydd Bach – Ystwyth Valley historic landscape character area consists of 20th century coniferous plantations. These were established over open ground or deciduous woodland.

Nant Cou & Nant Ochrgarreg

Small dispersed farms, irregular fields, stands of deciduous woodland, rough grazing and improved pasture on the edge of high, open moorland characterise the Nant Cou and Nant Ochrgarreg historic landscape character area.

Pantyfedwen & Crofftau

Occasional dispersed farms, fields divided by earth banks with hedges or by dry-stone walls, improved pasture and pockets of rough grazing, and stands of deciduous and coniferous woodland are the main components of the Pantyfedwen and Crofftau upland margin historic landscape character area.

Pen-y-Graig

Small fields of improved pasture separated by dry-stone walls and occasionally by hedges on earth banks, and a few dispersed farms are the main components of the Pen-y-Graig historic landscape.

Pontrhydfendigaid

Pontrhydfendigaid developed in the late 18th and 19th centuries in conjunction with the growing lead mining industry. It is a small village, with worker houses dating mainly to the second half of the 19th century, and modern housing and other facilities built on the village fringes.

Rhos Brynberllan

Rhos Brynberllan is a small hill of former moorland that is now mostly improved pasture lightly enclosed by wire fences. There is a little deciduous woodland on one of its flanks. An Iron Age hillfort lies on the hill.

Sunnyhill

Substantial dispersed farms, fields of improved pasture divided by banks with hedges and deciduous woodland on some valley sides characterise the Sunnyhill historic landscape.

Swyddffynnon

The settlement pattern of Swyddffynnon historic landscape consists of small, dispersed farms and a hamlet. These lie in a landscape of improved pasture divided into small fields by hedges on banks.

Tanygraig

The small historic landscape character area of Tanygraig is characterised by a few dispersed farms and pasture fields divided by dry-stone walls.

Tregaron

Tregaron, a small town, is the only substantial settlement in upland Ceredigion. It is not a planned town and buildings front onto narrow winding streets. Apart from the medieval parish most buildings date to the 19th and 20th centuries. Houses are small and generally in short terraces.

Tyn-y-banadl

Tyn-y-Banadl is a small historic landscape character area on the edge of Cors Caron, comprising a regular field system divided by banks with hedges. There are no settlements.

Tyngraig

Dispersed farms, boundaries of banks with hedges or dry-stone walls, a 19th century linear hamlet, deciduous woodland, small coniferous plantations, and improved pasture with pockets of rough grazing are all components of the Tyngraig historic landscape.

Taiunnos

Deserted cottages and houses of late 18th and 19th century squatter settlements now set in moorland and rough grazing characterise the Tai-unnos historic landscape.

Y Drum

Y Drum is a relatively small block of unenclosed moorland separated from wider tracts of open land by a forestry plantation. There are no settlements, but sites of probable post-Medieval houses indicate a landscape more intensively exploited in the past.

Ystrad Caron

Regular fields of improved pasture divided by banks with hedges and a couple of substantial farms characterise the Ystrad Caron landscape.

Ysbyty Ystwyth Fields

Ysbyty Ystwyth field system historic landscape area is the only identified sub-divided arable field system in upland Ceredigion. It was enclosed into today’s pattern of small fields by the early 19th century. It is now characterised by pasture, rough grazing and small coniferous plantations, although traces of the earlier system are still visible.

Ystrad Fflur

The remains of Strata Florida Abbey, a post-Medieval church and the 17th – 19th century gentry Great Abbey Farm lie at the heart of the Ystrad Fflur landscape. It is, however, essentially an agricultural landscape of dispersed farms and fields, with some remains of the lead mining industry.

Ysbyty Ystwyth & Pontrhydygroes

Ysbyty Ystwyth and Pont-rhyd-y-groes is a complex historic landscape character area that comprises two, mainly industrial, villages, but with Ysbyty Ystwyth having agricultural origins. The remainder of the area is characterised by dispersed squatter settlements, occasional small farms, and remains of the lead mining industry.

Ystradmeurig

A group of 19th century buildings form the village of Ystradmeurig, with modern houses at Tynyffordd. However, this is mainly an agricultural landscape of dispersed farms and small fields of pasture.

 

 

Project contact: Ken Murphy