![Heolfryn and Dolbeudlau](webphotos/heolfryndolbeudlau.jpg)
HEOLFRYN & DOLBEUDIAU
GRID REFERENCE: SN 723660
AREA IN HECTARES: 325.8
Historic Background
In the Medieval Period this area lay within Strata Florida
Abbey’s Pennardd Grange (Williams 1990, 56). Upon the Dissolution
abbey lands were granted to the Earl of Essex, and subsequently in 1630
the Crosswood estate purchased most of them. The historical processes
behind the development of the field system in this area are well documented.
It would seem that until the 18th century much of the land in this area
was open, as two late 18th century estate maps (NLW Crosswood Vol 1, 6,
8) show it as a mixture of open land and very large enclosures, with small
closes or paddocks around the farmsteads of Dolbeudiau, Brynhope and Dolyrychain.
By the tithe survey of 1845 (Caron Tithe Map and Apportionment) the regular
field system that is present today had been established. The origin of
the settlement pattern of dispersed farms is more problematic. It may
well have originated in the late Medieval Period when Pennardd Grange,
in common with other granges of Strata Florida, was divided into farms
that were leased out on a commercial basis.
Description and essential historic landscape
components
This area consists of a block of gently undulating ground,
including low craggy ridges, ranging in height from 170m to 220m located
to the south and west of Pontrhydfendigiad. Much of the higher ground
is improved pasture, but there are considerable tracts of rough pasture
and rushy ground at lower levels. Peat deposits are present in some hollows.
The field system here is one of regular, small- to medium-sized fields.
Boundaries are straight and consist of low earth banks topped with wire
fences. Some hedges are present on the banks, but are generally in a derelict
condition except in the northern part of the area and close to farmsteads
where they are still stock-proof. Boundaries on low-lying ground in hollows
consist of drainage ditches.
There are a couple of small farms with stone-built houses
in the typical mid-to-late 19th century Georgian vernacular style of the
region. Other than these, buildings consist of a small group of extensively
modernised dwellings and modern houses, a caravan park and a Sunday School.
Apart from the above buildings and two minor metal mines,
the recorded archaeology provides a time-depth element to the landscape
in the form of an Iron Age hillfort, and a rectangular earthwork enclosure
that may be of Roman date.
Apart from where it joins the village of Pontrhydfendigiad,
the borders of this area are not particularly well defined, merging on
all sides with the irregular field systems of neighbouring areas.
![Heolfryn and Dolbeudlau map](webphotos/heolfryndolbeudlaumap.jpg)
Base map reproduced from the OS map with the permission
of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery
Office, © Crown Copyright 2001.
All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright
and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence Number: GD272221 |