LLWYNMALUS

GRID REFERENCE: SN 696682
AREA IN HECTARES: 37.4

Historic Background

In the Medieval Period this area lay within Strata Florida Abbey’s Mefenydd Grange. At the Dissolution the abbey’s granges were granted to the Earl of Essex who subsequently sold them to the Crosswood estate in 1630. Most of the land in this area seems to have remained part of the Crosswood estate through to the 20th century. In common with other granges, it is likely that by the end of the Medieval Period, if not earlier, Mefenydd had been divided into farms that were leased out and farmed on a commercial basis. No sources have been researched to investigate how this area may have developed. The only large-scale historic manuscript maps of this area are the tithe maps (Lledrod Tithe Map and Apportionment, 1844; Spytty Ystrad Meurig Tithe Map and Apportionment, 1843). These show that by the 1840s the present-day field system had been established.

Description and essential historic landscape components

This is a small area and at circa 200m is low-lying in relation to the surrounding land. It is divided into a system of small- to medium-sized fields. The fields are divided by earth banks with hedges or drainage ditches. The hedges are not in good condition and are supplemented by wire fences. There are no settlements in this area. Improved grazing is present, but it is a wet area and there are tracts of rough grazing, rushes, peaty deposits and even pools of standing water.

The borders to this area are not particularly well defined. To the east lies better quality enclosed land, but the landscapes to the north, south and east have yet to be defined.

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