Refusing to fight-dissent in Carmarthenshire (page 8)

The archaeological legacy of the Concientious Objectors at Llanddeusant

 

 

This image shows the work camp, the men were housed in timber huts with sleeping bunks for 175 men.   To comply with Home Office regs a small hospital was erected for sick workmen, and a Doctor from Llangadog visited the works 3 or 4 times a week.  A laundry was built and a local woman was in charge with the assistance of a conscientious objector.

 

DAT  and volunteers carried out fieldwork, to record and establish the extent and nature of the archaeology which relates to this period of construction.  Here the filter beds and valve house, seen under construction are now used as a fish hatchery.

Here we see the remains of the powder magazine being recorded and some of the sophisticated water management structures built to provide a steady supply of clean water.

 

This is an illustration from the the autograph book of John Taylor, held at Leicester Record Office, a Conscientious Objector at the camp. It shows buildings whose traces can be seen as remains on the ground.

Contemporary photographs show sand being extracted at the south side of the lake shore for use in the washeries at  the waterworks construction. The sand was transported by horse drawn rafts. Remains at the site include metal bar set into the ground which was associated with the extraction process. Purpose is unknown but possibilities include mooring rafts, tethering horses or housing winches or pulleys.

The warm welcome afforded to men of the Llannon camp by the local villagers of Tumble:

‘I was extremely gratified to learn that the boys are highly respected by the whole of the villagers. Invitations to tea, etc., are freely given, and freely accepted. Industrially it is a mining village, and the miners who support by weekly contributions, the local Institute and library, decided on a referendum, with only four dissentients, that both institute and library be placed at the disposal of the C.O.’s.

This impression was reinforced by one of those objectors, E.P. Jones, Pontypridd:

(..the Tumble was special like that. You would go for tea with them on Sunday, and everyone, every denomination, was kind with everything; they let us borrow books from the library. You could not get more kindness.)

The results of the fieldwork have been recorded within the Historic Environment Record, and a number of community events took place to raise awareness of the site’s history.

You can find out more about this project, and about the wider project of which this was part “Discover the Legacy of the War in Wales: 1914-1918” on our website, and in the leaflet.  DAT also developed a series of educational resources to use alongside this work.  Click on the screen-shots to access these resources.

others relating

We were also supported by Wales for Peace, who are charting the history of pacifism in Wales and Conscientious  Objection, and they worked with Sarah Rees in delivering educational workshops and fieldtrips to a number of local secondary schools.  Exploring the nature of conscience whilst enjoying the outdoors.

We have also produced a leaflet which is downloadable, to raise awareness of the story of those who spent the war in a remote part of the country far from home.

Without diminishing the sacrifice of those who fought during the First World War, and those who lost their lives fighting, the building of the waterworks at Llanddeusant is part of a story of Conscientious Objectors, and those men who were criminalised for their conscience and beliefs.  Many were sent for hard labour and a few, including the so called ‘Richmond Sixteen’, were sent to France and sentenced to death, a penalty which was immediately commuted to 10 yrs hard labour.

For them the effects were long term, many were ostracised by their local communities not just for the duration of the war but long afterwards.

Often they struggled to find work – they were not released until six months after the returning soldiers – and through the Representation of the People Act of 1918 they were stripped of their right to vote until 1926.

Some men also lost their lives through the harsh treatment they received in prison or the work camps across the UK.

We hope that through this project we can highlight their story, and raise awareness of their legacy which survives in the standing remains of the now redundant water works at Llanddeusant.