Ynyscedwyn Estate records

D/D TDW 1/1-12: Deeds of Farteg-fawr and other properties in the parish of Cilybebyll, 1546-1774

D/D TDW 2/1-6: Deeds of properties in the parish of Defynnog, Breconshire, 1583-1622

D/D TDW 3/1-5: Deeds of Betting-isaf in the parish of Llangiwg, 1593-1630

D/D TDW 4/1-25: Deeds of Cilmaen-gwyn alias Tir-bach and Clyn-mawr in the parish of Llangiwg, 1632-1812

D/D TDW 5/1-9: Deeds of Coed-ffaldau alias Rhyd-y-gurnos alias Pant-y-bara in the parish of Llangiwg, 1635-1647

D/D TDW 6/1-6: Deeds of farms at Cwmtawe in the parish of Llangiwg, 1619-1625

D/D TDW 7/1-9: Deeds of Gilfach-yr-haidd in the parish of Llangiwg, 1553-1598

D/D TDW 8/1-9: Deeds of Tir Griffith ap Owen alias y Ty Du alias Tir-nant-y-gurnos in the parish of Llangiwg, 1520-1624

D/D TDW 9/1-8: Deeds of Tir-gwaun-Siencyn in the parish of Llangiwg, 1648-1687

D/D TDW 10/1-14: Deeds of Tir-Hopkin in the parish of Llangiwg, 1574-1621

D/D TDW 11/1-4: Deeds of Tir-y-gelli and Gwaun-tyle-Harri in the parish of Llangiwg, 1582-1584

D/D TDW 12/1-6: Deeds of Maes-cwnrig in the parish of Llangiwg, 1620-1728

D/D TDW 13/1-5: Deeds of Wern-fawr in the parish of Llangiwg, 1602-1608

D/D TDW 14/1-31: Deeds of other properties in the parish of Llangiwg, 1555-1839

D/D TDW 15/1-29: Deeds of the Coelbren Estate in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1552-1613

D/D TDW 16/1-10: Deeds of Ynyscedwyn-isaf and Aber-twrch in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1537-1626

D/D TDW 17/1-16: Deeds of Ynyscedwyn-uchaf, Tir Hen William Awbrey and Hen-faes, in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1507-1585

D/D TDW 18/1-38: Deeds of other properties in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1532-1862

D/D TDW 19/1-23: Bonds to secure the covenants in transactions that do not form part of this collection, 1576-1697

D/D TDW 20/1-3: Wills, 1558-1729

D/D TDW 21/1-9: Other records, 1708-1846

D/D TDW 22/1-9: Deeds and documents relating to the sale of a piece of land called Cae Ysgubor in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1879-1880

D/D TDW 23/1-2: Records relating to the sale of land for Godre'rgraig School, 1903

D/D TDW 24/1-15: Mortgages, family settlements and wills, 1840-1894

D/D TDW 25/1-7: Records relating to Blaen Cwm Colliery in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1902-1916

D/D TDW 26/1-12: Records relating to Pantmawr Colliery in the parish of Ystradgynlais, 1900-1913

D/D TDW 27/1-18: Records relating to other collieries including Gurnos Colliery and the Ystalyfera Colliery Company, and to various mineral leases, 1900-1927

D/D TDW 28/1-16: Leases of land to the Ystalyfera Iron Company, Ystalyfera Company Ltd., Ystalyfera Iron and Tinplate Works and the Ynyscedwyn Iron, Steel and Coal Co. Ltd., 1856-1927

D/D TDW 29/1: Record relating to the Golden Lion, Lower Cwmtwrch, 1909

D/D TDW 30/1-10: Other deeds relating to properties in Breconshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire that were not part of the Ynyscedwyn Estate, 1672-1776

This is a collection of title deeds and documents ranging in date from 1507-1927 and relating to the Ynyscedwyn Estate in the upper Tawe Valley. The collection measures approximately 1.2 linear metres. The majority consists of the title deeds of properties bought from the mid-16th to mid-17th centuries. Most of the deeds relate to properties in the parish of Llangiwg, while a smaller number cover lands in Ystradgynlais. Others cover farms in Cilybebyll parish and one in the Breconshire parish of Defynnog.

There were a number of industrial concerns on the estate, notably the Ystalyfera Iron and Tin Plate Works, the Gurnos Tin Plate Works and the Ynyecedwyn Iron and Tin Plate Works. There were also collieries at a number of locations along the Tawe and Twrch valleys. The Swansea Canal and Midland Railway crossed the estate and a network of tramways served the works and collieries. Part of the collection consists of 19th and 20th century records documenting the relations between the industrialists and the owners of the Ynyscedwyn Estate, in particular where disputes and litigation arose between them.

Ynyscedwyn was acquired in the mid-16th century by Morgan Awbrey, a relative of the Awbreys of Llantrithyd in Glamorgan and of Abercynrig in Breconshire. Successive generations of the family added to the estate through purchase and marriage, so that by the late 17th century, when the male line of the Awbreys failed, the estate consisted of a large and fairly compact area in the eastern half of Llangiwg parish, a corresponding area beyond the rivers Twrch and Tawe in Ystradgynlais, the Farteg farms in the north of Cilybebyll parish and a string of farms along the Tawe valley culminating in the Coelbren Estate, a cluster of properties in and around the hamlet of Coelbren with its church. Other properties belonging to the estate lay in Defynnog and in Llanddeusant, Carmarthenshire.

The descent of the family is complicated by many of its members dying childless, and a family tree is included here to assist. In 1683 the last Morgan Awbrey died, childless. His property passed to the descendants of his sister Catherine, who had married the Reverend Richard Portrey of Cheriton. Her granddaughter, another Catherine, married William Gough of Willerston, Gloucestershire, and the estate was then inherited by their descendants, many of whom took the additional surname Aubrey. Richard Douglas Gough inherited the estate on the death of his father, the Reverend Fleming Gough, whose will voices his concerns about his son's propensity towards gambling. After his marriage in 1840 he took on several mortgages as a way of servicing his debts, and these were in turn rationalised by his son, also called Fleming Gough, when he inherited the estate in 1886. Although routinely describing himself as 'of Ynyscedwyn House', Fleming Gough made his home in Belton House in Rutland, and there he died in 1933, childless.

Large parts of the estate were sold off in the 1920s, including ground rents in Ystalyfera in 1920 and the remainder of the Llangiwg farms in 1924. Ynyscedwyn House was sold to the Anglo-Celtic Watch Company, who used it to house important visitors. It was sold to Ystradgynlais Rural District Council (later to become part of Brecknock Boorugh) in 1969. This was inherited by Powys County Council, who put it up for sale in 1990. It was finally demolished in 1997.

This collection came via an antiques dealer from a solicitors' office in Brecon that had closed down. The firm has been identified as one known at different times as Tudor de Winton, Cobb & Tudor, Maybery & Cobb and Wilkins & Cobb. It is not however known whether this collection constitutes all the Ynyscedwyn records that were held by the solicitors.

Arranged into series by property and by document type.

No restrictions

A hard copy catalogue is available at West Glamorgan Archives.

Usual copyright regulations apply.

All records received by the West Glamorgan Archive Service have been retained

Accruals are possible.

A more extensive collection of Ynyscedwyn Estate records is at West Glamorgan Archive Service, reference D/D Yc, and this is referred to many times in this catalogue. The records in both the Ynyscedwyn Estate collections are interrelated, broadly similar and cover a similar date range. It is not clear when or why it became separated into two collections.