Full Project Title: 'The Abandoned Upland Settlements of the Eastern Carneddau'
Doctoral Researcher: Anna Reynolds
Supervised by: Dr Shaun Evans and Dr Mari Wiliam
The uplands of the Eastern Carneddau, from Gyffin parish in the north to Llanrhychwyn parish in the south, are scattered with homes and farmsteads which became abandoned during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This research will attempt to piece together the community and lives of these settlements between c. 1700 and the mid-20th century, discovering why they became permanent homes and how these habitations were used, investigating the lives of the inhabitants, and why they finally failed as viable places to live. Whether these dwelling places and farms began as hafodau to lowland farms in the mediaeval era, or as squatter houses built to alleviate housing and land shortages of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the common theme is their demise in the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, when an entire community disappeared.
During their lives, however, these places were homes to communities rather than individuals. Through the evidence of parish records, estate papers, contemporary newspapers, and other archive sources, the research will attempt to discover more about how these communities existed and how individuals interacted with one another. How connected were these communities with lowland communities and areas further afield? What was the effect of the influx of incomers, particularly non-Welsh incomers, as slate quarrying, changes in estate management, and the growth of hydro-electric projects altered the demographic in the area? Were upland dwellers living in miserable poverty or comfortable subsistence? What were the effects of the growth of compulsory schooling and the gradual increase in English as a spoken language in a community of previously monolingual Welsh speakers? Did the growth of non-conformist worship give uplanders more independence and autonomy before the final demise of these communities? At the conclusion of the research, it is to be hoped that these questions will be answered, and a fuller picture of upland Carneddau life will be gained.
Recent activity: Presentation at the AGM of Conwy Valley Civic Society in July 2024.
