Glyngynwydd Cottages

Glyngynwydd is the name of a township in the Parish of Llangurig and also that of a farm. They take their name from the rivulet, Gynwydd, which flows into the Dulas.

The farm Glyngynwydd, however, is not in the township of Glyngynwydd, which is the land on the Western side of the Gynwydd, but in that of Cefn yr Hafodau, which is to the East. This has led to a number of false conjectures by historians regarding the old home of the Owens of Glansevern, Berriew, who originated in Llangurig Parish but never had ownership of Cefn yr Hafodau Farm and actually lived at Glyngynwydd Farm.

 

An early record of the name Glyngynwydd appears in 1624 and prior to that it could have been known by the names Tyddyn y Wern or Glangynwydd, all as suggested by the records of the Owen Family of Glansevern deposited in the National Library of Wales. The Owen family originated in Cardiganshire and are believed to have descended from Cadifor ap Dinwal, Lord of Hywel Castle, who in 1166 assisted in the capture of Cardigan Castle. They moved into the Llangurig area in about 1500 and acquired land in the Cefn yr Hafadau township. Eventually through farming, mining and marriage they became substantial and influential landowners in Montgomeryshire and in 1810 Sir Arthur Davies Owen built Glansevern house in Berriew.

 

The earliest recorded owner of Glyngynwydd was Owen Owen. He is mentioned in the Marriage Settlement of his eldest daughter Dorothy to Griffith Lloyd in 1713 as ‘felt maker of Glyngynwydd’; later he was remarried to Matilda Lloyd in November 1716 in Llangurig Church and is referred to as Owen Owen of Glyngynwydd in the township of Cefn yr Hafodau. Prior to these dates, Owen had several children christened in Llangurig from about 1690 to 1700 by his first wife Mary, so it can be assumed that he lived at Glyngynwydd Farm for some time before 1713. It is probable that the Owen family were at the farm considerably earlier than this as previous generations of the Owen family are recorded as of ‘ Cevn Hafod’ from the early 1500s.

Owen Owen died in 1718 at Glyngynwydd and his son David, born in 1699, took over ownership of the estate. After marrying in 1723 he purchased Upper Glandulas and moved there in the same year. After this move the property was farmed by other members of the Owen family. David’s eldest son and heir (another Owen Owen) raised his family there around 1748 and later the farm was leased to tenants.

By 1840 the tenants were a Davies family who were followed in the 1850s by Hugh Hughes and his family. At this time Glyngynwydd is described in the census returns as a farm of 127 acres.

In 1864 the tenancy was taken on by John Lloyd who was previously at Henfaes Uchaf, Llangurig. John Lloyd in turn passed the tenancy to his eldest son Lewis. Lewis Lloyd died in 1905 and the operation of the farm moved to his children Lewis, David, Jonathan and Elizabeth. In about 1920 the Glansevern Estate was split up and sold and Glyngynwydd was bought by the tenants (namely the unmarried Lloyd siblings) who continued to farm there until it was sold in 1950.

The buyer in 1950 was Jack Rowlands of Glandulas Farm, Llanidloes, who leased the property to his brother in law Glyn Howells. Glyn and Peggy Howells stayed there until 1988 and raised their family there.

Around 1985 Jack Rowlands transferred the ownership of Glyngynwydd to his son Keith, who by 1988 was farming the land and had dissolved the tenancy agreement with his uncle. Keith Rowlands divided the farmhouse from the majority of the land and sold Glyngynwydd to Gren and Violet Davies in October 1988 comprising the farmhouse, outbuildings and 10 acres of land. The Davies’s completely updated the property and converted the old cowshed into 5 holiday cottages. They sold up in 1998 to Glen Bolsom and Susan Wareham.

In 2014 Glyngynwydd was bought by Adam Gaca and Carla McHugh who moved from London with their family and set about updating the holiday cottage business.

The old farmhouse provides a family home and the cottages attract people from all over the world to enjoy the untapped delights of the Heart of Wales.

 

Based on notes supplied by Ronald Morris, local historian, who is related to the Lloyd Family.