Castle Ely Will - 1608

Will unearthed by Owen Vaughan

HERNY UNDERWOODE - DIED approx. 1608/9
Genteman
Castle Ellie (not sure which one?)

Wife - Elthwe
nephew - Robert
uncle - Mr Protheroe
nephew - Rapfe ? Shepprd

Castle Ely Area Pictures from Elizabeth Wilson

Old Farmhouse - Coldwell (Oldwell)
This old house seems to be in a peaceful setting, but the busy A477 runs by the front of the house.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Coldwell House
When this old house was built on the side of the road several centuries ago the only traffic was the occasional horse and cart. Now it is alongside the busy A477.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Pot holed lane (into Upper Castle Ely)
This farm lane was once part of the network of roads in this area. Before the main road was built in the 1840's this was the road from Red Roses to Llanteg, following the high ground.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Farm Track
This farm track (near Coldwell) once formed part of the 'road' to Red Roses.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Small stream (near Coldwell)
Two small streams join at this point. It is completely overshadowed by trees. In the winter this is more of a torrent than a stream.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Castle Ely and Fronhaul
There was once a medieval settlement here, now all that remains is these houses and a farm. The tumulus can be seen in the centre of the picture.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Pictures of Castle Ely Area

 

Boundary Stone on Castle Ely Bridge - renovated by the council in 2003

Castle Ely County and Parish Boundary Stream and Bridge

Small Footbridge at Castle Ely - now overgrown. (information supplied on history blog) - There was a well/spring here for generations. Some time ago Carms Council put a small pumping station here to pump water up to a storage tank at Upper Castle Ely, which in turn supplies water to surrounding farms - Castle Ely, Fronhaul, Brynely, Brynhyfryd, etc. There was a pipe allowing the water to run out at this spot, but I think this has been stopped now. The footbridge probably leads to the pumping station (a small shed!) Health and safety probably thought someone might trip over a stone or something, hence the footbridge.)

Castle Ely Info from Elizabeth Wilson

 I had this lovely response to a request for information on the Castle Ely area:-

Glad you are looking at the Castle Ely area as it was always considered part of Crunwere although in Cyffig parish.
I don't have much information on the area but I'll let you have what I know.

Castle Ely is considered to be one of the lost settlements of West Carmarthenshire, along with Cyffig and Eglwyscummin. In 1307 there were "28 tenants working 6 carucates of land" - a carucate was roughly 120 acres of land.

 Before the A477 was built in the 1830's the road from Tavernspite crossed Coldwell coming up the lane at the side of the house, went up the lane to Upper Castle Ely and on to Castle Ely. Here it branched off down Castle Ely lane to Castle Ely Mill, crossed the stream to Crunwere Farm, and on past Crunwere Church to Llanteg village. From Castle Ely the road carried on straight over Marros Mountain to Marros. This track is still visable in Fronhaul. I will enclose a copy of the map. It is clear from this map that there are a lot of buildings around Castle Ely.

The map also explains why Crunwere Church seems to be in the middle of nowhere - it was the road that moved!!

Castle Ely and Castle Ely Mill were both part of the Llanmiloe (Pendine) Estate from at least the time of Charles 1st, until the estate was sold in 1913.

All I know about Castle Ely house is from personal memory. Parts of the original house were very old. The oldest part of the house was at the back with 4 separate rooms with thick walls and big flagstone floors. The furthest back were 2 long, narrow rooms shaped like an L. The room at the foot of the L was partly underground and reached by 3 flagstone steps, the windows level with the ground. It ran the length of the house. It was lined with large metal pans for salting the meat and was always cold - facing north. The living room was next to these rooms, again separate, and also had these large flagstones floor. Next to this was the pantry, flagstones, and slate slab shelves, no windows, again always cold.

The front of the house, facing Crunwere Church, was, I think, a Victorian addition. There was a hallway between the old part and the new part which was a large sitting room and a parlour both with timber floors. Upstairs there were 3 large bedrooms, but over the old part of the house were 2 dark store rooms, especially the back one which was down a step and windowless. I used to be afraid to go into these rooms!

I am attaching the map and an old photo of the front of Castle Ely house. Hope this will be of some interest to you,

Albert and Annie Wilson (nee Saer). They were my Uncle and Aunt on both sides (2 brothers married 2 sisters), and I used to visit them a lot when I was a child. The Shanklin's lived in Upper Castle Ely which is only about a field away from Castle Ely.

There used to be lime kilns in one of the fields between Milton and Castle Ely but I never did find the ruins - I think they must have been cleared. The field is still called "kiln field" The quarry was on the lane leading in to Castle Ely but it just looks like a hole. The division between the limestone belt of Marros,and the red sandstone runs through Fronhaul and Castle Ely fields and there are many holes in the fields where the ground has given way. It carries on through Crafty and there are holes there as well.

There was an old water wheel in the barn at Castle Ely (mill), and there is any amount of water around there. There used to be the ruins of an old building in the garden at Castle Ely. Just the walls and roof, but this enormous chimney - the sort you could stand inside and look up through. I'm not sure if it was a house or an industrial building of some sort. It was all knocked down years ago.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Ruth,

The water wheel was at the end of the barn in Castle Ely - this is the large building that you can see from the road. it was at the end nearest the road.

I was brought up in the Moors, Llanteg, but my parents lived at Castle Ely with their brother and sister for a while before they moved to the Griggs, and then the Moors.

Not sure how old Fronhaul is. I think the house was built after the council bought up the land and created smallholdings, that would be after 1913.

The Health club is both Fronhaul and Castle Ely buildings. The buildings form a square and were split in half, 1 half to Castle Ely, and the other half to Fronhaul ie creating 2 farms out of one. The barn ran the length of both and was spit in half.

The well at Coldwell is a spring which is pumped up to a storage tank and gravity fed back to the farm.

Upper Castle Ely is up the lane by Coldwell.

Castle Ely Farm is now Waterwynch, Castle Ely House is the farmhouse renovated and is the large white house you can see from the road.

Castle Ely Mill was a farm in its own right, besides the mill which has been disused for very many years. I can never remember it being used. The house is on the side of the old road by the lane going up to Castle Ely. The mill I suppose is in the old farm buildings with the original miller's house next to it. I don't suppose there's much of the original left.

The Morse's used to live in Fronhaul, Kathleen lives in St Clears now. The Jenkins used to live in Castle Ely Mill but I think they are all gone.

I am attaching some photos of Fronhaul and Castle Ely. The photo with the sheep isn't very good but it shows the barn with Castle Ely chimneys behind, and in the right background is Upper Castle Ely house in the trees. It was taken from the Marros side looking towards Red Roses direction. The 2nd shows Fronhaul house back and some of Castle Ely buildings. This is taken in the opposite direction looking towards Marros, the last one shows Fronhaul house front view.

Castle Ely Area

 

Ancient mound
This ancient mound or tumulus is in a field close to Castle Ely House. The field was historically called "twmp", which is the Welsh for mound.
© Copyright lizzie and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.


Royal Cmmission on Ancient Monuments in Wales
NPRN 304255
Map Reference SN11SE
Grid Reference SN19341051
Community Eglwyscummin
Type of Site ROUND BARROW
Broad Class Religious, Ritual and Funerary
Period Unknown
Site Description
PARC-Y-TWMP; LOWER CASTLE ELY TUMULUS
Barrow 25 paces in diameter and 6'6" high. Cremation remains were found upon excavation in 1889.
(source Os495card; SN11SE21)


Catalogue Number C57302
Cadw Scheduling Records
Date: 1990
Description
File of Cadw scheduled monument records for Parc-y-twmp; Lower Castle Ely Tumulus (CM088)


Castle Ely Mill
NPRN 306275
Map Reference SN11SE
Grid Reference SN19131060
Community Eglwyscummin
Type of Site CORN MILL
Broad Class Agriculture and Subsistence
Period Post Medieval
Site Description
Former corn mill converted to a house and holiday apartments. B.A.Malaws, 03 September 2002.


Defended Enclosure
NPRN 304188
Map Reference SN21SW
Grid Reference SN20091092
Community
Eglwyscummin
Type of Site
DEFENDED ENCLOSURE
Broad Class Defence
Period Iron Age?
Site Description


Castle Ely camp appears to comprise the east and south part of a defended enclosure, that appears to be completed by presumed modern field banks to the west.
(source Os495card; SN21SW4)


CASTLE ELY QUARRY, RED ROSES
Site Details
NPRN 306198
Map Reference SN11SE
Grid Reference SN19281017
Community Eglwyscummin
Type of Site LIME WORKINGS
Broad Class Industrial
Period Post Medieval
Site Description


Quarry and two limekilns.
B.A.Malaws, 28 August 2002.

From - http://www.jstor.org/stable/621742


At Castle Ely there were 28 tenants working 6 carucates of land (carucate=as much land as one team can plow in a year and a day; - by some said to be about 100 acres).

Llanteg Mills

Spurred on by a suggestion we are now trying to collect information on the old mills of Llanteg - and we will extend that to include Castle Ely Mill - which, although not in our parish is only just over the stream which is our boundary with Ciffig parish.

This will be information as we collect it and probably will be updated and amended as we go along.

Charles F.Shepherd, in his 1933 booklet on Crunwear, notes that there were three mills - Castle Ely Mill, Garness Mill and the Tucking Mill - with Castle Ely being outside the parish.

Garness Mill, a grist mill, is still standing, but has not been working for some years.
During the latter half of the last century (1850s-1890s) the mill was in constant use, the farmers bringing their grain to be ground, and taking the flour etc. away.

CASTLE ELY MILL - corn (now a private house)

From WikipediaIn most wheel-driven mills, a large gear-wheel called the pit wheel is mounted on the same axle as the water wheel and this drives a smaller gear-wheel, the wallower, on a main driveshaft running vertically from the bottom to the top of the building. This system of gearing ensures that the main shaft turns faster than the water wheel, which typically rotates at around 10 rpm.
The millstones themselves turn at around 120 rpm. They are laid one on top of the other. The bottom stone, called the bed, is fixed to the floor, while the top stone, the runner, is mounted on a separate spindle, driven by the main shaft. A wheel called the stone nut connects the runner's spindle to the main shaft, and this can be moved out of the way to disconnect the stone and stop it turning, leaving the main shaft turning to drive other machinery. This might include driving a mechanical sieve to refine the flour, or turning a wooden drum to wind up a chain used to hoist sacks of grain to the top of the mill house. The distance between the stones can be varied to produce the grade of flour required; moving the stones closer together produces finer flour.
The grain is lifted in sacks onto the sack floor at the top of the mill on the hoist. The sacks are then emptied into bins, where the grain falls down through a hopper to the millstones on the stone floor below. The flow of grain is regulated by shaking it in a gently sloping trough (the slipper) from which it falls into a hole in the center of the runner stone. The milled grain (flour) is collected as it emerges through the grooves in the runner stone from the outer rim of the stones and is fed down a chute to be collected in sacks on the ground or meal floor. A similar process is used for grains such as wheat to make flour, and for maize to make corn meal.

OLD TUCKING MILL - woollen cloth (situated just south of Ledgerland but only a few overgrown ruins remain)

Sketch of Old Garness Mill by Geoff Scott

Photo of Garness Mill outbuildings - taken in 1999 by Tony Brinsden

GARNESS MILL - corn (now a private house) - it was possibly originally named after a person - Gardener.
In Place Names of Pembrokeshire Gardeners Mill was mentioned in 1723, changing its name over the years to Carnos and Garness.

Found in Llanteg Timeline
1844 - 266 inhabitants recorded. A corn mill and mill where coarse cloth is prepared and dyed, a limestone quarry, and a church in ruins with sittings for 200 people.

Mr Shepherd in his 1933 book notes:

A fulling mill from Georg Andreas Böckler's Theatrum Machinarum Novum, 1661

From Story of Tenby by Margaret Davies - Tenby Museum 1979
In 1565 David Griffith, a Llanteg 'fryzemaker' (frieze being a course woollen cloth) was exporting rolls of frieze to Bristol in the ship Katherine of Tenby.

Found in Llanteg Timeline
1844 - 266 inhabitants recorded. A corn mill and mill where coarse cloth is prepared and dyed, a limestone quarry, and a church in ruins with sittings for 200 people.

Mr Shepherd in his 1933 book notes:
'About a hundred years ago (1830s) there was at Ledgerland a Tucking Mill - a water mill used for the making of cloth. This was kept by Mr James Price - his widow died at the ripe age of 102 and is buried in Crunwear churchyard.'
On Llanteg's Tithe Schedule Ledgerland, and a 'cottage' further down the valley were occupied by James Price and owned by Sir Robert Phillips. From the old 1840s map it appears that the entrance to the old mill site would have been more from the Amroth side rather than Llanteg - but it is very difficult to tell.

Place Names of Pembrokeshire
Under Lost Names, we have for Crunwear:
Old fulling mill - mentioned in 1712
There was also mention in 1737 of a Crunwear Mill - but that could be either Garness or the tucking mill.

Reference from Roscoe Howell's publication:
"From mediaeval times until as late as the 1860s, there was a thriving woollen and carding mill, known in its last years as the Factory ... and the remains are still to be seen in the undergrowth, as is the course of the leat which brought the water down from below the woollen mill to power the Earwear corn mill at the bottom of the valley".

The Fulling/Tucking Process - from Wikipedia

Fulling or tucking or walking ("waulking" in Scotland) is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker. The Welsh word for a fulling mill is pandy. This is used in several place-names.

Process
Fulling involves two processes—scouring and milling (thickening). These are followed by stretching the cloth on great frames known as tenters and held onto those frames by tenterhooks. It is from this process that we derive the phrase being on tenterhooks as meaning to be held in suspense. The area where the tenters were erected was known as a tenterground.
Originally, this literally, was pounding the cloth with the fuller's feet (whence the description of them as 'walkers'), or with hands or a club. From the medieval period, however, it often was carried out in a water mill.

Scouring
In Roman times, fulling was conducted by slaves standing ankle deep in tubs of human urine and cloth. Urine was so important to the fulling business that urine was taxed. Urine, known as 'wash', was a source of ammonium salts and assisted in cleansing and whitening the cloth.
By the medieval period, fuller's earth had been introduced for use in the process. This is a soft clay-like material occurring in nature as an impure hydrous aluminium silicate. This seems to have been used in conjunction with 'wash'. More recently, soap has been used.

Thickening
The second function of fulling was to thicken cloth, by matting the fibres together to give it strength and increase waterproofing (felting). This was vital in the case of woollens, made from short staple wool, but not for worsted materials made from long staple wool. After this stage, water was used to rinse out the foul smelling liquor used during cleansing.

Fulling mills
From the medieval period, the fulling of cloth often was undertaken in a water mill, known as a fulling mill, a walk mill, or a tuck mill. In Wales, a fulling mill is called a pandy. In these, the cloth was beaten with wooden hammers, known as fulling stocks. Fulling stocks were of two kinds, falling stocks (operating vertically) that were used only for scouring, and driving or hanging stocks. In both cases the machinery was operated by cams on the shaft of a waterwheel or on a tappet wheel, which lifted the hammer.
Driving stocks were pivotted so that the 'foot' (the head of the hammer) struck the cloth almost horizontally. The stock had a tub holding the liquor and cloth. This was somewhat rounded on the side away from the hammer, so that the cloth gradually turned, ensuring that all parts of it were milled evenly. However, the cloth was taken out about every two hours to undo plaits and wrinkles. The 'foot' was approximately triangular in shape, with notches to assist the turning of the cloth.

History
The earliest known reference to a fulling mill in France, which dates from about 1086, was discovered in Normandy.[4] The earliest reference in England occurs in the Winton Domesday of 1117-19. Other early references belonged to the Knights Templar by 1185.
These mills became widespread during the thirteenth century and occur in most counties of England and Wales, but were largely absent in areas only engaged in making worsteds.