Waun
Ddyfal
The
Battle of Mynydd Bach, Little Heath.
Summer
1799.
Cardiff,
Glamorgan, Wales .
Introduction
During the 18th Century Wales was to witness
a massive move to enclose land previously thought of as marginal and of little
agricultural use unless such regarded long as Common Land for which there was
use for the Cattle, Horses and Sheep to graze upon usually seen as a right of
‘Commoners’ for most part Small farmers and Small Holders. Many of these small
holders were in fact deemed as Squatters though many of them regarded
themselves as possessing their land by traditional right of Tai Unnos of which
by the latter part of the 18th century had increased in a major Peasant land occupation to such an
extent that when the Government pushed through and pressed on with it’s
Enclosure laws the landed gentry and large farmers were to the fore
in seeking to extend their land holdings at expense of the peasantry and thence
by the latter part of the 18th Century the peace of Wales was shattered by Enclosure riots one of
which would take place at Waun Ddyfal* otherwise known as Little Heath on a
vast area of Common and Marginal land known as the Great Heath to the North of
Cardiff.
•
Waun Ddyfal (Little Heath)
for a short time would take over from Gallows Field on the Great Heath as the
execution site prior to building of Cardiff Prison with also associated new
Execution Site near present day Market in St Mary Street. This being location
where in 1831 Dic Penderyn was executed by hanging, often called Wales’ first
working Class Martyr but ignoring fact that prior to his execution Wales had
witnessed the ‘Judical Murder’ of two previous Working Class Martyrs, they
being Samuel Hill and Arron Williams in 1800 for participation in a major Food
Riot in a Merthyr Tudful. Wales in this period of 1795 to 1800 was to become a
land of Corn Riots that against back ground of the French Revolution was to
cause great concern. I am at moment writing up on the 1800 Merthyr Riot which I
will publish to my Pitchfork and Pike Blog in due course as well as in Yr
Aflonyddwch Mawr Blog. In the mean time for further reading on Enclosure and
Corn Riots read the excellent Book Before Rebecca by D.V.Jones and an article
in Welsh History Review on Corn Riots Vol 2 No 4 1965 also by D. V.Jones. Much
of the below is sourced from an article I had copied some time back but forgot
to note the source. It was if I remember correctly a Cardiff History Book and
the Info below comes from Part III The Reformed Borough 1836 – 1914. My thanks
to all sources.
11th June – 29 October 1799.
The Great and Little Heaths
are to the North of Cardiff and much Common Land used to pasture out animals
there upon and otherwise used for it’s timber and foraging for food as nuts,
berries and Mushrooms as well as the collection of fire wood and ferns for
Pillows and Matresses. Overtime much of this Heath land was being leased out
and upon expiry off lease such was sold off as plots to those with the money to
bid for such as by Llandaf Lawyer Thomas Edwards in 1763 on behalf of Dowager
Lady Windsor for custody of the Great Heath. This bid sought the removal of
houses (Tai-unnos), their hedges and privileges on Mynydd Bach, a little hill
upon the Heath. This bid failed but towards end of the 18th century the Enclosure Laws
made land Grabbing a rewarding preoccupation of the rich, not least the Marquis
of Bute who in 1797 who took out a possession order against 12 persons who had
encroached upon the Heath by means of employing method of traditional Tai-unnos
land possession. This time judgment was in favour of the Marquis and thus
an enactment order upheld and on 11th June the order was put in force by the Sherriff and the Cavalry
called in to deal with an hostile crowd which for two hours resisted the
possession of their land and destruction thereof. The people both men and women
had armed themselves with stones, sticks and pitchforks, but the cottage around
which a riot was taking place was set alight by the Authorities whilst other
plots were occupied by the Sherriff, assistants and Cavalry seeking to evict
the occupants from their Tai-unnos.
It was said the Women in
particular fought like ‘Amazons’ but all to no avail as by the days end eight
of the ‘resistants’ had agreed to vacate the land but four ‘Squatters’
continued to resist and would not leave. However, on 30 June the Sheriff
returned with his assistants and workmen to tear down the Tai-unnos, burn their
hedges and destroy boundary ditches. To ensure this enclosure was ‘Sign, Sealed
and Delivered’ to the Marquis of Bute the Sherriff returned on 29 October with
a force of Caerphilly Volunteers but they were not needed as the last ‘hold
outs’ quietly left their land. The story does not end there for the Marquis of
Bute would take full possession of this land as by right of enclosure accepted
by Cardiff Council in 1800 on the strong recommendation of John Wood a Cardiff
Solicitor who had been on 6 March 1789 made Town Clerk. By 1800 – 1801 the
Enclosure Act was passed for enclosing the Heaths this land then parceled out
as allotments to be rented out or sold off to the benefit of Bute and Cardiff
Corporation.
As for Wood his reward re
above was to be made a Capital Burgess but that was not the end of
it as Wood had already in 1785 and 1788 taken lease upon Cottage and Garden
known as ‘The Cut Throats’, the ‘Gallows Field’ and later ‘Cae Pwdr’ (Former
execution site, not least of two Catholic Martyrs in the 17th Century and today known as
‘Death Junction’ due to number of fatal road accidents in the area). John Wood
and later his Sons would greatly aggrandize themselves in land grabbing and
taking possession of properties on and around the Heaths, so much so it is a
significant story in itself as to how postion and privilege provides the power
to make one self excessively rich but that is another story. Suffice to
say to conclude that another Wood of the same family was to gain an Enclosure
of land on the Little Heath (Wuan Ddyfal). There is of course an area of
Cardiff known as Woodville today the above are the foundations of this area.
None of this helps me to determine where the two Miners Samuel Hill and Aaron
Williams Merthyrs Food Riot Martyrs were executed in 1801 if by 1799 both
locations suggested in this article had been possessed for other purpose
and as Cardiff Jail and new execution site not yet ready where were the
two ‘Merthyr Martyrs’ of the 1800 Corn Riot executed? Can anyone help? It is my
long term purpose to promote the setting up of plaques at sites of incidents as
arising out of popular discontent. To this end who would like to carry out
research and field trip study of such incidents associated with popular
struggle in their area, if interested do get in touch as together we can map
and record this Peoples History of Struggle so contributing to a Wales
Socialist History.
Further Reading :
Sharon Howard, 'Riotous community:
crowds, politics and society
in Wales , c.1700–1840', Welsh History
Review, 20:4 (2001),
Hope and Heartbreak is a bold
new interpretation of Welsh social history at the opening of the nineteenth
century. Russell Davies ranges far and wide, from ...
Gethin Gruffydd.
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