The Lost Cottages - Coed Sadwrn, Dolgarrog Parish

Coed Sadwrn is a rather interesting building on the trackway running from Coedty reservoir. There are old outbuildings alongside a rather more modern looking abandoned house, which is apparently being looked after by the company in charge of the reservoir. Why they're looking after this one and ignoring the others in the area is a mystery. Also a mystery is the date of the newer house, although almost certainly an architectural historian could look at the place and date it. It resembles few of the other more modern houses in the locality, with its neat brickwork embellishing stone which doesn't quite look like the stonework of nearby quarried-stone houses.

The dwelling of Coed Sadwrn - not the later house, obviously - goes back to at least 1700 in the parish records of Caerhun, when 'Lowry, the illegitimate daughter of George Symond of Coed Sadwrn and Anne Robert Owen of Galltwyllt was baptised September 11th.' A Gwynedd Archaeological Trust report asserts that the farm 'probably dated from at least the 16th century.' I don't know if this means the older house, still on the site, was built in the 16th century, or if it were a later evolution of an earlier dwelling. The house seems to have had plenty of life and death going on through the centuries since then.

The house is at Ordnance Survey grid reference SH 7612 6708 on one of the public access tracks near Coedty reservoir. See a video of the place here.

Coed Sadwrn from the east on a cold March day.

The view east along the leat and track towards Coed Sadwrn, with the older buildings closer to the camera.

The aforementioned Gwynedd Archaeological Trust assessment is worth quoting in full here, since I'm having trouble parsing it. The assessment states, 'A ruined and roofless cottage was recorded here in 1956 and described as being of former crogloft type, about 6m by 3.7m and constructed of mortared rubble, with a farm building to the south-west of one build with the house. The fireplace, at the north-east end was 2.3m by 1.2m deep, with a large beam slightly cambered and chamfered (RCAHMW 1956, 74). The cottage has been reroofed, although there is no evidence that it had completely lost its roof, and maintained to ensure it is sound and weather proof. The farm buildings to the SW are ruined. Both cottage and farm buildings are shown on the 1788 map. The farm is marked on the 1816-1824 map, named on the 1847 tithe schedule and all the buildings are shown on the 1889 map. The site of the farm is clearly the focus of the fields in this area and in comparison with similar farms in neighbouring areas it probably dated from at least the 16th century.'

I think the RCAHMW description, which is also used in a 2010 report by the same people, has been put together with this description in the 2011 report, resulting in the confusion. I can't believe that the later building, shown in the next photo, originated as a crogloft cottage, nor that it was roofless and ruined in 1956 and then repaired and roofed at a later date. This just doesn't make sense. I believe that the crogloft cottage is in the older portion of the buildings, a range which seems to have a cottage in the middle with an outbuilding on either end. This makes sense, fitting with the 1956 description of it as 'about 6m by 3.7m and constructed of mortared rubble, with a farm building to the south-west of one build with the house. The fireplace, at the north-east end was 2.3m by 1.2m deep.' Before reading this report, that was how I read the building, with the (now ruined) fireplace in the same location. The report seems to conflate the older crogloft cottage with the newer cottage, which has only a small, perhaps Victorian, fireplace at either end, and evidently had a first floor which stretched the length of the building. I find it hard to believe one of those fires replaced a fireplace that was 2.3m by 1.2m deep. I also can't see the later cottage on the 1788 map included in the report, although the resolution isn't very good on this. I think what has been read as the cottage is the bottom of the letter A marking the field as A1.

 

The newer house, externally, is completely intact, and sits on the south side of one of the leats running from Coedty reservoir. The older outbuildings (and original house) are far older than the leat, and the later house almost certainly predates the leat. Wikipedia dates the reservoir to 1924, but the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust report asserts that 'work on the dam at Coedty started in May 1908, and by 1911 the aluminium works was powered by a hydro-electricity station which derived its water from Llyn Eigiau and the Afon Ddu.'

The older outbuildings, and what I believe is the original house, are very close to the leat, which may have been built when the reservoir was made in the early 20th century.

 

In the earliest Dolgarrog census, 1841, the head of the house was Rowland Roberts, 35, an agricultural labourer. He is living with Elizabeth Roberts, 80, who is probably mother to Rowland, and to Anne Roberts, 60, Margaret Roberts, 45, and Mary Roberts, 40, who also live in the house. These are listed in 1851 as Rowland's sisters. The final member of the household is Elizabeth Roberts, 6, who is listed in 1851 as Rowland's niece.

 

The older Elizabeth died in 1844 at the grand age of 87, being buried in Llanbedr y Cennin on December 31st.

 

In 1851 Rowland, 44, is a shepherd, Anne is 72, Margaret, housekeeper, is 52, Mary, a servant, is 50, and Elizabeth, now listed as Elizabeth Jones, a general servant, is 16. Jones is probably her father's surname, or a patronymic from his first name if this were John.

 

Mary was buried in Llanbedr y Cennin in 1853 on November 11th, aged 50. (These ages don't tally exactly with the censuses but census ages are often inaccurate.) Anne Roberts was buried February 23rd, 1854, aged 76.

 

By 1861 the house only contains Rowland, 55, a shepherd still, Margred, 68, and Elizabeth Roberts, 26, a general servant still. It's reasonable to assume this is the same Elizabeth through the three censuses. It seems that none of the family married, but an eleven month old baby, Elizabeth Roberts, was buried on March 10th, 1862. Margaret Roberts was buried May 20th, aged 72. Elizabeth Roberts, the niece, was buried on June 24th, aged 27. I would assume that the baby Elizabeth was born to Elizabeth Roberts the niece. Perhaps one of the sisters of the household was Elizabeth's mother.

A local historian has told me that he recalls a date of of 1866-7 for the newer house in the Newborough archives, and this seems to fit with the look of the building. The implication of this is also that the house was built by the Newborough estate. I don't know if the other houses further west were also part of the same estate. If this is the date of the house then the families named in the above censuses would have lived in the older crogloft cottage.

From the front, the house is of a traditional design, with a central front door and a window either side, but the brick arch in the porch looks more unusual and the stone doesn't look quite the same as other quarried stone houses up here. Perhaps the porch is a red herring; after all, many of these houses have lost their porches, or any part of them from about four feet upwards. There's just something indefinable about this house that doesn't chime with other local houses, to me. It may be of the same period as some of the later houses, but it looks as if it were built to a different plan.

The brick arch is very prettily done, letting onto a doorway which has been blocked with a locked and barred gate. These stones seem either quarried or very heavily faced.

Both windows are also barred to prevent people getting into the property.

Above this right hand window, I had wondered if this were something to do with an electrical supply. It's also been suggested they might be rollers for shutters. I wonder if the place were used at any point as a base during the reservoir works. That might explain why it's still looked after.

The left, eastern, window is barred in the same way. 

 

The floor of the porch seems to be made of brick, but is quite damaged. 

It's hard to tell what the floor inside is made of, under the dirt. It may be tiled. 

There are two fireplaces in the house, and both are very small. Neither look very suitable for cooking on, although two small ovens can be seen to the left of the western fireplace. 

 

After the demise of Rowland Roberts' family in September 1869, when Rowland died aged 69, a new family moved into Coed Sadwrn. If the date of 1866-7 is correct for the newer building then Rowland may have moved into the new house not long before his death. Alternatively, it's possible that he continued in the old house while the new one was built to house a new family.

In the 1871 census the house is lived in by Griffith Jones, 40, a shepherd, wife Grace, 27, and children John, 7, William, 5, Rowland, 3, and Anne, 1. In 1881 Griffith is 40 and Grace is 38. John, now 17, is a scholar, which seems rather surprising given the date and his age. William is now 15, Rowland 13, Anne 11, and they have been joined by Griffith, 8, Robert, 4, and Hugh, 1.

This snapshot in the census would seem to show a bountiful family, but the parish records tell a more tragic tale. In 1871 the family lost Mary, aged six weeks. In 1872 they lost another daughter called Mary, at seven months. In 1881, tragedy struck, and over the course of one and a half years the family was ravaged by early death. First mother Grace died in May, 1881, aged 37. Fourteen year old son Rowland died in December. In March 1882 their father, Griffith Jones, died aged 48. Less than two weeks later in April, two year old Hugh died. Twelve year old Anne died two weeks later, and Griffith died in October, aged nine. In the space of 18 months six family members died, including both parents, leaving only brothers John, William, and Robert. 18 and 16 year old John and William must have been old enough, especially in those days, for independence, but what happened to five year old Robert is unknown.

On a happier note, it seems likely that it is 18 year old John referred to in a 3rd August, 1883, marriage announcement in the North Wales Express. The notice reads: Jones-Jones – July 13, at the Independent Chapel, Llandudno, by the Rev R. Parry (Gwalchmai), Mr John Jones, Coed Sadwrn, to Miss A. Jones, Tan y Bwlch – both of Lampeter. I'm assuming Lampeter is simply an anglicisation of Llanbedr, unless coincidentally two people from the South Welsh Lampeter, living in houses with the same names as two local houses, came all the way up to Llandudno to wed. A Jones family is listed living at Tan y Bwlch in 1881.

It's also possible that William Jones was still living in Coed Sadwrn in 1890. Baner ac Amserau Cymru reports, on 25th June, 1890, about a literary and musical competition held in Capel Salem, Tal y Bont. The paper reports; Parti Mr W Jones, Coed Sadwrn, oedd y goreu ar y pedwarawd. (Mr W Jones' party, Coed Sadwrn, was the best of the quartets.) This, along with John still being a scholar at 17, makes one wonder about the academic talents of the household.

The ceiling above shows some damage but the roof is well looked after. The level of the first floor can be seen running around the walls.

The only piece of furniture remaining is what looks to be a settle with a cupboard above, or, since it looks rather thin, perhaps the wooden backing for a mirror. It may be a settle pushed up against a cupboard.

Perhaps this furniture belonged to the last census-listed inhabitants of the house, the Williams family, who appear in the 1891 census. In 1901 the place is listed as unoccupied, and in 1911 it isn't mentioned at all. In 1891 the head of the house was William Williams, 28, a farmer from Tal y Bont. His wife, Margaret, was 27. With them lived children Lewis L, aged 5, possibly Jenny E (the record is blurred), aged 3, and son William, aged 1. They also had a farm servant, 16 year old Robert B Williams, born in Bethesda. It seems the family must have moved from Capel Curig, since that is where the older two children were born.

Interestingly, the property is mentioned in the North Wales Weekly News in 1909, so it must have been in occupation again at some point in that decade. The story reads:

TALYBONT.
A FAMILY SQUABBLE.—On Monday, at Conway, a squabble between brothers was detailed at the Police Court, when John Williams and William Williams, residing at Siglan, Trefriw, were charged with assaulting their brother Robert Williams, who resides at Coed Sadwrn, Dolgarrog. Mr J. D. Jones appeared for the complainant, and Mr E. Davies-Jones represented the defendants. From the evidence for the complainant, it appears that there was some ill-feeling between the brothers, and that they visited Coed Sadwrn and William struck complainant a severe blow in the mouth, and John threatened him with a stick. From the cross-examination of the complainant, it appears that William Williams is the tenant of Coed Sadwrn, and that he had given him notice to quit. On the day in question, complainant was found to be ploughing some pasture land, and the defendant requested him not to do so. After hearing the evidence of the man named Richard Roberts, the magistrates dismissed the case.

William Williams is mentioned in the 1901 census for Siglan, as a 14 year old grandson. In 1911 John Williams is listed as the 39 year old head of the household at Siglan, living with his sister, parents, and a servant.

At the east end of the building is another fire, without ovens. A window can be seen above to the right, mirroring an identical one on the left. It looks like the joists for the first floor would have rested their ends on this wall above the fire. There are no obvious signs of wood partitions having been in the cottage but undoubtedly originally they were there. The central position of this eastern fireplace makes it look more likely the space was divided into two rooms downstairs, though, than one living room, a parlour, and a scullery or dairy.

A closer look at the eastern fireplace.

The ceiling above this eastern end looks rather more damaged. 

 

I think there may be a blocked window here in the back wall to the east end of the house. There is a vague suggestion in the plasterwork of something there, and it corresponds with a change in the render on the outside of the building.

I think this is about the same spot on the wall, from outside, where there is a change in the render.

The house is still well rendered on the western and southern sides but the front and eastern end are bare stone.

The render on the back of the house looks rather newer.

The windows in the eastern end of the house. There seem to have been no upstairs fireplaces.

A pair of gateposts sits near the house but there's no wall or fence still associated with them. A boundary fence is shown running rather closer to the house on the 1888-1913 map.

These two bits of ceramic were on the ground near the house.

The underneath of one of the pieces of ceramic.

The old building sits a little west of the newer house, at an angle to the leat, and must have narrowly missed being demolished by the works. It's easy to discount this more ruined building next to the neat little house nearby.

The doorway into the eastern cell, with a good stone lintel. The building stones look faced rather than quarried.

The western wall of this cell, where it joins the house. There's a little nook in the wall at the centre. This may have been a handy shelf, or it may just be that a stone has fallen from the wall.

At the back, in the southern wall, is a very small window to the left, which would let in light but not so much of the weather. To the right this may be just a nook or a place where a stone has fallen. There's no sign of an opening on the outside.

A broken bottle found in the wall.

I don't think the bottle is very old, but it's not very modern either.

It seems likely that this upper opening was a door, perhaps letting onto a first floor storage area.

The wall above the door into the cell is covered in moss and ferns. There may be joist holes immediately above the beam.

A wide angle shot of the eastern wall of this cell.

Looking along the north face of the building.

The seam between the eastern cell and what I believe to be the original house shows they were probably built at different times. The corner of the house has been built with long corner stones.

 

The 1888-1913 map shows another little outbuilding opposite this end building, where the track and leat now stand. It looks at if it were about the same size as this eastern outbuilding. A few little enclosures in front of the long building must also have been lost.

Inside the second cell, what I think is the house, this seems to be the fireplace end at the east, judging by the large fall of stone here. It may just be rubble from the wall but it seems that often this much rubble indicates a collapsed chimney and front of the fireplace. Also, fireplace walls collapse much more quickly as soon as the beam has gone because it's such a structural weakness. This assessment fits with the 1956 description of 'The fireplace, at the north-east end was 2.3m by 1.2m deep, with a large beam slightly cambered and chamfered.'

 

The back of this chamber has been made into a run for dipping sheep, or perhaps guarding against foot rot, cunningly using a doorway at the west end of the cell, either original or put in later, to direct them into the bath. Perhaps this wall at the back for the run is where so many of the stones from the front wall have gone.

It's possible that the doorway into the house was here, roughly at the centre of the north wall, although it's very hard to be sure.

There is a large amount of stone at the east end of the room, that may have formed the fireplace. It would be interesting to see if anything remains under the stone. I thought this big bit of wood in the foreground looked more like a fallen tree branch than a beam, but on a second visit I think it may be the beam from the fireplace.

 

At the top of the rubble pile, this looks like the right hand side of the fireplace as it slopes in to join the narrower chimney.

 

With a little less moss on it the wood starts to look more like a beam. Its length is about eight feet, or two and a half metres, which would be a good length for a fireplace that was 2.3m wide, allowing some extra for the beam to rest on the sides of the fireplace.

There doesn't seem to be any bark on the wood and it looks roughly squared off.

The piece of wood is extremely rotted, and it's not surprising it finally failed, if it were the beam.

A wider shot of the fireplace with the beam in the foreground.

A look at the underneath of the possible beam. Is this a peg hole to the left? This shot was only made possible by putting my phone under the beam, so I couldn't see what I was photographing.

Possibly there is some charring at the bottom of the piece of wood here, although it could just be damp and rot.

A final look at almost the full length of the piece. There are a lot of photos of this but it may not be around for much longer, considering how decayed it is already.

 It looks as if something of a wall has been built up here at the end, under the rubble. This could be to do with the conversion of the space for farming use, though, making a channel to lead the sheep into the run at the back of the cell.

 

The western wall is made up of very small stones, but the corner stones are large.

To the left side of this western wall is a small doorway into the next chamber. It's unknown if this is original or associated with the change of use into a sheep dip.

There seems to be a small blocked up window here in the back of the room, although it's hard to tell what shape it was, and also hard to see if there's a corresponding window mark on the outside of the building.

Looking through the narrow doorway into the next cell, where the dip is.

This may be the area of the window, seen from the outside of the building, but it's hard to make out any kind of lintel.

If this is the original house, it seems that earlier records probably refer to people living in this building. As mentioned before, the earliest mention I have found so far was of illegitimate child Lowry born in 1700 to George Symond of Coed Sadwrn and Anne Robert Owen of Galltwyllt. It seems likely in this case that the child was born in Galltwyllt, not in Coed Sadwrn.

Various marriages are mentioned early in the eighteenth century. In the Caerhun parish records Owen Pierce of Coed Sadwrn and Catherine Thomas Probert Williams were married November 16th, 1702. Cadwalader Probert of Coed Sadwrn and Elizabeth Owen were married May 22nd, 1704. The Llanbedr y Cennin records, in Latin, mention John ap Robert of Aber marrying what looks like Ellina (probably Ellin) Ellis of Coed Sadwrn, in April 1705. In 1712 an entry is recorded about someone who is possibly called William Owen ab Reynallt. This may be a burial rather than a marriage.

A girl, possibly called Catherine, was baptised in March 1716, and the deaths are recorded of Margaret Parry in 1706 and Hugh David in 1760.

I have found two wills or bonds online for Coed Sadwrn. One is an abstract of a will only, from 1803, with the date of probate being 1811. At that point the house was lived in by Robert Hughes, farmer. Other family members mentioned include son Rowland Robert (could he be related to Rowland Roberts, 35, of the 1841 census?); grandson Elias Robert; granddaughter Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of John Lewis, by Jane Roberts; other children of the deceased Jane Roberts; a niece and servant, Jane Roberts; son William Robert; and son John Robert.

The second is a bond from 1827-8, belonging to William Roberts on the death of his father John Roberts. The only possessions listed are one old cow, one old mare, one old clock, and a plough, worth a total of £17 6s 3d.

The western cell, either an outbuilding or perhaps an outbuilding later converted into part of the house, has the remains of a door still in the doorway. Unusually, the top of the wall is made of a lot of long, thin stones.

 

The doorway in the northern wall, with failing doorframe.

 

The dip end of the sheep run is here, on the other side of the little door from the centre cell. There is a large blocked up window above the dip.

The south west corner of the place shows a lot of damage, but it doesn't look as if there were ever a fireplace in this cell.

The western wall still has some render on the inside.

Outside the western end of the barn, some of the rubble from the collapsed south west corner can be seen on the ground.

 

 

 At the back of this outbuilding is a low door to inside, more or less opposite the front door. In some barns doors were placed opposite one another to help blow away chaff during threshing.

Fences have been constructed at the back to make something of a pen, perhaps for holding the sheep after they've been through the dip. The newer house can be seen to the right.

 

 

A wider view of this western end of the house.

The front door into the cell from the inside. I don't think the door is awfully old.

 

 

The view towards the little connecting door, with the dip in front of it.

 

 

This is a very narrow, small door, although the ground level has probably risen a little.

 

 

The front, north eastern, corner of the cell.

There's still a reasonable amount of render on this part of the wall.

Just outside the back of the outbuildings I found a couple of bits of pottery. The midden could have been near these buildings.

 

The east end of the buildings, with that little window low in the wall. The difference between the end cell and the house cell is stark.

 

A broken roof ridge tile lies on the ground. It sounds as if this kind of roll top ridge tile may date from the 1840s.

I walked a little way east of the house towards where the well is marked on the old map, but I couldn't see any sign of it. There is a man-made channel carrying a stream near here, and it seems likely any natural water flow has been changed by the second leat above the house.

Both leats must have changed things a lot in this area, and since the reservoir was being built between 1908-1911, with Robert Williams living in the house in 1909, it must have been an interesting place from which to observe the changes. The dam at Coedty and the Aluminium Works below would have heralded the start of a new era about to be exploded into something unimaginable by the First World War.