The Lost Cottages - Soglog/Mysoglog, Caerhun Parish/Llanbedr y Cennin Parish

Mysoglog has been a bit of a mystery house for a while, and it seems very likely that this is the place. High up on the hill above the Afon Dulyn, this very ruined place appears rarely in records. I was invited to come and look at it by someone who had been told by a neighbour that it was called 'Sodlog.' References appear in records to 'Soglog,' and also to Mysoglog (often spelt 'Mossoglog') and Tysoglog or Fysoglog, so it seems extremely likely that these names all refer to the same place. Mysoglog means 'mossy,' which fits the place very well.

The house is on private land near a private drive, so I haven't supplied the grid reference here.

See a video of the house here.

What looks like a nice outline of a house on the hillside is actually probably an outbuilding, with the house being the more ruined structure to the right.

This outbuilding is quite large, and built into the slope of the hill. To the north of the buildings the hill plummets very steeply to the Afon Dulyn in the valley below. It seems that land belonging to the house was on the other side of the river, in the adjoining parish of Llanbedr y Cennin. Land called Mysoglog is mentioned in the 1846 tithe for Caerhun parish, in the occupation of two different people, of Jane Roberts, who farmed 63 acres, and of Robert Owen, who farmed 13 acres but also held land at nearby Llwyn Onn. Neither of these names align with the names in the 1841 and 51 census.

The house, a little south of the outbuilding, is rather more ruined, and is connected to the outbuilding by a low wall.

 

The place is something of an enigma, sitting in Caerhun Parish but included in the Llanbedr y Cennin census. It appears only three times in the census. In 1841 the house, listed as 'Soglog,' was occupied by Anne Williams, aged 60. In 1851, as 'Fysoglog,' the house was lived in by Evan Evans, 54, born in 'Yspyty' (Ysbyty Ifan), wife Cathrin, 53, born in Penmachno, and children Evan, 10, and Griffith, 8, born in Betws y Coed. Their other children, Owen, 6, Cathrin, 4, and Robert, 2, were all born in Caerhun, so perhaps in this house. The census entry is actually incorrect - Evan Evans was 34, and Cathrin 33.

The outbuilding is built partly on a plinth of stones, something seen in quite a few of the older buildings in the area.

Soglog features heavily in the Welsh language pamphlet Adgof Uwch Anghof o Llanbedr-y-Cenin a Chaerhun, written by Parch T. Roberts around 1907. Evan Evans, a native of Ysbyty Ifan, had previously lived in Cwm Eigiau and worked as a shepherd, before falling out with his employer and leaving to move to Soglog. He had become involved in the temperance movement in Ysbyty Ifan after enjoying drinking and fighting as a youth, and had then become a Calvinistic Methodist preacher, moving to Cwm Eigiau at the age of 27. He had been active as a preacher in Cwm Eigiau, walking to various local chapels to hold services.

Soglog, when he moved into the house, is described as having a large chimney and a fire on the ground, and two rooms, a chamber and a kitchen, with hardly a boundary between them. The floor was of earth and the roof thatched with straw or rushes. This fits with the lack of slate on the ground around the ruin, which is usually quite obvious in houses that have had slated roofs.

Evan Evans still worked as a preacher while living at Soglog, but it's to be assumed that he had stopped working as a shepherd and had taken on labour in quarrying or other similar activities, given how he met his death at the age of 37. He was working on a level on the top ffrith at Coedty Bach with Griffith Roberts of Bwlch y Gaer when he 'rhywfodd yn ddamweiniol taniodd twll i'w wyneb' (somehow by accident shot a hole in his face). I'm not sure whether this means he was shot with a gun, or suffered some kind of explosives accident. Evans was able to walk to Coedty house, not far away, with the help of his friend. This was on the Thursday, and he didn't die until the following Sunday morning, 30th April, 1854. He was buried at the new Salem cemetery, leaving his wife, who was pregnant, and seven children.

Soglog is empty at the 1861 census, and doesn't appear in later censuses, so perhaps it was never lived in again.

The gable end of the building is still quite high, and the southern wall (left) looks as if it's probably at its original height, perhaps partly protected by being built into the slope. 

The wall opposite the gable end is quite low. Probably it was also a gable end which has collapsed. 

The doorway into the outbuilding is still obvious, at the left end of the north wall. There isn't much fallen stone inside. It seems likely to me that some of the stone was taken for dry stone walling, for reasons which will become obvious later. 

A view of the northern wall of the outbuilding, with its plinth of stone about three courses high.

I'm not honestly sure which part of the ruin this is, but it seems better to include the photo and find out later, than delete it.

To the east side of the house a little wall runs east-west, but it's impossible to tell if this were an enclosure or an extension of the house.

This north end of the house seems likely to be the fireplace end, given the thick wall and the large amount of rubble.

The earliest I've found the house so far has been in the Llanbedr y Cennin parish records, with a burial of 1709: Maria John uxor Ewani William de Mossoglog sepulta fuit secundo 7bris: Mary John, wife of Ewan William of Mosoglog was buried 2nd September.

 

The next entry is a baptism of 1746: William the Son of Richard Williams of Mysoglog and Jane Prichard was baptized January ye 29th 1745-6 [1746]. In 1750 Mary, daughter of William Williams and Sarah Jones of Mysoglog was baptized. In 1763 Owen, son of William Bowen and Elizabeth was baptized. This seems to show a relatively fast throughput of occupants.

In 1778 'Grace William of Mosoglog singlewoman' was buried. In 1787 William the son of Owen William of mossoglog by Margaret his wife was baptized, followed by another son, David, born to the same couple in 1789, and a daughter, Anne, almost ten years later in 1797. It is possible that Owen William is the son to William Bowen who was born in 1763, and that Grace William is a daughter to the same.

 

It seems that the house was still in the occupation of Owen Williams in 1814, when 'Soglog, part in Caerhun,' is mentioned as part of an estate sale in the North Wales Gazette. The place is also mentioned in the Caerhun Churchwardens' accounts in the 18th century, referred to as Tysoglog (or perhaps a misread Fysoglog?) in 1747, and Mysoglog in 1793, in the township of Rhwng y Ddwy Afon.

Another look at the fireplace end. The place is so collapsed and overgrown little can be made out. If the house was still thatched when it was abandoned it's no wonder that decay set in.

A large stone juts out from under the east-west running dry-stone field wall just in front of the trees, in line with the eastern wall of the house. It seems very likely that the house extended beyond the field wall, which, in that case, must have been built later, probably partly with stones from the ruined house.

It seems probable that this hump in the ground, behind the dry stone wall to the south, is the southern wall of the house. It lies parallel to the fireplace wall and at right angles to the side walls, and would be set between the two side walls if they were extended in a straight line.

The probable fireplace in the northern wall of the house.

Another look at the large amount of rubble in the fireplace wall.

The interior of the house is filled by this tree, and covered in moss, which seems apt given the house name.

In line with the western wall of the house, again it looks as if the house wall originally bisected the space that the dry-stone field wall now occupies.

The northern, fireplace, wall from outside.

The corner of the building looks quite well built, with large cornerstones.

Leaving Soglog, with the outbuilding on the left and the house almost lost under moss on the right.