The Lost Cottages - Cwm Eigiau, Caerhun Parish

Cwm Eigiau cottage (I add the 'cottage' to distinguish the building from the valley in which it sits) is a lovely, simple little dwelling beyond Llyn Eigiau, just sitting at the bend in the lake valley where it crooks around to spread out into the bowl of the cwm. The house is sheltered from the north west by the hill behind it, but presumably relatively exposed to the south.

 

Since 1967 the place has been used and maintained by the Rugby Mountaineering Club, after previously being used by the Rucksack Club. This has probably saved it from ruin, and also possibly from development which would alter it massively from the simple home it was used as for so many years. 

The cottage can be hired to stay in. Accommodation is basic, but the location for walkers and climbers is incomparable, with the cliffs of Craig yr Ysfa forming the glowering eastern face of Carnedd Llywelyn not far away. 

 

 

 

The cottage is tiny and very basic. It has been used by climbing clubs for over a century, after the Rucksack Club first rented the building in 1912, apparently as the first climbing club hut in Great Britain. An article by Roger Booth in 2011 about the 'Cwm Eigiau Centenary' (contained in the link above) says the place, referred to as 'the Hut', was 'too insignificant to have its own name', but records would suggest that the name 'Cwm Eigiau' was applied to this home as early as 1694, spelt 'Cwm Eigie'.

From the western end the house almost disappears against the hill, the rocks the same colour as the loose rubble around. 

The inhabitants seemed generally to have used both St Mary's Church in Caerhun, the parish the house stands in, and St Peter's Church in Llanbedr y Cennin which is much closer. The first accessible record for the house is the baptism of Dorothy, daughter of John Thomas of Cwm Eigie and Margaret Evan Pierce, at Caerhun in May, 1694, followed by their children Lucretia, 1698, William, 1700, and Jane, 1703. John Thomas himself was buried in 1709. After John Thomas's death the next event is the Caerhun baptism of Grace, daughter of Hugh Edward and Margaret Prichard, in 1710, so it seems likely Margaret Evan Pierce has moved away. 

 

In 1712 Elizabeth William, infant daughter of Hugh William of Cwm Eigiau, is buried; this entry shows the complication of interpreting parish records. In one set of records accessed, which must be a later copy, this entry doesn't mention the house name, and Elizabeth is given the surname Hughes, in accordance with Welsh tradition, and her father is not mentioned. Conversely in what must be a transcription of the original records, by the Cymdeithas Hanes Teuluoedd Gwynedd (Gwynedd Family History Society), she is given the surname William, her father is named in full, and the house is named as Cwm Eigie. It seems interesting that the later record cleaves to Welsh tradition in the naming, while the earlier one does not, given that the tradition was greatly eroded by the 19th century.

 

The place is securely shuttered when not in use, both against the harsh weather, and vandals. The threat of vandalism is nothing new - Roger Booth mentions the door being burst by Boy Scouts in 1914, possibly on an adventure to find German spies, and the door being opened and the hasp wrenched off in 1919; this time the vandalism was attributed to navvies working on the Cowlyd dam. Reportedly it was the continuation of this vandalism which led to the house being abandoned by the Rucksack Club, making its tenure under their care rather brief. The tenancy was terminated in February, 1921. It's well worth reading Booth's article for a comprehensive history of the Rucksack Club's tenancy, as well as the 1913 and 1918 accounts of its renovation and use.

A plain wooden door with no window, with small windows either side. Judging by photographs of the house from the early 20th century it seems likely that the stone slabs forming something of a path and paved area are original.

 

A certain amount of confusion enters the records for Cwm Eigiau because of its name being the same as the valley in which it sits. There's a similar problem for the house Cwm Cowlyd, just over the hill to the south. How does one know if the house is being referred to, or just the area? I don't have an answer to this. This is especially confusing when different families seem to be occupying 'Cwm Eigiau' at the same time. Is this referring to different houses, or just extended families or very close living quarters? For example, the 1841 census shows two families, of two members and four members, living in Cwm Eigiau, and two families, of seven members and five members, all of the surname Pierce, living in the nearby Tal Llyn Eigiau (here referred to as Tan Llyn Eigiau - the two seem interchangeable).

An extra uncertainty enters the situation because there is at least one ruin in Cwm Eigiau to which, as yet, I haven't been able to attach a name. Named houses around the lake include the inhabited Hafod y Rhiw, the uninhabited Cedryn past the west end of the lake, and the ruined Ty'n Rhos and Tal Llyn Eigiau at the east end of the lake. The increasingly deteriorating Eilio sits up on the hill, more or less out of the cwm, so I'm not sure that this would factor in as a possibility when the cwm is being referred to. 

 

However, there is a single ruin further up towards the west end of the cwm, which seems to be the most remote house in the valley, barring the quarrying barracks between the sheer sides of Pen Llithrig y Wrach and Carnedd Llewelyn. Parish records for Llanbedr y Cennin name 'Maes Gwyn Cwm Eigiau' (c. 1850) and Tan y Graig Llyn Eigiau' (1767 and 1848). I have tended to assume that Maes Gwyn is the unnamed house far up in the cwm, which leaves Tan y Graig Llyn Eigiau as yet unlocated. The reasoning for this assumption is that the unnamed house is quite a distance from the lake, which makes Tan y Graig more likely to be another, undiscovered, house closer to the lake, or even an alternate name for the more generically named Cwm Eigiau cottage. I have seen suggestions of a house near the west end of Llyn Eigiau, under the cliffs, but haven't managed to locate it.

 

With that caveat, the parish records, up until the first available census in 1841, show a variety of people living and dying at Cwm Eigiau. After the previously mentioned records up to 1712, the next entry for Cwm Eigiau occurs in the Llanbedr y Cennin records - a slightly more convenient church to reach from Cwm Eigiau, and the church mostly favoured by inhabitants of the cottage from this point on. This is for the baptism of William, son of William Pierce and Jane his wife, in May 1750, then their son Hugh in 1752. 

 

This is rather a jump in time, but it's possible that the house has had entries but not been referred to by name, or simply hasn't had deaths, births, or marriages associated with it. Rather more scandalously, in July 1753, Margaret the bastard daughter of William Pierce of Cwm Eigiau 'begotten up on the body of Catherine Roberts his maid servant' was baptised in Caerhun (the church in Caerhun doesn't see another baptism from Cwm Eigiau for almost 100 years). I haven't managed to find out if William's wife Jane has died. There are no Janes without a house name attached recorded in the Caerhun or Llanbedr y Cennin parish burial records for this period.

Inside, the cottage is still very basic, but squared quarried stones or large bricks have been built into the inglenook fireplace. Perhaps at one time an iron stove replaced an open fire. Interestingly, the fireplace seems is off centre in the room. Even without the newer insert the fireplace is set to the left, leaving space to the right at the back of the cottage.

 

By 1758 the house is lived in by Rowland Roberts and his wife Alice David, who baptise daughter Jane in March of that year in Llanbedr, followed by Robert in 1761, and Jane in 1764. There is some confusion here. Jane Rowland of Cwm Eigiau is buried in June 1767, after the birth of the second Jane, but there is a Jane Rowland living in the house in 1781. Were two daughters named Jane, perhaps distinguished by a second name? If one of the Janes survived why isn't she mentioned in Rowland Roberts' later will? If she didn't, why is Jane Rowland living in the house in 1781?

 

Previous to living in Cwm Eigiau, Rowland Roberts had lived in the nearby Hafod y Rhiw, and Alice David in Eilio just a little further away. Their first child, David, was baptised from Hafod y Rhiw in 1755.

 

To the right of the fireplace there's quite a lot of wall, with perhaps a cupboard built into the right end.

 

Rowland Roberts was buried in 1774. It may be that he was a church warden for Llanbedr y Cennin. Certainly a Rowland Roberts was a church warden before this date, and doesn't appear after this date. It's impossible to tell exactly when he was born. A Rowland, son of Robert Griffith, was baptised in Llanbedr in 1691, but there is also an illegible entry for a Rowland born in 1703. If he were baptised in Llanbedr at all, he could be either of these.

 

Rowland Roberts' will helps to fill out the picture of his family. In it son Robert is mentioned, as well as Catherine, Mary, William, Anne, and David. Daughter Jane is not mentioned.

 

Rowland Roberts had a wife before Alice David, Margaret Thomas, whom he married on 5th May, 1742, at Llanbedr. With her, at Hafod y Rhiw, he had children Mary in 1745 and William in 1747. William was baptised on 4th November 1747, and his mother Margaret was buried on 6th November, presumably having died in childbirth. He then married Alie, or Alice, David on 6th February, 1749 in Llanbedr.

 

Incidentally, Anne Thomas of Hafod y Rhiw, 'a maiden body', was buried in August, 1753. She was probably Margaret Thomas's sister, and had continued to live in the house after her death. Since children were being born to Thomas Owen of Hafod y Rhiw in the early 18th century the implication is that Hafod y Rhiw was Margaret and Alice's family home. Margaret was baptised in 1709, born to Thomas Owen, plebian, and wife Gwenna ath William ab Ellis, along with siblings Jane (1705) and Anne (1706). This means Margaret was around 38 when she died.

I don't know if this shelf to the right of the fireplace used to hold a stove. There seem to have been later alterations to the structure.

 

Rowland Roberts wrote his will in May, 1774, and was buried in October of the same year. He is recorded as being in 'a very indifferent state of health', but of sound mind. He obviously isn't too badly off, since he leaves 5 shillings to daughter Mary, £10 to his son William, £5, a cow in calf, and a press cupboard to daughter Anne, and £5, a cow in calf and the testator's share of the sheep they have between them to son David. Half of everything else goes to his wife Alice David, and half to son Robert and daughter Catherine, unless his wife remarrries. In that case, she forfeits her share and receives £5, and daughter Anne is included in the share of the rest.

 

The value of the estate was £137 8s, which is almost £12,000 today. The inventory includes livestock of 22 wethers, ewes etc, 10 lambs, goats and kids, and black cattle including 7 cows, 5 head of 2 year old black cattle, 4 yearlings, a bull, and 7 calves. There was also a mare, colt, and old horse. £5 worth of butter is also mentioned, and 30s worth of cheese, which in today's money is around £430 worth of butter and £130 of cheese. This presents a picture of a productive land rather than a bleak upland wilderness. Unfortunately the rest of the property is only very briefly mentioned - 'household stuff' worth £13 2s, and husbandry gear worth 11s.

 

The east end of the cottage is more solid than a simple crogloft built of wood, with a stone wall separating the living area from the sleeping areas. The advice to duck is probably for people taller than me. 

 

Following the death of Rowland Roberts, David Rowland of Cwm Eigiau, singleman, is buried in 1775, likely Rowland Roberts' son, especially as he was mentioned in Rowland Roberts' will as set to inherit his father's share of the sheep they hold together. Having been born in 1755, he would have been twenty in 1775, old enough to share the farm work on an equal footing.

 

Downstairs is used as simple sleeping accommodation for hikers and climbers. The small window would make the place easier to heat, especially before window glass became common.

 

Perhaps with the death of her oldest son, apparently the only one farming the land after his father's death, it makes sense that Alice David would re-marry, if only to ensure that she was supported. Perhaps she was younger than her first husband, but without having found a baptism record for either it's impossible to tell. The only clue is that Rowland's first wife, Margaret, was around 38 when she died, and if Alice was the same age it seems rather late, in that era, to start a family. Alice must have been rather unlucky, though, because a bond of 1781 details the death of her husband, William Hughes, yeoman. 

 

It's unknown when they married but there were only seven years between the deaths of her first husband and her second. With no will, no other details of the family at that time emerge, but there is an inventory. William Hughes had been living at Cwm Eigiau, and the inventory exhibited possessions worth £129 16s 3d, worth just over £11,000 in today's money. Most of this wealth is in livestock - for example, four bullocks worth £10, five cows worth £17, and a heifer worth £1 6s 6d. The inventory also mentions calves and hay, and two horses, but none of goats from the previous inventory, and only six sheep. Perhaps the rest were dispersed among Rowland Robert's children on either his death or the death of his son David.

More interestingly, this inventory does write out the household goods in some detail, giving us a better picture of what the house would have been like when it was lived it at that time. The furniture includes a three piece cupboard, a type of cupboard very much local to the Snowdonia area, a wainscot chest, a flock bed, bolster, and bedclothes, a stool and looking glass, and a bedstead. If this were all the furniture in the cottage, it paints a picture of quite a simple dwelling with only the marital bed for sleeping in, but the picture is a little more complicated, as will be seen below, because daughter Anne is still living at the house. It seems that she benefited from the clause in her father's will that included her in the inheritance of the rest and residue if his widow remarried. Perhaps this is where the rest of the sheep went.

 

Other possessions give an intimate picture of the working life in the cottage. There was a tub, a churn, and a pitcher, presumably for washing clothes, making butter, and other activities. A wooden basket and a bag were practical items. Two trenchers and two wooden dishes give a picture of simple eating for the couple, along with six wooden cups. Bellows would have been used for the fire, and a frying pan and three kettles for cooking. A single candlestick is mentioned. Linen and woollen yarn is listed - whether this is linen yarn and woollen yarn, or linen cloth and woollen yarn is unclear, but no spinning wheel is mentioned. Tools listed are a brander and tongs, links and a monkey, a spade, an axe and a marking iron, and two guns with three gun locks. There is also a single saddle. Unfortunately clothes are not listed in detail, but only as 'wearing apparel', but there is a silk handkerchief worth 1s 6d. The rest of the value of the inventory, over £77, is money due as bills or promissory notes of hand.

Perhaps originally this lower bedroom would have doubled as a bedroom and parlour. There's little left to suggest its use. Since the cottage was being used by hikers, who invited me to look around, I didn't poke my head into the upper bedroom.

 

Evidently Cwm Eigiau is home to Alice David at least until 1781, and to her husband William Hughes from some point after 1774, until 1881. But April 1776 sees the baptism of Katherine, the bastard daughter of David Roderick, servantman of Cwm Eigiau, by Anne Rowland of the same place, singlewoman. She would have been about 26 at the time. It is to be assumed that possessions relating to them, such as their beds and plates, are excluded from the inventory for William Hughes, as well as the press cupboard that Anne inherited. It's quite usual for these homes to contain both a press cupboard and a three piece cupboard.

 

By 1778 Anne and David are married, and daughter Alie, or Alice, is baptised, followed by William in 1780. In 1781 William Hughes of Cwm Eigiau is buried. It seems likely that after this David Roderick and Anne Rowland move temporarily to Blaen y Wern in Penfro, since Rowland, the son of David Roderick and Anne, is baptised from there in August, 1783. Daughter Margaret follows in 1786, but no house is named. In 1789 Robert is baptised from Cwm Eigiau, followed by Jane in 1791.

 

1781 sees the baptism of Robert, son of Edward Roberts and Jane Rowland his wife, followed by their daughter Jonet in 1787. Presumably this is one of Alice's daughters called Jane. It may be that they were living in the house while David Roderick and Anne Rowland were living at Blaen y Wern before returning by 1789. By 1794 David Roderick and Anne Rowland have moved to Hafod y Rhiw, where twins Roderick and David are born (David died a month later). In 1822 David Roderig, labourer of Allt Wyllt, is buried at the age of 68.

 

 

 

Above the fireplace at the west end of the cottage. An early 20th century photograph shows a wooden ceiling resting on joists which must be supported by this stone ledge. This may have allowed for a very low bedroom, or a storage space under the roof. The photograph also shows a shelf above the fireplace.

Sometimes in old cottages with a fireplace to one side, a dairy would have been situated in a nook to the other side, but there's not much sign of this on the right. A dairy would have been very necessary, though, given the amount of butter and cheese mentioned in Rowland Roberts' inventory in 1774.

 

The depth of the fireplace can be seen in the thickness of the wall to the left of the window, typical in a cottage like this. 

There is a gap in both the Llanbedr y Cennin and Caerhun parish records around the end of the 18th century (1795-1812 for the Caerhun burials, and 1800-1812 for the Llanbedr baptisms and burials). The next event for Cwm Eigiau is the burial of Edward Parry, Farmer of Cwm Igia, in 1819 at the age of 74. Catherine Rowland, widow, 67, is buried in 1825. Catherine would have been born in 1758, the same year as the first of the mystery Janes. Is it possible that she was Jane Catherine, and went by that name, or is she unrelated to the Rowlands who have previously lived in the house? She could have been married to Edward Parry. 

 

In 1828 Rowland and Jonet Owen are living there, and their son David is baptised.

An interesting insert, again bringing into question what is meant when 'Cwm Eigiau' is written as abode, occurs in 1831, when Thomas Griffith, age 4, is buried. A long form version of the records states that Thomas, the son of John and Elizabeth Griffith, is buried. John is a quarry man, and this is noted as the first burying in Llanbedr from the quarrymen of Cwm Eigiau. Were this family living in the Cwm Eigiau cottage, or in the barracks further up the valley?

The Rowland family possibly have tenure in the cottage in 1833, when Jonet Edwards, 'wife of Cwm Eigia', is buried, aged 46. This could be the Jonet who was baptised 46 years earlier in 1787, daughter of Edward Roberts and Jane Rowland.

In 1835 Mary, daughter of Robert and Anne Hughes of 'Cwm Eigie' is baptised, followed by daughter Margaret ('Margared' in the long form version) in 1837.

 

A small chamber to the right of the main house. Going by an old photo of the house, this appears to be a modern extension, or a restoration of a ruined outbuilding. Apparently now it contains a chemical toilet. One thing that is strikingly absent from most of these cottages is signs of a tŷ bach - an outside toilet. Perhaps the majority of these were built of wood, or were quickly dismantled or ruined. The previously linked articles about the house's use for climbers mention a rule that ‘sanitary arrangements are to be executed in the rocks not less than 100 yards behind the Hut'.

Behind the house, you can see how it's built into the slope, as is typical of so many of these houses, which are generally built along the slope rather than across it.

 

In 1841 the censuses take over to supplement the parish records. At this time 'Cwm Eigia' is host to two families. The first is Robert (an agricultural labourer) and Margaret Edwards, 60 and 45. The second is William and Elizabeth Jones, 60 and 55, with William Jones, 20, and Elin, 14 - probably their children. Both Williams are also agricultural labourers. None of these seem to tally with the Rowland family's occupation, unless Robert Edwards is a relation of the previously mentioned Jonet Edwards.

In 1851 Robert and Margaret Edwards are still in the house, aged 71 and 58. Robert is marked as a pauper, formerly a shepherd, born in Llanrhychwyn parish, while Margaret was born in Trefriw parish. Also in 1851, the Caerhun baptism records show the baptism of Margaret, daughter of Morris, labourer, and Ellen Jones, followed by David in 1852, son of Morris and Anne Jones - is the Anne a new wife, or a transcription error?

 

 

The view along the back of the house, towards the head of Cwm Eigiau.

Another confusion comes into the record with the mention of the Cwm Eigiau Lodge in the marriage records of 1860, as well as subsequent baptism records, but it seems likely that this is a house down in the Conwy Valley associated with the administration of the quarry. There was previously a building near Hafod y Rhiw, a photograph of which is featured in The Men Who Drowned Dolgarrog, by John Lawson-Reay, but it seems more likely that the Lodge in Tal y Bont was once known as the Cwm Eigiau Lodge. One marriage features Catherine Manley, whose father Peter Manley is a gardener - an unlikely occupation up in the cwm. Catherine is marrying William Williams, blacksmith of the Bedol, a public house very close to the Lodge in Tal y Bont. The second marriage features Henry Kersey, a bailiff, which could be a job associated with the quarry administration. Later baptisms involving the lodge list the father, Henry Eden Sullivan's, profession or rank as 'esquire', although the 1861 census gives his occupation as 'proprietor of slate quarry'. Since the house name in this is simply Lodge, entered for Llanbedr y Cennin parish in line with other properties on the main road through Tal y Bont, it seems most likely that the Cwm Eigiau Lodge was the Lodge in Tal y Bont, and this can be eliminated as another name for the Cwm Eigiau Cottage. A slate quarry proprietor would probably be judged rather eccentric were he to choose to live in the cottage.

 

 

The chimney seems particularly small. It's possible that the flange near the bottom was to sit over thatch which, in this area, could have been of gorse or bracken. I don't know if the short local rushes were ever used as thatch.

Accounts of the takeover of the cottage by the Rucksack club imply that the place was being looked after to a certain extent, even if no longer lived in. Since roofing materials were discussed in a letter by Tim Wyldbore, perhaps the roof was in bad order, and there are mentions of large amounts of cobwebs and dust. Roger Booth mentions the 'intermittent use' of the hut by shepherds; probably this had been going on since the place became unoccupied.

Looking across the valley from the cottage, with the Cedryn Quarry to the left, and a rectangular enclosure, possibly for sheep, just down the slope.

 

In 1861 the census lists three families for Cwm Eigiau. The first is Richard Griffith, a 50 year old agricultural labourer born in Amlwch, Anglesey. The second is the first evidence of a quarrying family living in the house. The head of the household is Henry Jones, 33, a slate quarryman born in Llanllechid. With him live his wife, Jane, 39, born in Llanllyfni, and two boarders, slate quarrymen John Maurice Jones, 48, born in Llanllyfni, and William Owens, 18, born in Llanrwst. The third family is William Parry, slate quarryman, 35, born in Bethesda, his wife Elizabeth, 31, and two boarders, Griffith Lloyd, a 52 year old agricultural labourer born in Llanllyfni, and David Thomas, a 43 year old slate quarryman born in Llandegai. It seems unlikely, although possible, that these nine adults all crammed into this one tiny house, so perhaps another dwelling is also being put under the umbrella of 'Cwm Eigiau'. There is no logical order to the houses listed in this particular census, so it's impossible to tell if they were all sited close together in Cwm Eigiau or not. The equally small Pen y Ffridd, on Tal y Fan, was in 1901 lived in by twelve people.

The next, and final, parish record entries for Cwm Eigiau are the burial in Llanbedr of babies Jane Prichard, at 15 weeks, in 1865, and James Chapman, 4 months, in 1868. Neither of these names tie in with the 1861 census names. Neither do they tie in with the 1871 census occupants. 

 

It has become obvious that the inhabitants in the house are coming from further afield over time, with an influx of quarrymen from other quarrying areas of Caernarfonshire, but in 1871 the house is inhabited by Scots. The head of the household is John MacCall, 36, shepherd, with other occupants being Duncan Stewart, servant, 28, Peter MacLaren, servant, 25, and John MacKercher, servant, 18. All were born in Scotland. In 1881 the house is lived in by Scotsman Robert Hope, 28, shepherd, his wife Catherine, 22, born in Caerhun, and daughter Isabella, aged 1. After this point as far as the census is concerned the cottage is either shown as uninhabited, or not mentioned at all. Another baby, Robert, is born to the couple in the county of Caernarfon in 1886, but it is unknown whether they were still living in the cottage at that time.

The cottage of Cedryn isn't far away, making this spot less isolated than it would seem. Cedryn is another miraculous survivor. Although no longer used, the roof is still sound.

Another interesting point of Cwm Eigiau's history is mentioned in the Welsh language pamphlet Adgof Uwch Anghof o Llanbedr-y-Cenin a Chaerhun, written by Parch T. Roberts around 1907. This little booklet details many of the locals of these two parishes, including Evan Evans, shepherd of Cwm Eigiau. The dates for these accounts are not clear, but Evan Evans died in 1854, at the age of 37, having moved from Cwm Eigiau to Mysoglog, or Soglog, some time earlier. The writer indicates that the land at Cwm Eigiau, as well as 'Daliai y Rianws' (possibly Erianws, down in the valley), was held by 'Owens y Castle, Conwy'. Evan Evans had come from Ysbyty Ifan and lived in Cwm Eigiau with his wife Cathrin, referred to as Catsan in this account, and five or six children from the age of about 27, having been born around 1817. He had become a Calvinistic Methodist, and a preacher, walking about the upland valleys to chapels to preach. After six years, however, he had a falling out with his employer, Mr Owens, and left Cwm Eigiau to live at Soglog, still an upland dwelling but rather more accessible than Cwm Eigiau. He subsequently died after some kind of explosives or gun accident at Coedty, leaving a widow and seven children. This is treated in more detail in the Soglog entry on this blog.

Theoretically, this should put Evan Evans and family in Cwm Eigiau in the 1851 census, but this isn't the case. The 1851 census is unusual, however, in only showing one family of two people in Cwm Eigiau, so it's possible that the Evans family simply weren't there on that day.

 

The track leading from Cwm Eigiau cottage towards Llyn Eigiau, with the defunct dam in the distance. This quiet upland area must have been incredibly changed by first the slate quarrying, which turned the valley into an industrial site, and then the building of the dam. It also seems to have changed from largely housing locals who moved between houses quite near to each other, to accepting incomers from other parts of Wales and beyond. Now it houses almost no one.