History of the House in the Marsh

Most history about buildings is written about large and interesting houses, churches, castles, shops and other places. However, sometimes the history of small, remote and obscure dwellings can be just as intriguing.

One of my favourite nearby places for a short walk is Cors Bodeilio. This National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest lies between Pentraeth and Talwrn. It is a nationally important nature site as it is an uncommon lime-rich fenland supporting rare plant life, including a variety of sedges, rushes and reeds, as well as a number of orchid species. The pools contain medicinal leeches, and many species of rare flies, aquatic beetles and moths make their home throughout the area. It is also the home of some Welsh Mountain ponies, whose grazing helps maintain the fenland.

The boardwalk through the marsh eventually takes you to a slightly raised and dry spot. Disappearing into the trees at the edge of a meadow is a long abandoned house. It is named on the maps as Ynys. Welsh for “island”, Ynys might seem an odd name for a house, but closer inspection of the maps and surrounding topography shows that it is indeed an island of dry land in the middle of marshes.

The house and surrounding nature reserve are now owned by Natural Resources Wales, but the mid 19th century tithe maps that have been digitised by the Cynefin project show that this, and much of the land around it, was ultimately owned by the Right Honourable Lord Vivian of the Plas Gwyn estate in Pentraeth. It was leased to Evan Rice Thomas as part of the nearby Bodeilio estate. The parcel of land called Ynys is listed in the 1841 tithe apportionments books as just 9 acres of pasture land, with no hint of there being a house, and indeed no house is shown on the map itself.

Also, Ynys does not appear in 1841 or 1851 censuses, but it is listed in 1861, suggesting it was built sometime in the 1850s. The first record of it is in August 1853, when labourer Hugh Williams, who was living at Ynys, married Margaret Griffith. They had a daughter there, Elizabeth, a few months later. By 1861 they had moved to another property in Talwrn

The tenants of Ynys in 1861 are Thomas Hughes and his family, wife Jane and sons William and Owen. As might be expected in a small cottage in the middle of pastures and marshlands, Thomas was an agricultural labourer, as was his 14 year old son William. Eight year old Owen was not yet old enough to be working and was listed as a scholar, so was attending school.

In the 1871 census the house name Ynys isn’t found in this part of the Llanddyfnan parish. But, among the houses nearby to Ynys is one called “California”, occupied by one Thomas Hughes. The name California doesn’t appear in any other censuses in this area. For some reason, Thomas decided to start calling the house California instead.

This time Thomas is listed as widowed, a farmer of 8 acres and a labourer, and living with his 13 year old son John and a servant named Elizabeth Owen. In 1874 he married Elizabeth, who was a young 23 to his 56 years. By the 1881 census they had produced five children aged 1-9. He had also gone back to calling the house Ynys.

By 1891 the tenancy of Ynys had changed hands to William Williams, and he was living there with his wife Ann and daughter Margaret, who was a domestic servant. William was listed as a labourer in this census, but in the previous census in 1881, when he was living at nearby Heulog, he was a shoemaker. He again gave his occupation as shoemaker in 1901, when he is listed as living with his wife Ann and son William.

Curiously, his son William is listed as a copper miner. Copper mining on Anglesey usually means Parys Mountain, but that is a long way from Ynys, probably about a four hour walk. Also, by this time the copper there was almost worked out, and there were just 141 copper miners, down from thousands at its height. As he was still single at the age of 33, perhaps he usually lived near the mine, but happened to be at home visiting his parents on census day.

The elder William died in August 1906 and his wife Ann a few months later, in May 1907. She died at Cerrigceinwen, perhaps at the house of one of their children. The two of them lie together in the churchyard in Llanddyfnan. Their son William had married Catherine shortly after the 1901 census and was living in nearby Marian Bach, working as a miner, when their eldest son William David Williams was born. The family moved to Merthyr Vale, Glamorgan for a couple of years, but returned to Ynys around the time of his father’s death, where their daughter Blodwen was born. They moved into Talwrn village sometime before 1911.

The house Ynys is not listed in the 1911 census. Perhaps it was unoccupied then, although usually even unoccupied houses will be listed in the census. Maybe the census-taker missed this remote house on his route through the parish. But, in 1921 it does appear to be in use again; a house called ‘Rynys was occupied by Owen Williams, a farm labourer working for the Bodeilio estate and his wife Lizzie. Their daughter Kitty was there with her husband George Smith, a Liverpudlian watchmaker who was working in Llangefni. Owen is the same age as William and Ann WIlliams’ son Owen, who was living with them are Heulog in 1871 and 1881, but in the absence of a marriage record for Owen and Lizzie it’s hard to be sure.

As the house disappears into the vegetation, its abandonment becomes poignant. What was it like in the late 19th century when occupied by the Hughes and Williams families? Did Thomas’ five children play games in the meadow and go searching for frogs in the surrounding bogs? My favourite time to visit is in the autumn, when the plum trees behind the house are bearing delicious fruit. Perhaps these were planted by Thomas Hughes. Did they also have a garden patch somewhere around the house? In the absence of a time machine I can only guess.

This blog was first published in 2016 and modified in June 2023 and November 2024 to add some more information uncovered in subsequent research.