Cefnllys is an abandoned
ghost village
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
, formerly a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
castle town
A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...
and
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
, near
Llandrindod Wells
Llandrindod Wells (; ; ; ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powys County Council, and is therefore the administrative centre of Powys. The town was Historic counties of Wales, historically in ...
in
Radnorshire
Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...
(now part of
Powys
Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...
),
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. The settlement was founded during the 13th century by the
Mortimer family in order to strengthen their hold on land in the vicinity of the
Cefnllys Castle
Cefnllys Castle (, ) was a medieval spur castle in Radnorshire (now part of Powys), Wales. Two successive masonry castles were built on a ridge above the River Ithon known as Castle Bank () in the thirteenth century, replacing a wooden motte-an ...
, with which the town was closely associated. The town was probably intended to become the primary settlement of the
lordship
A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of eco ...
and
cantref
A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.
Description
Land in medieval Wales was divid ...
of
Maelienydd
Maelienydd, sometimes spelt Maeliennydd, was a cantref and lordship in east central Wales covering the area from the River Teme to Radnor Forest and the area around Llandrindod Wells. The area, which is mainly upland, is now in Powys. During th ...
, but was unsuccessful and declined during the 14th century as a result of
bubonic plague
Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...
outbreaks, economic isolation and military insecurity. Despite this, Cefnllys retained its borough status until the 19th century.
History

The date of the town's founding is unrecorded. It may have been established concurrently with the first stone castle at Cefnllys in the 1240s, but a later date is more likely, particularly after the creation of royally-sponsored English towns at Flint, Aberystwyth, and Rhuddlan in the aftermath of
Edward I's conquest of Wales. The settlement was extant in 1297, when it was documented as being granted a market charter. It had gained borough status by 1304, when it was recorded as having a population of 25 residents, as well as a church and a town mill on the
River Ithon
The River Ithon ( Welsh: Afon Ieithon) is a major left-bank tributary of the River Wye in Powys, mid Wales. It rises in the broad saddle between the western end of Kerry Hill and the hill of Glog to its west and flows initially southwards to L ...
. Records of
pontage
Pontage was a toll levied for the building or repair of bridges dating to the medieval era in England, Wales and Ireland.
Pontage was similar in nature to murage (a toll for the building of town walls) and pavage (a toll for paving streets a ...
indicate the existence of a toll bridge, probably at the site of the current-day footbridge. A
deer park, probably located north of the castle, was also recorded in 1360. The presence of a
manor at Cefnllys was highly unusual given the upland terrain, and reflect the efforts of the Mortimer lords to establish
manorialism
Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "Land tenure, tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features incl ...
in Maelienydd in order to consolidate their rule in Maelienydd and increase the region's revenue.
The rule of English barons was resented by the region's Welsh population, and in 1297 a group of aggrieved locals travelled to London to present their complaints to
King Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
, who granted them an audience in front of the
English Parliament
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised th ...
. Subsequent letters from the king to
Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer forced Edmund to restore the traditional Welsh court at Cymaron, undermining attempts to strengthen the castle's
manorial court
The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primar ...
. The authority of the Mortimer lords within Maelienydd was limited to the district surrounding the town and castle. In the place of rent, small amounts of tribute were taken from the Welsh community, as evidenced by accounts from 1356-7 which show that out of the cantref's gross income of £215, only £15 was extracted from the Welshry outside the shire of
Dinieithon.
The town was ultimately short-lived: by 1332 the population had decreased to 20 citizens and it had further shrunk by 1383, when it is recorded as having only 10 burgesses. Its failure was probably due to a combination of factors, including
recurrent outbreaks of plague across Britain in 1349, 1361–62 and 1369. The town's isolated position in the hilly, sparsely populated region of
Mid Wales
Mid Wales ( or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands"), or Central Wales, is a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd covered the unitary autho ...
weakened its economic appeal, and Robert Rees Davies comments that the militarily advantageous location of the borough undermined its feasibility as a settlement: "the artificiality of
tscommercial setting was too obvious once the military opportunities... had been removed". The constant threat of war within the
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods.
The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...
would have also contributed its decline.
Cefnllys remained a borough after the decline of the medieval settlement, although the borough eventually encompassed one-fifth of the parish. From the
Laws in Wales Act 1542
Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...
until the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...
, it was a classed as a contributory borough, jointly electing an MP to the
Radnor Boroughs constituency in the English and British parliament with four other Radnorshire boroughs. In 1742, the landscape painter
Thomas Jones was born at Cefnllys. In 1831, the population of the borough was 16 residents, in "three Farm Houses and one small Cottage".
Location
The lack of visible remains has meant the town's location has not been conclusively proven. The population may have been small enough to fit within the enclosure of Castle Bank, a large ridge on which the Mortimer family built two 13th-century castles. Supporters of this interpretation emphasise the settlement's military role as a garrison town, and suggest that the stone wall surrounding the ridge enclosure would have formed part of the town defences. The more frequent explanation is that the settlement was concentrated around St Michael's Church, on low land next to the river, where there would have been easy access to the mill and a nearby spring. A series of earthworks surrounding the church represent raised causeways above boggy land, sunken roads in the direction of the toll bridge and probable medieval house platforms, as well as
ridge and furrow
Ridge and furrow is an Archaeology, archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open field system, open-field system. It is a ...
patterns from
open-field system
The open-field system was the prevalent Agriculture in the Middle Ages, agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each Manorialism, manor or village had two or thre ...
agriculture.
Archaeological finds surrounding the church have been mostly from the Tudor period or later, however. The church's structure is of 13th-century origin, although the date of its founding is unknown and it was heavily restored in 1895.
References
Citations
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Former populated places in Wales
History of Powys
Archaeological sites in Powys