Staylittle (), sometimes referred to colloquially as Y Stay or Y Stae, is a small village set in the shallow upland basin of the Afon Clywedog on the B4518 road, equidistant from

Llanidloes Llanidloes () is a town and community on the A470 and B4518 roads in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire (), Wales. The population in 2011 was 2,929, of whom 15% could speak Welsh. It is the third largest settleme ...

and Llanbrynmair in the historic county of

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

, Wales, although now administered as part of the unitary authority 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 ...

History

A cluster of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

burial mounds and a flint scraper found in the area provide significant evidence of possible settlement and land use, probably seasonal, in the late

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and

.CPAT:The Making of the Clywedog Valley Landscape: Staylittle During the

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 ...

period the land in the Staylittle area was also largely used seasonally. Local place-names suggest that any settlement in the area was associated with grazing and stock rearing. Given the number of place-names containing the element ''hafod'' (summer dwelling) and the fact that much of the land was seasonally waterlogged, it would seem that much of this early settlement was associated with upland summer grazing. The lands to the north of Staylittle were granted to the Cistercian monastery

Strata Marcella The Abbey of Strata Marcella () was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell (''Strata Marcella'' being the Latinised form of the Welsh name) on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales. Founding The ab ...

by the Prince of

Powys Wenwynwyn Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Kingdom of Powys, Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of P ...

in 1187. Those to the immediate south were granted to

around 1195 by Cadwaladr ap Hywel, son of the ruler of

Arwystli Arwystli was a cantref in mid Wales in the Middle Ages, located in the headland of the River Severn. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundred ...

. Those lands a little further south, close to Cwm Biga, were granted to the Cwmhir Abbey by

Gwenwynwyn Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog (died c. 1216) was the last major ruler of mid Wales before the completion of the Norman English invasion. He was one of few native rulers to represent a real threat to the rule of Llywelyn the Great. Lineage Gwenwy ...

in about the same period. The two Cistercian houses were often in dispute over these lands. On the dissolution of the monasteries the land in the possession of Cwmhir Abbey passed into the hands of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who on his death in 1588 bequeathed them to University College, Oxford, which owned them until 1920. One of the important historical routes through

passed through the area. It is thought that the

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

from

Caersws Caersws (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community on the River Severn, in the Wales, Welsh county of Powys; it was formerly in Montgomeryshire. It is located west of Newtown, Powys, Newtown, halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. ...

to a nearby Roman fortlet passed through what is now the village. It also lay on the drovers' road - later to become a turnpike - between

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a po ...

and Llanidloes. Inns and blacksmiths' forges were often established along such routes and it is said that Staylittle village derives its name from such an inn, the ''Stay-a-little Inn''. One local legend has it that the two blacksmith brothers working in the smithy attached to the inn were able to shoe horses so quickly that travellers only had to 'stay-a-little' before being able to continue on their journey and it was thus that the inn, and subsequently the village, acquired its name. Staylittle as a village probably was in existence by the early 18th century. The study of the area by CPAT argues that this was, '...probably due to its position on the edge of unenclosed common land roughly midway between Llanidloes, Machynlleth and Llanbrynmair.'

Education

Staylittle's first school was opened in January 1874 as a result of the

Elementary Education Act 1870 The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75), commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities wit ...

. It seems that among the adults of the area there was a thirst for education, for among those who attended the day school was a married woman of whom it was reported,Report of Trefeglwys School Board, Feb 1874

'She accepted of a husband when she had the chance, and she does the same with education. No one can deny but that she had gone to school sooner had there been one in reach.'

Several men also attended the evening school including a number of married men. It does seem, however, that a significant number of children did not attend. Prominent among the reasons their parents proffered for this was their inability to provide suitable clothes for their children to attend in. In what is some very revealing testimony, one parent justified his children's lack of attendance by informing the School Board that,

'...he had five children between the ages of six and twelve years, that he was too poor to properly clothe any of them so as to be fit to appear in society, and besides he could not spare any of them. He occupied a few acres of land, kept a cow or two, and the fences were imperfect, and he wanted the children to take care of them and to keep the sheep and cattle of his neighbours off the land. He was himself bound to go from home to gather food for them. As a rule the family was supplied with bread by appealing to the benevolence of the neighbouring farmers for corn. The clothes, or rather rags, that covered the kids came from a similar source. He had never been able to find anyone of them with a new suit of clothes at once; consequently not one of them had ever been to Sunday school, although there is one kept at a cottage in the immediate vicinity. Not one of them had ever attended a place of worship from the time of their birth and he most emphatically declared that, unless he was allowed to keep his children in his own way, without at all being interfered with, he would be bound to become a pauper at once. He could not even promise to send one to school under present circumstances, although he admitted that it would be well if the children were educated.'

Others 'desired leave for their children to attend every other week, their services being required to nurse baby, or a sick mother'

Religion

In the early 18th century the farm at Esgair-goch became a Meeting House for the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

. Under the care of John Goodwin, it subsequently played a significant role in the development of Quakerism in Montgomeryshire. When Quakerism in Montgomeryshire declined in the latter part of the 18th century it is said that,

'...the major focus of the movement had moved from Efyrnwy valley and Dolobran to the farmhouse of Esgair - goch, near Staylittle, where penurious but persevering John Goodwin and his wife strove valiantly to save Quakers from extinction.'

Later, in the 19th century, Staylittle played an important role in the provision of non-conformist places of worship -

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

(originally at Rock Villa) for the nearby farming and mining communities.

Welsh language

Historically, western Montgomeryshire has been a relative stronghold of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

. Though it is difficult to isolate statistics pertaining to Staylittle alone, those for the area in and around the village indicate that, to a degree, this is still the case. With regard to Llanbrynmair ward to the immediate north of Staylittle, the 2001 census indicates that the Welsh language in the area retains its strength, with 61% of the population having one or more of the skills, reading, writing and speaking Welsh, and with 48% having all three. This represents a decline on the figures for 1991 when 68.3% were recorded as Welsh speakers. For Blaen Hafren ward, in the north of which Staylittle is situated, the Welsh language does not have such a strong foothold, with 42% of the population having one or more skills and 21% having all three.

Migration

Though Staylittle was not a mining village it owed some of its population growth, in the

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

, to the importance of lead mining in the area. From 1851 its population grew steadily if not spectacularly with people migrating from out of the area to work in the nearby mines of Dylife and Dyfngwn. After 1881 with the decline of lead mining the population of the parish Trefeglwys, in which Staylittle is found, declined rapidly, dropping by over 30% in the course of 20 years. Many of the men who left the area did so to find work in the South Wales coalfields.

Outdoor pursuits

To the south of the village lies Clywedog reservoir (Welsh: ''Llyn Clywedog'') where, under the auspices of Clywedog Sailing Club, it is possible to sail. Similarly, angling is available under the auspices of Llanidloes and District Angling Association. There are many opportunities to walk and cycle in the area. The

National Cycle Route The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million ...

NCR 8 (Welsh: '' Lôn Las Cymru'') and the long-distance footpath

Glyndŵr's Way Glyndŵr's Way () is a long-distance footpath in mid-Wales. It runs for in an extended loop through Powys between Knighton and Welshpool, and anchored on Machynlleth to the west. History Its name derives from the early-15th-century Wel ...

(Welsh: ''Llwybr Glyndŵr'') pass through Staylittle.

County Council previously maintained an Outdoor Pursuits Centre in Staylittle.

Notable people

* Sir David Brunt, KBE, FRS (1886–1965), a Welsh meteorologist, the 'father of meteorology', attended Staylittle Primary School.

References

External links

The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) Historic Landscape Characterisation : The Clywedog Valley
An excellent study of the Clywedog valley from which much of the historical information included in this page has been drawn.
Powys Heritage Online

* ttp://history.powys.org.uk/school1/llanidloes/trefpop.shtml Victorian Population Trends - Parish of Trefeglwys, Powys Digital History Projectbr>2001 Census: Neighbourhood Statistics : Blaen Hafren Ward

Powys County Archives Office

Baptist Church Staylittle

Graig Calvanistic methodist Church Staylittle

Photograph of LLyn Clywedog. Staylittle top centre

BBC: Glyndŵr's Way

Sir David Brunt : Brief Biography

Clywedog valley before being submerged by a new dam, c. 1965
{{authority control Villages in Powys