Welshry of Gower

Another interesting fragment of medieval Wales. Attached is a document in Norman-French, which records that in 1287 Gruffudd Vregh, lord of Glyntawe, had rebelled against his lord William Braose, lord of Gower. In order to have peace, Gruffudd and his allies Gruffudd ap Hywel, Owain Fychan, Einion ap Hywel and other men gave up their afforested lands in order that they might keep their pasture and other lands. They also requested that the law of Hywel Dda be set aside and that they might have the law of twelve and inquest.

Further context is provided in an English chronicle, the Breviate of Domesday. This records that in 1287 Rhys descended upon Gower with a large army and joined with the Welshmen of that country 'living in the upper part of the wood'. On the advice of Einion ap Hywel, Rhys attacked and burnt Swansea and took Oystermouth castle. After the revolt was over, it seems Einion and his comrades made a separate peace with Braose.

The most important individual among these Gower men was Gruffudd Vregh or Frech, which apparently means 'the spotted'. He is called lord of Glyntawe, but there was no such place in Gower. However a district of Breconshire, just over the border, was called Glyntawe in a record of 1493. This was a large parish, extending to the county of Carmarthen and, to the north, the Great Forest of Brecon, where Glyntawe Mill stood in 1651. On the southeast the parish reached the manor of Neath Ultra in Glamorgan.

In the sixteenth century many of the local families traced their ancestry back to a common ancestor, Gruffudd Gwyr, said to have acquired large possessions in Gower by marriage with an heiress of the 'ancient line of Dyfed'.

The immediate descendents of Gruffudd Gwyr were his son, our man Gruffudd Vregh, his nephew Gruffudd ap Hywel and grandson Einion ap Hywel. This, rather neatly, shows that the supporters of Rhys ap Maredudd in 1287 were a tight family unit.

After the settlement of 1287, Gruffudd Vregh and his kin were allowed to keep the land of Supraboscus of Llaniwg, the northern part of the parish now forming the manor of Caegurwen. The subsequent history is unknown, but in 1485 the manor was in the possession of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a favourite of Henry VII. It was forfeited to the crown on the attainder of Sir Rhys's grandson in 1531, and passed into the hands of the Herberts.

Some explanation can be given for the request of English common law at the expense of Hywel Dda. Via the Statute of Wales of 1284, the Welsh besought Edward I that as far as lands and tenements were concerned, the truth of any dispute might be tried by jury i.e. common law. Welsh civil law would continue to be used with regard to contracts, debts, securities, covenants, trespasses and chattels. The reason was that tenants in Welshry had much trouble owing to sub-division of land among Welsh heirs, so it was not known where rent might be levied. Despite the request and grant of 1287, the custom of Hywel Dda persisted in this part of Gower as late as 1532.