Llandough (Penarth) — Cydfin / Tŷ Mawr and Pre-1877 Manorial Evidence

page · Updated 2026-10-11T01:02:14 · Original source

Identity lock: This page concerns Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr at Llandough-juxta-Penarth, beside St Dochdwy’s Church, NGR around ST16707335 / NPRN 20182, and must not be confused with Llandough near Cowbridge or Llandough Castle.

Name-variation control: the spelling and location variants discussed on this page are indexed at Great House Farm — Name & Location Variations, including the anchored entries for Cydfin, Cedfin, Cedwyn and Llandough-juxta-Penarth.

This page records newly verified internet and catalogue evidence relevant to the pre-1877 history, manorial context, land identity, archaeology and heritage of the Great House Farm site. Where a source concerns the wider Llandough manor rather than the farmhouse itself, that distinction is stated explicitly.

1. Strongest new documentary lead — Cydfin Farm / Tŷ Mawr Farm

NLW Bute Estate Records, D 219 — Llandough manorial leases and agreements, 1552–1829. The National Library of Wales catalogue explicitly says the deeds include leases of “Cydfin Farm or Ty Mawr Farm, (107 a.)”, dating from 1552 to 1824, with references including D219/1, D219/4–5 and D219/8 onward. The catalogue says these properties are in the parish of Llandough. This is the strongest new documentary lead for the identity and pre-1877 tenure of Tŷ Mawr / Great House Farm.
Location control. The same NLW Bute Estate collection separately describes its M17 Llandough material as being in the parishes of Cogan, Lavernock and Llandough near Penarth. The Cydfin/Ty Mawr record therefore belongs to the Bute Estate’s Llandough documentation, but the individual D219 deeds and plans still need to be inspected before the 107-acre holding is equated with a particular later Great House footprint.
Research priority. Obtain or inspect the individual D219 instruments and any associated plans, especially the earliest items and the 1815–1824 material, for named tenants, owners, acreage, boundaries, buildings and predecessor title.

2. Manorial and ownership history

c.1106: the Llandough settlement was confirmed to Tewkesbury Abbey. The 1994 Cotswold/Archaeological Journal report states that a grange was subsequently established at Llandough after the late-11th-century grant.
1535: Cardiff Records states that the manor of Llandough East belonged to the Abbot of Tewkesbury and had free and villein tenants paying rents of assize.
1543–1545: Cardiff Records states that Henry VIII granted Llandough manor in 1543 to Lord Clynton and Say and Robert Turwitt; by 1545 it had been acquired by Sir George Herbert, as shown by a rent-roll of that date; it then states that Sir George appears to have conveyed the manor to his grandson Sir William Herbert.
1596: the same source records Landoche-juxta-Cardif as having free tenants, demesnes and copyholds.
1767–1793: Cardiff Records states that the manors of Dinas Powis, Landough East and Cogan were in the hands of William Hurst of Gabalva and Calvert Richard Jones of Swansea in 1767, and that the subsequent history of Llandough was the same as Cogan, which was purchased by the Earl of Bute in 1793. This is wider manorial context; it is not by itself proof that Great House Farm passed in the same instrument.

3. Great House Farm archaeology and the medieval-core question

1994 medieval timber building: Heneb’s official record GGAT03583s records postholes for a possible medieval timber building immediately north of St Dochdwy’s, in the Great House Farm excavation area, with pottery of 12th–14th-century date in the posthole fills. The excavators’ wider report describes a rectangular timber building of possible 13th- or 14th-century date.
Great House itself: the 1994 report states that the farmhouse and outbuildings stood on the excavation site before their comprehensive demolition in 1988; the farmhouse was largely 17th-century but may have incorporated earlier fabric. The report also associates 19th-century work on the farmhouse with the Bute Estate.
Important evidential distinction: the online sources located do not independently confirm the specific figure of “116 sherds”. The wiki should therefore use the verified formulation of 12th–14th-century pottery in the postholes unless the underlying excavation tables are checked.

4. Tewkesbury grange — relevant but not the Great House itself

The published excavation report says a Tewkesbury grange was established after the late-11th-century grant. A dovecote and barn, possibly late 12th-century, overlay the Roman villa site and may have formed part of the grange.
The report places these features on the villa site south of the church. Their relationship to Great House Farm is therefore open and should not be presented as evidence that the Great House itself was the Tewkesbury grange.

5. Historic maps and churchyard development

The 1994 report cites Diane Brook’s 1981 M.A. thesis and states that the present churchyard boundary was established by 1878 but developed from a more rectilinear churchyard shown on maps of 1786, 1824 and 1846.
The 1786 map is particularly worth obtaining because it predates the documented 1793 Bute acquisition of Llandough manorial interests. Whether it shows the Great House parcel, its buildings or adjoining field boundaries requires direct inspection and must not be assumed.

6. Additional leads supplied for targeted checking

1821 Baptist licence / John Gedrych: a claim has been made that a licence dated 12 May 1821 names John Gedrych, farmer, with a dwelling stated to be part of the Marquess of Bute’s estate. I have not independently verified the original GENUKI entry or underlying licence online in this search. Retain as a research lead only; do not treat it as evidence that the dwelling was Great House.
Possible second Coflein site, NPRN 15342: a claim has been made for “Llandough, Remains of House At” at ST16820 73200, distinct from NPRN 20182. I did not independently recover the Coflein record in this search. Retain as a candidate RCAHMW file-request target, not as established Great House evidence.
H. S. Corbett: sources identify Corbett as a Bute-associated agent who remodelled Baron’s Court around 1850, while the archaeological report associates 19th-century work on Great House with the Bute Estate. The suggestion that Corbett personally oversaw the Great House works is therefore an inference only and is not established here. ^🕒

7. Sources

Wiki rule: Cowbridge-area Llandough, Llandough Castle and the Penrice/Margam “Llandough and St Mary Church” material are excluded unless a future document independently ties them to the Penarth-area Great House site.

Cross-reference — Cedwyn / Cydfin place-name evidence: References on this page to variants such as Cedwyn, Cydfin, Cedfin, Cydwin or Tŷ Mawr should be read alongside the GHF-E173 complete reference index and, where relevant, the Llandough (Penarth) pre-1877 manorial evidence page. Name similarity is a research lead, not proof of identical location, boundaries, ownership or title.