Ap Gwrgan? February meeting.

How many Resolven residents have heard of Iestyn ap Gwrgan?

This month’s speaker was Mr. Steve David of Neath who gave a very illuminating talk on the role of the Resolfen area in Welsh history. He began his talk by lamenting the current state of the teaching of Welsh history in schools and the fact that exposure was very limited.

He began by stating that the conformist view of how the Normans had conquered south Wales by the actions of “Twelve Knights”, was factually incorrect. The process of breaking the grip of the local lords was a more drawn out and complicated process. It also drew on the varied geography of the area in that some areas were Norman controlled and others under the control of the Welsh.  Chepstow castle was the first Norman fortification to be completed in 1067, only one year after the Conquest and before the Tower of London. In 1093, the last unified Prince of South Wales, Rhys ap Tewdur,  was defeated and the Normans pushed as far as the Ogmore river. A line of castles was built across south Wales as far as this point, which meant that the Normans controlled what is now the Vale of Glamorgan, the “bro”, but the Welsh still had absolute control of the upland areas, the “blaenau”. (a scrutiny of place names in Glamorgan shows this clearly Ed. ) Unfortunately the uplands suffered from poor soil, had a transhumance economy (see the place names  Hafod and Hendre Ed.) and bred horses. 

The local lord, Iestyn ap Gwrgan, resided in the area between Resolfen and Glyncorrwg. He fought the English at Cefn y Sais (literally the English ridge Ed) above Tonmawr . The Neath valley around the area of Resolfen was an important bridging point and meant that passage could be made between the Swansea and Aman valleys to those of eastern Glamorgan ( Gwynsyllwg) . Iestyn’s son, Hywel maintained a Welsh lordship in this area known as “Tir Iarll”, and it is estimated that it had a population of between 10-12,000. The area was famous for the processing of skins and its accompanying reek from the leather production. In 1129, Hywel managed to kill a Norman marcher lord, Roger Armor from Devon and 120 of his soldiers and then took control of a new Welsh lordship in  the borough of Aberafan. Such was his control that it was he who gave the land to the Cistercian Order to found a monastery in Neath with 175 acres of accompanying assart land. Such was his prestige that he married Marged the daughter of Lord Rhys of Deheubarth, the most powerful Welsh lord. Money also came to establish St Illtyd’s church in Neath from an area known as “Roussilion”, which is a probable transliteration from the Welsh “parsel soflan”, which gives us the name of the mountain Mynydd Resolfen.

In 1172, the grandson of Iestyn, Morgan  rebels against the Norman lord of Glamorgan and takes Bridgend castle with a subsequent conflict rumbling on for four years. Morgan’s cousin Careithin is incarcerated in Cardiff castle as a hostage. However, following a resumption of hostilities in which Morgan burns Miskin and the site of what was to become the castle at Caerphilly, Robert  the Earl of Gloucester blinded Careithin leading to his death. Ultimately, Morgan was forced to become a vassal of and surrenders 100 acres of the area around Resolfen to become a grange of Margam Abbey. Morgan retained the right to appoint the Vicar who incidentally was instructed to conduct mass both in Resolfen and at Glyncorrwg on the Sabbath. The right to appoint eventually came down to the Bishop of Llandaff and continued until the coming of the railways in 1851.

Following the insurrection, the ap Gwrgan family, took a Normanised name of de avine, and Morgan’s grandson Leyshon adopted much of the manner of the Normans. He married the highly attractive Marged”Llygad Glas” (Margaret of the blue eyes) and adopted a  more elevated cultural existence.  They probably resided at Mynydd y Ddinas in Baglan.

However, this is not the end of the story since at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 a notable casualty was Gilbert de Clare the Duke of Gloucester, so prompting another rebellion by the Welsh lords. This time the combatants were Llewelyn Bren and Dafydd Gam, and Leyshon joined the fray. The rebellion was successful at first with Neath sacked, Bridgend burned and Cowbridge ( the original Norman market town) also sacked.  However, in 1316, Llewelyn is caught and horribly executed in Bristol. Luckily, the de Avine family made amends with the king and were forgiven becoming the constables of Neath castle. In 1349, the de avine  family sell the right to the Despenser family and move to an estate in Somerset, taking away the last vestige of Welsh control.

Following a lengthy question and answer session, Trefor Jones deputisng for Chairman Gwyn Thomas thanked Steve David for a memorable talk and it is good to report that he will be returning next year to speak on the Bute family.