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Ancient Ruined Houses in the Ffwddog by Isabel McGraghan The hamlet of Ffwddog occupies the western slope of Bal Mawr which divides the Llanthony valley from the Grwyne Fawr, running from the summit of the ridge, which is fairly straight, down to the river, which is very twisty, so that the width of the strip of land varies between one mile and one third of a mile, while the length is about six miles. It has always been part of the parish of Cwmyoy but was a detached part of Herefordshire until 1893, being mentioned in parish documents as Cwmyoy, Herefordshire. The term hamlet does not imply the presence of a village but there are three places where three houses stand together. The valley is open to the south but there has never been more than a bridle path exit to the north so that, as a cul de sac, it is a social entity but not a political one. The opposite slopes from the Ffwddog are, in the north, part of the parish of Llanelieu but separated from the rest by four miles of open mountain, in the centre, the hamlet of Grwyne Fawr in the parish of Talgarth and in the south the parish of Partrishow, all in the county of Brecknock, now Powys. As there is no reason to suppose that one side of the valley should be appreciably different from the other, the state of the ruined houses in the Brecon part may provide clues to the history of the ruins in the Ffwddog. Sir Richard Hoare commented in 1806 that "The number of ruined cottages now seen is proof of the decay of the population." and Theophilus Jones was also aware of the trend of depopulation. The earliest firm evidence is an extremely accurate and detailed map of Gwernyfed estate properties in the valley dated 1759.1 From this an estimate of 19 dwellings in the hamlet of Grwyne Fawr can be made with 2 of them, possibly, already empty. By 1801 the census gives 8 as inhabited and 4 empty. This implies that the missing 7 had been empty long enough either to be forgotten or not expected to be re- occupied. A similar comparison for Ffwddog, Partrishow and Llanelieu indicates another 24 empty before 1801 and Stephen Jones's house which lapsed on 9 March 1825. Can these 36 ruined dwellings all be attributed to the depopulation of the countryside or can some be due to a change in the way of living? My own house, Blaen y Cwm, provides a clue. It stands on the river bank at the northern end of the Ffwddog at an elevation of 1,200ft and originally had 100 acres of land on which there are two other houses. There are about six acres of flat meadow along the river with the pasture rising to 1,700ft and a small longhouse at 1,350ft. Unfortunately there are no documents for the property and I believe, from observation, that the three houses are (a) A Hafod of about the early 17th century on the river bank, (b) A longhouse, not much younger, in the middle of the land and (c) A Georgian type farmhouse incorporating a ruined haybarn, also on the river, the three being a consecutive rather than a concurrent occupation of the land.