Staylittle
Encyclopedia
Staylittle sometimes referred to colloquially as Y Stay or Y Stae, is a small village set in the shallow upland basin of the River Clywedog on the B4518 road
B4518 road
The B4518 road is a road in Powys, central Wales, with a total length of . It begins at in Rhayader near the junction of the A470 road and the A44 road and leads eventually to the A470 again at Llanbrynmair at...
, equidistant from Llanidloes
Llanidloes
Llanidloes is a town along the A470 road and B4518 road in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire , Mid Wales.It is the first town on the River Severn...
and Llanbrynmair
Llanbrynmair
Llanbrynmair is a village and community in Powys, Mid Wales on the A470 road between Caersws and Machynlleth. Llanbrynmair, in area, is the second largest in Powys. In 2005, it had a population of 958.-Description:...
in the county of Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
History
A cluster of Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
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
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
and Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
.
During the medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
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
Strata Marcella
The Abbey of Strata Marcella , was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales.- Founding :...
by the Prince of Powys Wenwynwyn
Powys Wenwynwyn
Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160...
in 1187. Those to the immediate south were granted to Strata Marcella
Strata Marcella
The Abbey of Strata Marcella , was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales.- Founding :...
around 1195 by Cadwaladr ap Hywel, son of the ruler of Arwystli
Arwystli
Arwystli was a cantref in medieval Wales, located in the headland of the River Severn in what is now the county of Powys. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundreds of years, and was the scene of...
.
Those lands a little further south, close to Cwm Biga, were granted to the Cwmhir Abbey
Cwmhir Abbey
Cwmhir Abbey , near Llandrindod Wells in Powys, is a Welsh Cistercian monastery founded in 1176 by Cadwallon ap Madog. A spurious tale was later recorded that the abbey was founded in 1143 by Meredudd ap Maelgwn at Ty-faenor, and then refounded at the present location near the village of...
by Gwenwynwyn 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
Cwmhir Abbey
Cwmhir Abbey , near Llandrindod Wells in Powys, is a Welsh Cistercian monastery founded in 1176 by Cadwallon ap Madog. A spurious tale was later recorded that the abbey was founded in 1143 by Meredudd ap Maelgwn at Ty-faenor, and then refounded at the present location near the village of...
passed into the hands of Robert Dudley
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, 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 Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...
passed through the area. It is thought that the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
from Caersws
Caersws
Caersws is a village and community sitting on the River Severn, at miles west of Newtown, Powys, and halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury.- History & Amenities :...
to a nearby Roman fortlet
Castellum
A castellum is a small Roman detached fort or fortlet used as a watch tower or signal station. The Latin word castellum is a diminutive of castra , which in turn is the plural of castrum ; it is the source of the English word "castle".The term castellum was also used to refer to a settling or...
passed through what is now the village. It also lay on the drovers' road - later to become a turnpike
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
- between Machynlleth
Machynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
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 1870Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between ages 5 and 12 in England and Wales...
. 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,
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,
'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.'
'...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 FriendsReligious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
. 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
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
(originally at Rock Villa) for the nearby farming and mining communities.
Welsh Language
Historically North-west Powys has been a relative stronghold of the Welsh languageWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
. 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, 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 periodVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, 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
Dylife
Dylife is a former mining settlement in Powys, Mid Wales, located at the head of Afon Twymyn in the Cambrian Mountains, one mile west of the road between Llanidloes and Llanbrynmair . The nearby lead mines intermittently sustained mining communities from Roman times until the early 20th century...
and Dyfngwn.
After 1881 with the decline of lead mining the population of the parish Trefeglwys
Trefeglwys
Trefeglwys is a village in north Powys, Mid Wales, within the traditional county of Montgomeryshire.The name derives from the Welsh language Tref 'township' and Eglwys 'church'. The village sits on the River Trannon...
, 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 reservoirClywedog reservoir
The Clywedog reservoir is a reservoir in the Welsh county of Powys, located off the B4518 road near the town of Llanidloes.The reservoir was formed by damming the Afon Clywedog, a tributary of the River Severn. Its concrete buttress dam is the tallest concrete dam in the United Kingdom, with a...
(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 NCR 8
NCR 8
The route passes through the heart of Wales, and is also known by its Welsh name Lôn Las Cymru . It is largely north-south from Holyhead to Cardiff and Chepstow, and in total measures some in length...
(Welsh: Lôn Las Cymru) and the long-distance footpath Glyndŵr's Way
Glyndwr'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.- History :...
(Welsh: Llwybr Glyndŵr) pass through Staylittle.
Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
County Council maintain an Outdoor Pursuits Centre
Outdoor education
Outdoor education usually refers to organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges in the form of outdoor activities such as hiking,...
in Staylittle.
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
- Report of Trefeglwys School Board, Feb 1874
- Friends (Quakers) Of Montgomeryshire, Wales In The Heroic Age : Geraint Jenkins
- Victorian Population Trends - Parish of Trefeglwys, Powys Digital History Project
- Census: Neighbourhood Statistics : Blaen Hafren Ward
- County Archives Office
- Church Staylittle
- Graig Calvanistic methodist Church Staylittle
- Photograph of LLyn Clywedog. Staylittle top centre
- BBC: Glyndŵr's Way
