Brynheulog SO47066 021
Current residents/owners
Today’s resident owners, Ray and Jadwiga Howell, have been at Brynheulog since 1995. Ray has now retired as University of Wales Professor of Welsh Antiquity. He was chairman of the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust 2007-2012. He remains research active and is presently chairman of the Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association, and president of both Chepstow Archaeological Society and the Friends of Newport Museum. He has written/edited a number of publications (see below) and has, while living at Brynheulog, been editor of Cymro Llundain, general editor of the South Wales Record Society and art and archaeology editor of the international journal Studia Celtica. Jadwiga qualified as a nurse at King’s College Hospital in London before becoming a nurse teacher, eventually retiring as Lecturer in Nursing at Cardiff University. She is active in a number of community/church activities.
History of ownership
The property was bought at auction by the present owners Ray and Jadwiga Howell on 6th June 1995. Its early history, dating back to the seventeenth century, is obscure as it was a part of the Beaufort Estate before being sold as ‘a compact freehold sporting property desirably situate at Star Hill’ in 1901. Desirability as a sporting property may have been a factor in its being bought as part of extensive land acquisition by Lt. Col. Henry Charles Crampton-Roberts of Drybridge, Monmouth. In 1919, it was sold by Crampton-Roberts who divested himself of over 630 acres in Trelech, Trelech Grange, Llanishen, Devauden and Llanfihangel. The house and surrounding buildings were described in the sales particulars as ‘a stone-built cottage with living kitchen, back kitchen with oven and boiler, pantry and three bedrooms’. Outbuildings included ‘two cowsheds for six cows and loft over’ as well as another ‘old cottage now let to Mr. T. Jones’. In the event, the property was acquired by Tom Jones in the 1919 sale.
Jones died in 1922 and his estate came into the hands of John Cobner of Llanishen. By the spring of 1929 it had been sold to James Geoghegan, a farmer from Pentre in the Rhondda. His occupancy was a relatively short one although he may have chosen to call the property ‘Sunnyside’. By 1934, the property was owned by the Williams family who have had a major influence in Llanfihangel. It was acquired by Mrs. Rhoda Williams, formerly of Tor y Mynydd farm, in 1934; following her death in December of 1955 it passed to her children Hopton and Gertrude Reece, interestingly then living at Sunnybank in Devauden. It passed to Clifford Williams in the summer of 1956. He lived at the property until his death in 1975 but it remained the home of his widowed sister Melita Howells until her death in 1991. It then passed to her son, Ronald Howells, the owner when it was auctioned in 1995.
On purchase, the property, reverting to the Welsh version of Sunnyside, ‘Brynheulog’, was perhaps slightly incongruously transferred from Ronald Howells to Ray and Jadwiga Howell!
Previous owners
Melita Howells is fondly remembered as an active member of the community, regularly participating in local events including a variety of village productions. Lt. Col. Crampton-Roberts, DSO, was an officer in the Grenadier Guards. He came from a wealthy family, his father having been Member of Parliament for Monmouth.
Significant events
Several books have been written/edited at Brynheulog. Among Ray’s publications produced in Llanfihangel are Searching for the Silures (2009), Silures: Resistance, Resilience and Revival (2022) and, with Miranda Aldhouse-Green Celtic Wales (2017) The first volume of the five-volume Gwent County History, Gwent in Prehistory and Early History was also co-edited from Brynheulog.
Granddaughters Maia and Hailee Howell were ‘home births’ – born at Brynheulog (2016 and 2019).
Other information
A summary of archaeological survey and excavation of Brynheulog and various outbuildings will follow.
Current residents/owners
Today’s resident owners, Ray and Jadwiga Howell, have been at Brynheulog since 1995. Ray has now retired as University of Wales Professor of Welsh Antiquity. He was chairman of the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust 2007-2012. He remains research active and is presently chairman of the Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association, and president of both Chepstow Archaeological Society and the Friends of Newport Museum. He has written/edited a number of publications (see below) and has, while living at Brynheulog, been editor of Cymro Llundain, general editor of the South Wales Record Society and art and archaeology editor of the international journal Studia Celtica. Jadwiga qualified as a nurse at King’s College Hospital in London before becoming a nurse teacher, eventually retiring as Lecturer in Nursing at Cardiff University. She is active in a number of community/church activities.
History of ownership
The property was bought at auction by the present owners Ray and Jadwiga Howell on 6th June 1995. Its early history, dating back to the seventeenth century, is obscure as it was a part of the Beaufort Estate before being sold as ‘a compact freehold sporting property desirably situate at Star Hill’ in 1901. Desirability as a sporting property may have been a factor in its being bought as part of extensive land acquisition by Lt. Col. Henry Charles Crampton-Roberts of Drybridge, Monmouth. In 1919, it was sold by Crampton-Roberts who divested himself of over 630 acres in Trelech, Trelech Grange, Llanishen, Devauden and Llanfihangel. The house and surrounding buildings were described in the sales particulars as ‘a stone-built cottage with living kitchen, back kitchen with oven and boiler, pantry and three bedrooms’. Outbuildings included ‘two cowsheds for six cows and loft over’ as well as another ‘old cottage now let to Mr. T. Jones’. In the event, the property was acquired by Tom Jones in the 1919 sale.
Jones died in 1922 and his estate came into the hands of John Cobner of Llanishen. By the spring of 1929 it had been sold to James Geoghegan, a farmer from Pentre in the Rhondda. His occupancy was a relatively short one although he may have chosen to call the property ‘Sunnyside’. By 1934, the property was owned by the Williams family who have had a major influence in Llanfihangel. It was acquired by Mrs. Rhoda Williams, formerly of Tor y Mynydd farm, in 1934; following her death in December of 1955 it passed to her children Hopton and Gertrude Reece, interestingly then living at Sunnybank in Devauden. It passed to Clifford Williams in the summer of 1956. He lived at the property until his death in 1975 but it remained the home of his widowed sister Melita Howells until her death in 1991. It then passed to her son, Ronald Howells, the owner when it was auctioned in 1995.
On purchase, the property, reverting to the Welsh version of Sunnyside, ‘Brynheulog’, was perhaps slightly incongruously transferred from Ronald Howells to Ray and Jadwiga Howell!
Previous owners
Melita Howells is fondly remembered as an active member of the community, regularly participating in local events including a variety of village productions. Lt. Col. Crampton-Roberts, DSO, was an officer in the Grenadier Guards. He came from a wealthy family, his father having been Member of Parliament for Monmouth.
Significant events
Several books have been written/edited at Brynheulog. Among Ray’s publications produced in Llanfihangel are Searching for the Silures (2009), Silures: Resistance, Resilience and Revival (2022) and, with Miranda Aldhouse-Green Celtic Wales (2017) The first volume of the five-volume Gwent County History, Gwent in Prehistory and Early History was also co-edited from Brynheulog.
Granddaughters Maia and Hailee Howell were ‘home births’ – born at Brynheulog (2016 and 2019).
Other information
A summary of archaeological survey and excavation of Brynheulog and various outbuildings will follow.