Originally Posted by eastsussexred
Correction. Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor -The Prince of Powys Fadog, did not move the population of Llangwestl (Valle Crucis) to Stansty and Northcroft to provide Welsh occupation of the eastern side of Wat’s Dyke, in order to avoid Norman occupation. Stansty was already occupied by Welsh inhabitants, prior to the population of Llangwestl being re-located.
To understand the political situation of the area, at that time, it should first be mentioned that the Anglo-Saxons who conquered England, were not just one tribe, but of many different nationalities, with different loyalties and aspirations. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms that developed in Britain were frequently at war with each other, as each had tried to extend their own influence across the country. Consequently, the Welsh, and particularly the rulers of The Kingdom of Powys, found it beneficial to periodically form alliances with the Anglo-Saxons, and particularly The Kingdom of Mercia, which bounded its eastern edge. Sometimes they were at war and sometimes they formed alliances to defeat a common enemy, but when they weren’t in an alliance, either the Mercians were expanding into Wales, or the Welsh were taking back land from the Mercians. Likewise, the separate kingdoms of Wales frequently fought over territory, and likewise, they sometimes formed alliances to defeat the foreign invaders. In North Wales, the Ancient Kingdoms of Powys and Gwynedd were most often distinct from each other, but occasionally linked together, in times of strong rulers. Similarly, when the Normans invaded, some Welsh Princes formed alliances with the invaders, if it was deemed to be beneficial, and sometimes formed alliances with neighbouring Welsh kingdoms in order to defeat the common enemy, though sometimes they would also join the enemy in order to defeat the neighbouring Welsh rulers. Added to this, the Vikings had also been raiding North Wales since the 9th Century; such was the chaos of the period.
The Lordship of Bromfield and Yale (of which Stansty was included) was formed from a part of the old Welsh principality of Powys Fadog.
Following the defeat of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd- the last independent Prince of Wales, in 1282, Edward I of England gave the Lordship to John de Warrene- Earl of Sussex, and in 1315, King Edward II of England commissioned a survey of this lordship. The survey was copied to another manuscript, soon after, and this Latin copy of the survey was finally translated and published in a book ‘The first extent of Bromfield and Yale’ by Thomas Peter Ellis, in 1924.
In the book, T.P. Ellis gives a brief summary of early Welsh land-ownership, which was based on ancestral ties; i.e. Welsh society of the time was made up of groups, or tribes, who claimed proprietorship over a particular defined region, and within these tribes, there were also smaller groups, or clans, who occupied land within the tribal range through a connected bond to a common ancestor who might have lived any number of generations ago: so, for example, David ap John ap Madog ap Ken would be;- David who claimed descendancy and rights of land ownership from his ancestor ‘Ken’
Moreover, Ellis also tells us that during the expansion of the Kingdom of Mercia, small numbers of Anglo-Saxons had established and settled in towns, whereas the Welsh tribes, and the clans within them, mostly occupied agricultural and pastoral land. One such tribe, which Ellis calls ‘The Progenies (Descendants) of Ken’ later swept down from their base at Tryffydd Bychain, near Llangwestl (Valle Crucis) and drove the English back across the river Dee, sometime between 1087 and 1100. In The First Extent of Bromfield and Yale (1315) we find that the progenies of Ken had divided into a number of groups and occupied land in the villes of Cristionydd Kenric, Esclusham, Morton, Bersham, Broughten Brymbo, Acton, Erddig, Burras, Hova, Gorton and Cacca Dutton. Likewise, the Welsh occupants of Stansty in 1315 are likely to have been the descendants of a similar group of Welsh tribesmen who took possession of the area from the Anglo-Saxons that had originally established the settlement.
The survey shows that in 1315, Stansty consisted of two parts- upper and lower, with upper (uchaf) Stansty being occupied by-
Ithel ap David.
Madoc Fychan ap Madoc of Hwfa.
Ithel ap Eigon.
Ior ap Ithel ap Ken.
Ienna ap Ienna Goch.
Gronw ap Gonwy ap Eden, and David- his brother.
David ap Eigon Fychan and Ienna- his brother (as well as their families).
These were all unfree men who were bonded to the lord of Stansty, whereas; -
Ior ap Ithel ap Ior,
Cadwgan ap Ior,
David ap Madoc ap Ior,
Ienna ap David,
Ior ap Meiller, and Madoc- his brother,
David ap Ken Foelgan,
Madoc ap Ken ap Meiller,
Ior Fillog,
William ap Meiller,
and Eigon ap Madoc were free tenants, who held this half of Stansty without render to the lord, because the other half of Stansty was taken from them by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor and given to Valle Crucis Abbey. Therefore, they did no other services to the lord of the manor, except that each of them gave the lord a fee of 7s. 6d. after the death of his predecessor, and if his daughter was married, or led astray, they gave 2s. They were also required to go to war with the lord, as required.
The tenants of lower Stansty were not recorded in the survey, as that section of land belonged to Valle Crucis Abbey.
When we look at the later occupants of Stansty, we find that the Edwards’s of Stansty, who occupied the manor until 1783, had claimed ascendancy from David ap Meilir (also spelt Meiller, as above) who had bought the manor of Upper Stansty, two years after the survey was taken, in 1317. Little has been written about David ap Meilir, although I have found that he might also have owned land around Oswestry, and in his work ‘ The History of The Princes, The Lords Marcher And Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog’ (1882) J.W.Y. Lloyd claimed that David ap Meilir was the son of Meilir ap Owain, who had been killed by Cadwallon ap Gruffydd, in 1125.
Meilir ap Owain was the son of Owain ab Edwin- The Prince of Tegeingl (Clwyd and Deeside) who was elected Prince of Gwynedd, in 1096, whereas Cadwallon ap Gryffydd was the brother of Owain Gwynedd- The King of Gwynedd (previously mentioned) who had defeated the forces of King Henry of England and Madog ap Meredudd, (the last prince of the entire kingdom of Powys) at The Battle of Ewloe in 1157. The battle occurred, at least in part, because Owain Gwynedd (Owain the Great) was expanding his territory eastwards into Powys and the Norman King- Henry II brought his forces to help his ally- Madog ap Mereddud of Powys. They were both defeated in the battle and Owain Gwynedd continued his quest of taking land from Madog ap Mereddud, as the Kingdom of Gwynedd expanded further into Powys.
With Welsh heritage and land-ownership based firmly on conquest and blood ties, then it is difficult to envisage that the population of Stansty would have been happy with the situation, when Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor confiscated a part of their land and relocated the population of Llangwestl some 16 miles (on modern roads) to Stansty. Moreover, in the sparsely populated area of the early 13th Century, it would have been much easier to relocate the population, closer to its origin. But as the records have shown, the politics of the region were complex at that time, and so abbey lands with Welsh tenants might have been somewhat protected from the onslaught of Norman expansionism into Wales, at that time. Subsequently, the township of Stansty was divided into its respective parts -Lower Stansty (Stansty Issa) became Stansty Abbatis, which was owned by Valle Crucis, and Upper Stansty (Stansty Ucha) became Stansty Regis, under jurisdiction of a representative of the king.
The unfree families of Llangwestl were bonded into service as the tenants of the Abbot of Valle Crucis Abbey, at Lower Stansty, until the abbey was dissolved by royal decree in 1537.
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