Old and New

The hilltop castle-borough of Dinefwr in the Tywi valley, West Wales, was the ancestral seat of the ancient princes of Deheubarth. Rhys ap Maredudd, the last of these princes, was executed in 1291, but the old borough continued to exist. This was of Welsh origin and populated almost exclusively by Welsh tenants.

A new borough was planted on the old in about 1298. This was supposed to be an English colony, like others at Beaumaris and elsewhere, and at first the commercial privileges granted to the old Welsh cottagers were appropriated by English settlers. The number of settlers or burgesses was at first 35, subsequently increased to 44.

Unlike other towns in postconquest Wales, the old borough was not demolished. A complete set of rentals and surveys survive from the period, showing how the old and new boroughs co-existed. Certain Welsh families who continued to live in the old town had evidently been there for generations. For instance, in 1300 Griffith ab William and Howel ab William held six acres by the grant of Lord Rees or “Res Argluth” i.e. the Lord Rhys of Deheubarth, who died in 1197.

Some Welsh tradesmen moved from the old borough to the new. These were called “gable tenants”, apparently capitalizing on the availability of new burgage property. Everyone in Dinefwr at this time held their land and property of Edward of Caernarfon, referred to as “our lord the Prince.” The king had farmed out Wales to his son, along with the lordship of Chester, the county of Ponthieu and the duchy of Gascony. This was supposed to instil a sense of responsiblity in the future Edward II: some hope.

Part of a rental for the new town shows ten English burgesses living next door to seven Welsh. Given the climate of the time, the atmosphere in this mixed community must have been tense. A court roll for Dinefwr in 1300 lists various assaults and arguments in court, though it is difficult to tell if this was the result of Anglo-Welsh rivalry, or just the usual run of petty crime found in any township.