Home Base Summer and Winter

      Foundational to one's existence is the family. From pre-natal, natal, to infancy and early childhood, one begins to recognize and develop their own view of the environment that demands one's attention. The home is usually the place one starts to learn about their immediate surroundings. My ancestors, Jeuaf (JH-1) to Iorwerth Fychan (JG-1), moved their new townlands [in Welsh called tref ] to a place they called Llwyn-Onn. For many years this was believed to be one location in the Vale of Clwyd. A book by P. Thoresby Jones, published 1938, and titled Welsh Border Country, when discussing his travels through the Vale of Clwyd, p. 103, states "Leaving Llanfair D.C. (as it is familiarly called), the Wrexham road undulates to the head of the Vale, passing near half-way the gate of a long drive leading to the lovely though unfinished Elizabethan mansion of Llwyn Ynn...". Say What! Here it is spelled "Llwyn Ynn" and among my many other notes written "Llwyn Onn"? What you say... oh yes, a map is needed to check:

      Here is such a map. Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd is shown directly in the middle of the map in large letters at the top. The Llwyn-ynn Hall location is shown at the bottom of the image. "Llwyn-Ynn" it is. The road traveled and the gate described by old Thoresby in 1938 can be imagined. The map was taken from http://www.streetmap.co.uk in 2007. What's up with this?

      Digging around my selves of books (lots of books here), a tour guide titled Frommer's Scotland and Wales on $50 A Day, by Darwin Porter, published 1989, on page 532, gives the following under the topic 11. Wrexham, "Good accommodations is found at Llwyn Onn Hall (Ash Grove Hotel), Cefn Road, Wrexham, Clwyd...Named after the groves of ash that still grow around it, this historic home was originally built from 1702 to 1706...The establishment lies within 60 acres of grounds, about 1 1/2 miles east of the town center of Wrexham...". Another map is shown below.

      Llwyn-Onn here and, Llwyn-Ynn on the first map above. Two distinct places with the same meaning (translation) but, some 15 miles apart. Llwyn-Onn is on the eastern side of that big ditch called Offa's dyke, and Llwyn-Ynn is on the western side. Also remember that Wat's dyke runs right through Wrexham. [see posts March 23, 27, and 28, 2022].

      By this time it came to mind that the ancient Welsh had a summer home (hafod) and, winter home (hendref). The winter home was the main townland of the family (old settlement). It was generally considered the original settlement of their ancestors. Each kindred group had claim upon the arable land, the meadows, the woodlands, and the grazing lands. At the main home, plowing and planting took place. The summer home (May Day through July) was the grazing land for the herds. An article discussing the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd stated that the earliest evidence of human activity was the discovery of two stone axes of late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. A Bronze Age axe was found in about 1860 on land belonging to the Llwyn-ynn estate. Can you believe it??? My Celtic ancestors were losing things way back then! [article found 2006 at http://www.capt.org.uk]. Perhaps this is one of the reasons my Jones surname ancestors chose this name "Llwyn-Ynn (Onn) which was carried down through the family tree for generations. They were returning to home base for the summers and winters yet to come.

      P. S. Here is a figure of what a bronze age axe might have looked. Taken from The Story of The Isle of Man, Volume 1. The Earliest Time To 1406, by C.W. Airne, published 1949, p.21.