Unearthing Ysceifiog's past

Archaeologists work to uncover more about the first main house at Ysceifiog

Experts say stonework unearthed at a house in Ysceifiog suggests a home of "high status" stood on the site as far back as the 1600s, and possibly earlier.

Members of St Asaph Archaeology Society (SAAS) are excavating on the site and working with the current owners of Tan y Llan trying to glean more about the original building.

Their interest has been prompted by the quality of old architectural material being unearthed and they want people with local ties to help.

The "new" house which still carries the name Tan y Llan or Tanllan was built after the previous property was demolished in 1909. Its name has been found in records as far back as 1700s.

A headstone at Ysceifiog church bears the name Edward Jones, 1779, late of Tan y Llan

As yet, no early photos or drawings have been uncovered of the original house to give an idea of what the building once looked like. SAAS archivist Beverly Webber hopes former and current villagers and their descendants could help.

"I know there is a fairly comprehensive collection of old photographs mapping the history of Ysceifiog in the marvellous Village Hall Frieze, but none are of Tan y Llan," she says.

"Possibly people may have photos that could shed light for us I would welcome any ideas."

Beverly said mullions - stone between a pair of windows - found on-site have been inspected and reckoned to be from a high status building from the early 1600s.

Stone roofing and ridges have also been found, again pointing to a family with money to transport the stone taken from a quarry at nearby Gwespr. Beverly says it's interesting that the quarry was last worked in 1698.

The earliest occupier found on record was a yeoman and churchwarden, Edward Jones, who left a will in 1779.

He is buried in the village churchyard and was "late of Tan y Llan". And the house appears on a 1793 map as the only named property in the village, again highlighting its importance.

Beverly said the property was once owned by the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor estate for its mineral rights - it had ironstone, limestone and manganese mines up until the early 1900s.

She has searched hundreds of documents in the National Library of Wales, Flintshire Record Office, Chester Record Office and documents sent from Eaton Hall from the Grosvenor collection, but still no images of the building have emerged.

"We would dearly like to track down a photo or a drawing of Tan y Llan before it was demolished," she said.

Can you help? Contact St Asaph Archaeology Society