hanes Llyn History



Hanes - Historyamaeth


Enclosure Acts 1808-

Rhoshirwaun
Pwllheli
Nefyn

 Municipal

Nefyn
amaeth
Pwllheli


Ffynhonnau - Wells

homw







Adran Tir - Land Section

Mae llawer o'r patrymau ar aneddiadau, ffyrdd a'r patrwm caeau cyntefig a welir heddiw i'w briodoli i'r blodeuo cynnar yng nghymydau Dinllaen, Cymydmaen ac Afflogion yn ystod yr oesoedd tywyll. Dengys prinder offer malu grawn yn y caerau mynyddig yn ogystal a maint y tir amgaedig yn y sefydliadau cynnar bwysigrwydd magu da byw yn Llŷn.

Gwelir treasu a'r patrwm man gaeau mewn nifer o safleoedd. Gwelir hefyd effaith y ffaith fod rhannau helaeth o'r tir yn eiddo i'r eglwys a hynny yn golygu twf poblogaeth o gwmpas y canolfannau.

Gwellodd dulliau amaethu o dan ddylanwad perchnogion tir fel Edwards Nanhoron. Yn 1870 ceir yr allforio yd cyntaf o Bwllheli. Hyd hynny, da byw, gwlan a chynnyrch llaeth yn ogystal a physgod oedd yr unig allgorion amaethyddol.

 

 

Cau Tiroedd

Yr oedd gwerth ychwanegol tiroedd amgaedig yn gymhelliad cryf i ddilyn y ffasiwn boblogaidd o wneud cais i'r senedd am Fesur Cau Tir preifat na fyddai fawr o wrthwynebiad iddo mewn senedd o landlordiaid ac a fyddai yn cael ei weinyddu gan gomisiynwyr a enwid yn y Mesur, a'r rheini wedi eu dewis yn bennaf o blith y dosbarth o asiantwyr tir oedd yn dibynnu ar y ceiswyr.

Yng ngeiriau'r Adroddiad Tir 1986,:

' Ffol fyddai meddwl mai pennaf bwriad y tirfeddianwyr o Gymry oedd yn eiddgar yn ceisio'r hwylustod a gynigid gan y Senedd oedd ymestyn ffiniau tir ar. Gwelent fod y symudiad yn rhoi cyfle iddynt feddiannu llwybrau defaid a thir pori hyd hynny heb ei gau fel eu heiddio eu hunain o dan Ddeddf Seneddol, ac yr oedd y rhagolygon derbyn costau yn ddigon o abwyd i gyfreithwyr teulu ymdrechu eu gorau i gael pasio Deddf Cau Tir lle bynnag y byddai darn o dir digon eang.

Y broblem arbennig yr oedd yn rhaid i'r Comisiynwyr tir ddelio a hi yn y rhanbarth yma oedd y sgwatwyr oedd wedi sefydlu eu hunain ar y tir comin heb unrhyw weithred gyfreithiol ond gyda goddefgarwch a hyd yn oed gefnogaeth yr awdurdodau lleol. Ond yr oedd gan y bythynwyr olwg wahanol ar bethau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Y Cau cyntaf yn Sir Gaernarfon dan ddeddf 1802 oedd tir comin eang y goron yn Rhoshirwaun yn cynnwys tua dwy neu dair mil o aceri mewn tri phlwyf yn eithaf gorllewin Llŷn, lle'r oedd ugeiniau o bysgotwyr yn ystod y blynyddoedd wedi cael eu gadael i sgwatio. Pan basiwyd fod eu daliadau a'u tai i gael eu gwerthu dros eu pennau Yn enwedig os yr oedd wedi ei sefydlu yn ystod yr ugain mlynedd cynt, yna dangoswyd bwriad i wrthsefyll a defnyddio grym, yn arbennig pan sylwedolwyd eu bod yn mynd i golli'r mawnogydd oed yn ffynhonell tanwydd rhad iddynt. Rhoddodd mintai o filwyr yr anfonwyd amdanynt o Loegr derfyn ar eu gwrthwynebiad, ond ni lwyddwyd i roi'r mesur mewn grym hyd 1814.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dychrynwyd bonnedd y sir gan y gwrthwynebiad yn Rhoshirwaun ac mewn cyfarfod yng Nghaernarfon yn1808 pasiwyn i gymryd pob mesur angenrheidiol i orfodi'r Deddfau Cau Tir, ac i gosbi unrhyw rai a'u gwrthwynebai. Daeth rhan arall o bedair mil o aceri, yn cynnwys Garn Fadrun a Mynyd Mynytho o dan fygythiad o dan ddeddf 1808, lle, unwaith eto yr oedd y bythynwyr yn colli eu hawliau torri tywyrch yn danwydd. Rhagwelai adroddiadau ar y pryd ddiboblogi eang a chyfeirid yn bendrist at 'y digalondid cyffredinol yn lledu trwy Lyn'.

 

 

 

 

Daeth yr hen drafferth ynglyn a thyddynwyr yn tresmasu ar gomin i'r wyneb unwaith eto yn achos y Cau Tir Comin mwyaf erioed yn Sir Gaernarfon, cyn cynnwys deng mil o aceri yng ngogledd Llyn ac Arfon, o Nefyn i Lanllyfni dan hawl deddf a basiwyd yn 1812. Unwaith eto bu terfysg ymhlith y bythynwyr yr oedd eu 'tresmas' i gael eu gwerthu am eu bod wedi eu meddiannu ers llai nag ugain mlynedd. Y tro yma dedfrydwyd dau wr i farwolaeth (nid yw'n eglur beth oeddd y cyhuddiad yn eu herbyn) ond newidiwyd dedfryd un i wasanaeth penydiol.

 

 

 

 

 

Effeithiwyd ar diroedd trefol yn ogystal a thiroedd maenorol gan y symudiad. Nid oedd gan Nefyn na Phwllheli na'r dylanwad na'r sgiliau i ddiiogelu eu tir comin pan fygythid hwy gan dddigwyddiadau ehangach. Ymddengys i feiliaid Nefyn gael eu twyllo i adael i dri neu bedwar can acer o dir a ddefnyddid gan y trigolion i bori defaid fynd oddi arnynt, tra derbyniodd bwrdeidref Pwllheli, O dan ddeddf wahanol ond gyda'r un comisiynydd, ychydig lathenni o graig foel yn gyfnewid am diroedd oedd yn werth £500 y flwyddyn.

Much of the shaping of Llŷn as far as the settlements, roads and ancient field systems we see today is due to the early flourishing of the commotes of Dinllaen, Cymydmaen and Aflogion during the dark ages. The abscence of implements for grinding cereals in the hill forts and cereal stores together with the size of enclosures and evidence from early homesteads points to the importance of livestock in Llŷn.

Ancient terracing and later small field systems can be found at numerous locations. The fact that a large proportion of the land was later owned by the church and the effects of population growth around centres can also be seen.

Under the influence of landowners like the Edwards' of Nanhoron agricultural practices improved. In 1780 there appears the first exports of corn from Pwllheli. Until this time livestock , wool and dairy products along with fish were the only agricultural exports.

 

 

Enclosures

The increased value to be expected of enclosed lands, were powerful inducements to follow the popular fashion of applying to parliament for a private Enclosure Act, which would encounter little opposition in a parliament of landlords and would be administered by commissioners, named in the Act, drawn mainly from the dependent class of land agents.

In the words of the Land Report of 1896 :

"It would be idle to suppose that the main motives of the Welsh landowners who eagerly sought the facilities given by Parliament was to extend the margin of cultivation. They saw . . . that the movement gave them the opportunity of acquiring the sheep-walks and pasture lands till then unenclosed as their own in severalty under the title of an Act of Parliament, while the prospect of costs gave the family solicitors of the Principality a sufficient inducement to use their best endeavors to secure the passing of an Enclosure Act wherever a waste was extensive enough."

The outstanding problem with which the enclosure commissioners had to cope in this area was that of the squatters who had settled on waste land with no legal title but with the connivance or even encouragement of the local authorities. The cottagers, however, had other views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The very earliest parliamentary enclosure in Caernarvonshire, under an Act of 1802, was that of the extensive crown common of Rhoshirwaun, covering two or three thousand acres extending over three parishes in the far west of Llŷn, on which scores of fishermen over the years had been permitted to ' squat '. When it was proposed to sell their holdings and cottages over their heads if the encroachments had been made within the past twenty years, the squatters offered forcible resistance, especially when they found that they were going to lose the turbary which had hitherto supplied them with free fuel. The arrival of a party of dragoons sent for to England had put an end to resistance, but the Act could not be finally put into operation till 1814.

 

 

 

 

 

Alarmed by the resistance at Rhoshirwaun, the gentry of the shire had held a meeting at Caernarfon in 1808 at which they resolved to take all necessary measures to enforce the Enclosure Acts and to bring to justice any who resisted them. Another area of four thousand acres west of Pwllheli, and including Carn Fadrun and Mynydd Mynytho, was the subject of an Act of 1808, under which once again the cottagers lost their customary right of cutting turf for fuel. Reports at the time foresaw wholesale depopulation of the district for lack of fuel , and referred gloomily to the ' general spread of this misery through Llŷn.'

 

 

 

The old trouble about 'encroachment' of cottagers on the wastes came to a head again in what was the most extensive of the Caernarvonshire enclosures, covering up to ten thousand acres in the north of Llŷn and Arfon from Nefyn to Llanllyfni, under the terms of an Act passed in 1812. Once again there were riots among the cottagers whose 'encroachments' were to be sold on the ground that they were less than twenty years old. This time two men were sentenced to death (the exact charge against them is not clear), but for one the sentence was commuted to penal servitude.

 

 

 

 

 

Municipal as well as manorial commons were affected by the movement. Nefyn and Pwllheli corporations had neither the influence nor the skill to safeguard their municipal commons when these were included in Acts covering a much wider area. The bailiffs of Nefyn, it appears, were bluffed into signing away three or four hundred acres of common used by the inhabitants as a sheep run, while Pwllheli corporation received (under another Act but with the same commissioner) a few square yards of barren rock in exchange for lands worth about £500 a year.

 


 
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