Llandeilo Past and Present

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Concise History of Llandeilo - Part 7

from Llandeilo

by Eirwen Jones, 1984

Occupations

Influence of the feudal system

The town has always owed much of its existence to the fact that it was on a site of the River Towy where it could be forded. The townspeople were dependent in the main on agriculture in its many manifestations. Feudalism in a weakened form prevailed long after its strength had waned in the country generally. The townspeople were of Welsh descent but in an economic sense they were dependent on the landed squires. Many of these were Welsh by birth but they were alien in tongue, in culture and in general sympathy. They regarded the native Welsh as ignorant peasantry to be kept in subjection. They had a policy of appointing Scottish and English people to administrative posts and granting them the better houses and lodges on their estates. The Welsh people, freeborn, refused to be come a subdued peasant class and consequently an unsympathetic element arose. Civility but not servility was preferred to the squire class. Two world wars swept away stratas of class distinction.

Craftsmanship

Craftsmanship of various kinds flourished in the town. Craftsmen by nature and occupation formed a valuable and independent element. In the closing decades of the 19th century there existed a flourishing boot and shoe industry. There was a ready market for the products especially among the miners of the Rhondda Valley. Thomas & Sons manufactured shoes in Rhosmaen Street - opposite the Cawdor Arms. The works extended into Abbey Terrace. About forty men and women were employed. In later years the firm was known as "The Sons". The works closed towards the middle of War I but many of the skilled shoe-makers remained in the town as shoe-repairers.

Stocking factory

A contemporary industry was, very appropriately, a stocking factory. This was at the top of New Road. In later years the building was a cinema. It was, in effect, an early feminist enterprise. A woman managing director employed about thirty-six women from South Wales, Lancashire and Scotland. They made stockings for men and for women. The products found a ready sale in fairs. The factory closed down in 1911.

A brewery gave employment to a number of men in a fine stone building with double-sashed windows in Rhosmaen Street. A section of this had a remarkable "crotch" roof. The building became an agriculture store of some repute but this fine landmark has since been demolished. The water of Llandeilo was declared by experts to be superior to that of Burton-on-Trent for purposes of brewing.

An enterprising milk factory at Ffairfach gave employment to men and women in the second and third decades of the 20 th century. At the close of World War II this was removed to Llangadog [which itself closed in 2005].

The Celt is by nature not commercially minded. The citizens of Llandeilo have from time to time averted their eyes from enterprise. The town has not responded to approaches for commercial development. A considerable percentage of the citizens are retired people. Contentment, lethargy and a measure of affluence have militated against commercial development in the past.

Industries listed in 1894

Copper and lead blende near Station Road. Capt. Griffiths, an early manager, came from North Wales. He lived in a house where the Principality building is in Rhosmaen Street. He lost money on the enterprise and left the town and went to live in Machynlleth. He came back and settled all his debts. The ore was trucked to copper and lead refineries.

Stocking Factory. This was kept by David Williams in New Road. About a hundred women were employed. The owner emigrated to Canada.

Thomas & Sons, Boot factory in Rhosmaen Street. Situated opposite the Cawdor Arms.

Woollen Factory at Drefach, Trapp.

Glove Factory in Church Street at Pyllau, opposite the well and below the Gwndwn.

Flour Mills at Court Henri, Cilsan, Llandyfan, Gurrey, Rhosmaen, Tregib and Love Lodge.

Malt Houses at Canton House, the Walk House, Penybanc and in an old building near Bank House and Rhosmaen Street.

Wheat Market in the Shire Hall.

Meat Market. Market Street and Carmarthen Street.

Brick Works at Golden Grove, Gurrey Manor and Glan Thames.

Tan Yards at Rhosmaen village; Station Road (burnt down 1923) Cilsan; near Bridge Farm and stone bridge.

Schools

Early evidence

The earliest reference to a school in Llandeilo is in a document dated 1316. The inhabitants of the town objected to a demand by the constable of Dynevor Castle for beer at the rate of 8 gallons for 6 pence. In this document there is a reference to Trefscoleygon, "the township of the scholars." The scholars' quarters were usually associated with the parish church, the vicar serving as headmaster.

In the 17th century a school was kept at Newtown, in the neighbourhood of the present mansion. Young men were prepared for the universities by one Thomas Wyatt, William Nicholson, vicar of Llandeilo and Jeremy Taylor, the royalist, seeking refuge in Golden Grove, and author of Holy Living and Holy Dying.

18th Century

In the 18th century, many schools were held in private houses. These were arranged by the celebrated vicar of Llanddowror, the Rev. Griffith Jones. These were the 'Circulating Schools'. Among those recorded are:

Rhiwlas
55 (1748-9)
Ffairfach
80 (1756-7)
Cwmpedol
55 (1748-9)
Rhosmaen
64 (1764-5)
Torbay
63 (1764-65)
Night School
12 (1765-6)
Heol y Bont, Llandeilo
41 (1772-3)
Night School, Llandeilo
55 (1772-3)

19th Century

The Report of the Commissioners of Enquiry 1886 into the state of education in Wales recorded that Llandeilo was a large parish with six schools "for the poor" and that there were five schools for "a class somewhat above the reach of the poor". In the environs of the town there was a school at Penybanc supported chiefly by the Rev. Herbert Williams of Llwynhelig, another at Taliaris supported by the Misses Peel and one at Cwmifor held in the Baptist Chapel.

Private education

Lord Dynevor's School, according to the report was "scrupulously neat and clean …and kept by a mistress who understood Welsh imperfectly".

Mr. Roger's School received condemnation. It was kept at the back of a draper's shop. "Mr. R. had no control on the children and is plainly unfit to keep a school."

The Dame School in Church Street. This was held upstairs in a dwelling house "The teacher is a helpless old woman with ten young children, most of them at 1/2d a week. They were all present at the inspection. They could not answer any questions." Signed William Morris Nov. 6 1886.

Mr. Jones' School. This was a private school of a higher standard than usual. The master had been at Carmarthen Grammar School and later at Lampeter and Cambridge but never taken a degree.

Tabernacle Sunday School. "Everything in Welsh. Those classes which can read with tolerable fluency are in the habit of beginning at the 1st chapter of Genesis and reading straight through the Bible to the last chapter of Revelations."

There were a number of schools providing education for girls in the last quarter of the 19th century. A school was kept by the Misses Fisher in Market Street. Miss Anne Beale who had been a governess in Llwynhelig decided to open a school in Abbey Terrace. She advertised for pupils; she was prepared to instruct young ladies but they had to be above the tradesmen's class. No response came. After waiting several weeks, she lowered her flag. She opened her school on a more democratic basis and contributed effectively to the general education of young women in the town.

Belle Vue and Bank House School. Belle Vue near the Post Office is a house in the characteristic Georgian architecture. It has many interesting associations. Vaughan Wilkins, the historical novelist, has written of the family associations of the people who lived there with the Peels of Taliaris, a branch of the family of Sir Robert Peel. In the book And So Victoria, the novelist has given an illuminating account of Llandeilo in the 19th century, describing the town, the roads and the workhouse. There is some historical evidence that Sir Thomas Paxton was associated with Belle Vue and that the poets Wordsworth and Shelley stayed there.

In the late 19th century the Misses Lewis kept a school in Belle Vue and at Bank House. Their father owned the prosperous brewery in Rhosmaen Street. On his death, they turned to other spiritual inspiration and gave religious instruction and offered a wide curriculum, including the three R's, music, drawing and embroidery to the daughters of the town and its vicinity. Some of their pupils had already received some instruction in the National School at the top of the town or in one of the dame schools. The school of Miss Evans the Lamb was in a cottage at the back of the present-day post office. The Lamb referred to the dame's residence, not to her nature, as her pupils were ever ready to testify. Another dame school was kept by Miss Morgan-the-Kiss who lived in a lane above Bridge Street. The "Kiss" referred to a sweet or confection given as a reward to a good child.

Abbey House School. When Bank House School closed, many of the pupils were transferred to Abbey House School in Abbey Terrace. The principals were the Misses Mary and Rosa McArthur. Boarders were accommodated. The curriculum and conditions were in the best traditions of Bank House. The school flourished for two busy decades with a considerable measure of success. Equipment, methods and general conditions of school life have changed much and rapidly in subsequent years but it is fair to say that, according to its time, Abbey House achieved much. A premium was placed on grace and gentleness, the worth of which is enhanced in times which knows their lack. A past pupil, old and rich in wide experience of life evaluating the education given there said much in little, "Like Niagra Falls, it was not to be despised."

Private education gave way to the state schools. Interest in formal education was already strong. It had been an adjunct of the religious revival in Wales dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. Several private "academies" flourished in the town. There were two in New Road and one in Bank Terrace. Many of the students attending these specialised in theology. From these preparatory schools they went to colleges in Carmarthen and elsewhere.

Thomas Jenkins in his diary relates the interest shown in adult education and the interest taken in science and engineering. A Mechanics Institution was opened in 1843.

The County School

The County School Education Act resulted in the establishment of the County School. There was very considerable debate forming a prelude to its coming. The landed gentry were bitterly averse to the education of the children of the middle classes, fearing that they would be "educating their masters." The project was discussed in a fierce debate in the Shire Hall. The opposition maintained that the ordinary townsfolk would not be able to finance and maintain such a venturous scheme. Liberal and advanced thought had a leader in the Rev. Thomas Davies of the Walk. Leading tradesmen in the town including the Messrs Williams Stonecutters; Messrs Stephens, Drapers and Morris, Decorators; had, with enthusiasm, taken up the challenge. With a dramatic gesture Mr. Jenkin Jones, a foremost tradesman and a tanner, placed on the table, on behalf of the citizens, a cheque which more than covered the cost of the site of the school. The County School was built in Rhosmaen Street. The building was damaged by fire on Feb 3 1914 but it was rebuilt. It continued as a County School and later as a Grammar School until the opening of the Comprehensive School at Tregib in 1969. The Board or Council School was built on an adjacent site to the County School in Rhosmaen Street. This has continued to serve as a primary school. There has been a development in the form of the establishment of a Welsh-medium school, Ysgol Teilo Sant, which within a short period of time, has succeeded in achieving an enviable reputation.

The Opening of the County School Llandilo

Hydref 2 ail 1896

Anwyl Frodyr

A fyddwch chwi mor garedig a chyhoeddu y S2bbath nesaf y bydd Agoriad Yr Ysgol Ganoiraddol yn cymryd lle yn Llandilo, dydd Iau nesaf, Hydref 8ed. Y gweithrediadau yn dechreu am 12 o'r gloch.

Hefyd, dymunir i'r holl fechgyn sydd wedi bod, neu yn bod, yn ysgoiheigion ynddi fod yn bresennol yn yr orymdaith ac i dê yn y prynhawn.

William Thomas, Clerk.

Schools in the Town in the late 19th century

  1. National School. Headmistress Miss Lockyer.
  2. School kept behind Smithfield House, Carmarthen Road under the patronage of Lord Dynevor and known locally at The Lord's School. Girls in the top floor, boys on ground floor. Head master John Evans.
  3. Tabernacle Ffairfach. School room kept by the minister, the Rev. Thomas Davies. Other masters were Mr. Hewlett and Mr. John Pugh. It was considered a better school than the others in town. Pugh later kept a school behind the site of Crown Stores in New Road. He was followed there by Mr. Jeremy - Ysgol Jeremy. He was a local preacher with the Methodists. His assistant was Morgan Davies. When the Intermediate School was opened in 1895 Jeremy's School was closed and Morgan Davies was appointed on the staff.
  4. Grammar School in Brynhyfryd House, Crescent Road (near the Dinefwr Council Offices). Mr. McFarlane was the first headmaster. He was followed by Mr. Sweet. It was considered a high class school.
  5. Miss McArthur's School for girls in Abbey Terrace.
  6. Ysgol Miss Evans Lamb where the Westminster Bank is now situated. This was a dame school.
  7. Miss Morgan-the-Kiss a dame school in a lane leading from Bank Terrace.
  8. Miss Padmore's School for Girls in upper New Road near Towy Press.
  9. Bank House kept by the Misses Lewis.
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