GREAT HOUSE FARM / TŶ MAWR — STATEMENT TO LLANDOUGH COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Thursday 22 October 2026, 7.00pm. About three minutes.

Chair, councillors, thank you for allowing me to speak on Item 10.

My grandmother was Mary Williams of Great House Farm, Tŷ Mawr. Our family's case is that its connection to the house goes back to 1667. A 1958 newspaper report and Mary's later statement recorded that claim, but the full chain of occupation and title remains contested. The house was demolished before dawn on 6 December 1988.

I am not asking this Council to decide a land-title dispute or to find that anyone acted improperly. I am asking for the surviving records to be disclosed, preserved and examined, and for Tŷ Mawr to be acknowledged in the history of this community.

First, the heritage. Heneb's Historic Environment Record says the manorial courts of Llandough and Leckwith were held at Great House. The local plan called for the buildings to be retained, but the house was demolished before a complete record of the building was made.

A published archaeological study reports 1,026 early-medieval burials from an excavation in the wider area in 1994. I am not claiming that this proves the burials lay within our particular parcel, or that the monastery's exact location is known. These records make a better account of the wider landscape worthwhile. The Council's published village history does not mention Great House or its demolition.

Second, my grandmother's home and the property records. In February 1983, while Mary was still living there, BP applied to register the farmhouse under a separate title. She died the following month. In February 1987, that title was amalgamated with the adjoining fields while the litigation was continuing. These events should be traced through the original deeds, plans and registration papers.

The family lost the possession proceedings. The Court of Appeal rejected our adverse-possession argument, including in light of the 1974 letters. I respect that judgment, and I am not asking this Council to overturn it or determine ownership. My present questions concern the wider conveyance and registration history. They should be tested against the original records, not assumed in our favour.

Third, disclosure. I have made specific records requests to more than twenty bodies. Cadw has supplied two photographs, but a complete 1988 assessment file and a destruction record have not been produced. The Land Registry's schedule of 43 documents does not identify the 1969 deed recited in the title history. A missing record does not, by itself, prove concealment. It does warrant a clear account of what searches were made, what survives and what cannot be found.

So I ask for four practical steps: receive and minute my statement and pack; make Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr a standing agenda item with a named councillor; write to the relevant record-holding bodies in support of disclosure and preservation; and recommend that the Senedd consider an independent inquiry.

We are not seeking anyone's home at Church View Close. We ask for a fair examination of the records and recognition of Tŷ Mawr in our community's history.

Your mission is “Serving our community, preserving our identity”. Tŷ Mawr belongs in that history. Thank you.


SIXTY-SECOND VERSION

Chair, councillors, thank you. Our family's case traces its connection to Great House Farm, Tŷ Mawr, to 1667; that history remains contested, which is why the records matter. The house was demolished before dawn on 6 December 1988. Heneb records the manorial courts of Llandough and Leckwith at Great House. A 1994 excavation in the wider area recorded 1,026 early-medieval burials, but their location within our parcel has not been established. The family lost the possession proceedings, and the Court of Appeal rejected the adverse-possession argument. I am not asking this Council to overturn that judgment. Please minute our statement, make Tŷ Mawr a standing item with a named councillor, support disclosure and preservation, and recommend that the Senedd consider an independent inquiry. We are not seeking anyone's home. Tŷ Mawr belongs in our community's history. Thank you.


THE FOUR ASKS FOR TONIGHT
1. Receive our statement and pack, and minute them.
2. Make Great House Farm / Tŷ Mawr a standing item, with a named councillor.
3. Recommend to the Senedd that an independent inquiry be considered.
4. Write to the bodies holding the records in support of disclosure and preservation.