The 36 parcels

Correction, 27 October 2026

Our research pages and infographic showed Parcel A as including the village green registered by the council in 1970. The record shows the Parcel A line ends before the green begins. We have corrected those pages; the details are in Disproven theories.

What the record shows

The tithe apportionment for Landough, Cogan and Leckwith, made about 1841, lists John Williams as the occupier of 36 parcels: about 119 acres.

The parcels were the farm itself and its fields: a courtyard (tithe no. 209), a cottage and garden (no. 196), an orchard, meadows, pasture, arable land and two woods. By the sum of the indexed areas the holding was 119 acres, 2 roods and 30 perches.

Six of the 36 parcels are noted “Leckwith” in the index (14 acres, 3 roods, 12 perches). The others lie in the Llandough part of the tithe district.

Source: National Library of Wales, tithe apportionment and map, parishes of Landough, Cogan and Leckwith, c.1841 (catalogue EV-0215). Every parcel row, with its number, use and area, is listed on that evidence page.

The Williams family and the land

The Williams family acquired Tŷ Mawr (Great House Farm), Llandough, in 1667 and occupied it until 1988.

The 1667 acquisition was reported in the 1974 newspapers (Mary Williams’ statement) and on ITV News in 1988. In December 1988 the house came down.

Tŷ Mawr is first named in the records found so far in David Stewart’s 1824 survey, plan 19, “Cedfin or Ty Mawr Farm” (Glamorgan Archives DB/E/1–2, catalogue EV-0211). Seventeen years later the tithe apportionment lists John Williams on the 36 parcels.

The concern being raised

The family is raising a concern about the title chain on these parcels in Llandough and Leckwith.

The apportionment’s landowner column names the Marquess of Bute for 33 of the parcels and the glebe of the Revd James Evans for 3. How title to these parcels passed, then and since, is what the family is asking to have examined.

Bute estate papers and other third-party documents are tested against the records here, not repeated as fact, and the Bute freeholds are under forensic examination for validity. The method is set out in How we treat outside records.

Raising a concern is not a finding. Nothing on this page states that any present owner or occupier holds land unlawfully, and the family invites everyone with an interest in these parcels to look at the records for themselves.

Instruments and registrations, 1916–2005

9 instruments relied on by the corporations in depicting the family’s occupancy as permissive, and 9 registrations of the parcels in the corporations’ names. Each is dated, with its parcel and catalogue reference.

◷ See this section as a graph · 18 dated items, 1916–2005

The graph also opens from “See this section as a graph” at the top of the page: one row per parcel, one dot per instrument, coloured by kind. Tap a dot, then “Open”, to come back to its entry here.

Letting, offer or licence relied on Court order or judgment relied on Registration in a corporation’s name

Relied on by the corporations

1. 1916 B · the fields

   Bute yearly agricultural tenancy to the Williams family, with plan

   Bute Estate

   The 1987 Court of Appeal judgment recounts the 1916 tenancy. Our case, prospective, not a finding: the Bute Estate could let only Parcel B.

   Sources: EV-0014, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2

2. May 1939 B · the fields

   Western Ground Rents tenancy of land at Llandough to the family, with plan

   Western Ground Rents Ltd

   The tenancy plan shows Parcel B only.

   Sources: EV-0023

3. 2 Feb 1949 A1 · north wood

   Yearly agricultural tenancy to Frederick Buckler from 2 Feb 1949, on the surrender of John Williams’s letting

   Western Ground Rents Ltd

   The 1987 judgment records “a new yearly agricultural tenancy commencing at February 2 1949”; the written agreement intended was never made. The infographic places this step on the woodland line (A1).

   Sources: BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2, Legal Wiki: Frederick Buckler, the 1949 tenancy

4. Jul 1955 (order); 4 Jul 1955 (execution) B · the fields

   Order 14 possession order, framed for the “whole farm”; executed 4 Jul 1955

   Western Ground Rents Ltd

   Possession was taken of every part of the farm except the farmhouse and garden. Which Parcel A ground it reached (A1 woodland, A3 green) is not settled by the record.

   Sources: EV-0032, EV-0034, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2

5. 1958/59 A2 · house & yard

   Offer to let the farmhouse, buildings and garden to Mary Williams (refused)

   Western Ground Rents Ltd

   The 1987 judgment records that she was “offered a tenancy of the farmhouse and garden by Western Ground Rents but refused to accept it”. The family’s chain places this step on the green (A3). The 1959 offer and reply are not yet held.

   Sources: BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2, Legal Wiki: The 1962 Possession Order, the 1959 refusal

6. 11 Dec 1962 A2 · house & yard

   Cardiff County Court possession order of the farmhouse, buildings and garden

   Western Ground Rents Ltd

   The Court of Appeal records that nothing was done before 1974 to enforce it. The 1969 conveyance to BP Pension Trust carried the benefit of this order.

   Sources: EV-0041, EV-0043, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2

7. 2 Mar 1965 A2 · house & yard

   Offer of a weekly letting of the farmhouse to “Mrs Williams” (not signed)

   Western Ground Rents Ltd

   The 1987 judgment (para 22) records that in March 1965 Western Ground Rents’ agents “offered Mrs Buckler a tenancy”.

   Sources: BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2, Legal Wiki: The 1962 Possession Order, the 1965 offer

8. 31 Oct 1974 A2 · house & yard

   Licence letters offering permission to stay in the farmhouse rent-free (not accepted)

   BP Pension Trust / BP Properties

   The letters reached her solicitor on 4 Nov 1974. She did not accept them. The 1987 judgment treated them as a licence, so her possession after them was not counted towards the 12 years.

   Sources: EV-0080, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2, Legal Wiki: The 1974 licence letters

9. 31 Jul 1987 A2 · house & yard

   Court of Appeal judgment, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler: possession of the farmhouse and garden

   BP Properties Ltd

   The appeal was limited to the farmhouse and garden. The judgment records BP’s admission of adverse possession from 1965–67 until 31 Oct 1974 and treats the 1974 letters as a licence.

   Sources: EV-0080, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2

Registrations in the corporations’ names

1. 29 Mar 1961 A1 · north wood

   Deed between Western Ground Rents, South Western Brick & Tile and Cardiff City Corporation, recited on the woodland title WA735527

   Cardiff City Corporation (named party) · title WA735527

   The deed and plan have not been inspected, so the rights created and the extent are not established. Cardiff City Corporation is a named party, not confirmed as freehold transferee.

   Sources: EV-0040, EV-0169, GHF-E129

2. 16 Jun 1970 A3 · the green

   Village-green registration VG41 under the Commons Registration Act 1965

   Glamorgan County Council (registration authority) · title VG41

   A commons-register entry, not an HM Land Registry title; registration alone did not vest the green in the authority. Objection periods ran to 31 Jul 1972 by public notice only. The VG41 file and map are outstanding.

   Sources: EV-0044, EV-0263

3. 30 Nov 1982 (application) B · the fields

   Application to register title WA231076 (the fields) to BP Properties Ltd

   BP Properties Ltd · title WA231076

   The application date is in HM Land Registry’s file schedule.

   Sources: EV-0170

4. 23 Feb 1983 (Form 1C application) A2 · house & yard

   First registration of the farmhouse, title WA240304, to BP Properties Ltd

   BP Properties Ltd · title WA240304

   Mary was living in the house and died there on 26 Mar 1983, while the application was being examined. No conveyance from the occupiers and no notice to the occupier is on file. Registered on BP’s paper title (the 1969 conveyance and the 1962 order).

   Sources: EV-0063, EV-0066, EV-0147

5. 2 Feb 1987 A2 + B · merged title

   Amalgamation: WA240304 (the house) merged into WA231076 (the fields) while the appeal was running

   BP Properties Ltd · title WA240304 → WA231076

   Both titles already stood in BP Properties’ name, so no land changed hands.

   Sources: EV-0078

6. 1993–94 A2 + B · merged title

   Sale of the merged title (house and fields) to Ideal Homes for housing

   Ideal Homes (Wales) Ltd · title WA231076

   The 1994 excavation at Great House Farm was carried out on behalf of Ideal Homes Wales, which built Church View Close.

   Sources: GHF-E148, EV-0276

7. 3 Dec 1993 A1 · north wood

   Woodland title history: BP to Ideal Homes

   Ideal Homes (Wales) Ltd · title WA735527

   Chain as reported in the woodland and land-transfer assessment.

   Sources: Woodland & Land-Transfer Assessment 1902–2005

8. 10 Nov 1994 (proprietor entry 25 Nov 1994) A1 · north wood

   Transfer of the woodland to Forest of Cardiff under title WA735527

   Forest of Cardiff · title WA735527

   The current register lists Forest of Cardiff as proprietor from 25 Nov 1994.

   Sources: EV-0169, EV-0136, GHF-E149

9. 2005 A1 · north wood

   Part of the woodland sold to Goldsworthy Homes and taken out of title WA735527

   Goldsworthy Homes · title WA735527 (part)

   Forest of Cardiff accounts to 30 Jun 2006: “Sale of Land — Leckwith Road, Llandough £20,000”.

   Sources: EV-0139, EV-0217

Compiled from the Cedwyn infographic data (chains A–C, transfers, events and the 1916 and 1939 tenancies). Nothing here is a finding of any court; where the family’s position is given it is our case, prospective, not a finding. Title WA513690 and titles CYM265133 and CYM349627 are on the title list but not placed on any parcel, so they are not shown.

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What the record does not show

The apportionment records who occupied the land in about 1841. It does not record a lease, its term or its rent.

The parcel-by-parcel match between this holding and the 1824 plan 19 farm has not yet been made, and the index has not yet been checked line by line against the original image. Later boundaries, and the smaller acreage of the 1870s (about 76 acres, catalogue EV-0212, provisional), are separate questions.

Do your own research

Start with the evidence page for the tithe apportionment, EV-0215, where each parcel links to the National Library of Wales image of the apportionment and the map.

Then read the 1824 survey (EV-0211), the dated chronology in 1000 Cuts, and search every artifact in the catalogue.

Cedwyn is pronounced “Ked-win”. It is one of the names of Tŷ Mawr; every form of the name, with its date and source, is in Enwau: the names of Tŷ Mawr.

Read the whole story

The first edition of the Great House Farm e-book is free. The full edition, with every source from 1667 to today, is £4.99.

Both are on the e-books page.

Edition

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