On overview of roads and tracks around the ancient borough of Kidwelly, going back to Roman times (by Christine Davies)

1. Old Highways and Byways of
the Kidwelly area
… an opportunity to enjoy some old
photos and maps
Christine Davies

2. Kidwelly Town & nearby

3. Kidwelly Town Centre
Today (Streetmap) 1897 (OS)

4. Aerial View of Kidwelly, 1962
From:
www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk

5. Ordnance Survey, 1897
Points of interest:
• Lower Ferry Road was called
‘Mount Pleasant Street’ in 1897,
though was called ‘Shoe Lane
Street’ before that, and ‘Scholand’
earlier
• New Street was called ‘Ditch
Street’
• Banc Pendre was ‘Pinged Hill
Street’
• Today’s road names introduced
before the 1913 OS map
• House numbers introduced in
1902

6. From: Hughes, E. (1999) Kidwelly: A History.
(old names – approx. late 15th Century)
Cock Street
Longstrete
Bownamstrete
Monkesford
Le Stokwell
Le Holwey
15
23 (north end
of Water St
referred to
as ‘Pitcroft’)
2
2
2

7. Causeway Street, c 1910 Bridge Street
From:
www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk

8. Castle Street to Castle Gateway Castle St up to Castle
From: www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk
Old Bethesda Chapel visible near Castle

9. Looking down Pinged Hill c 1900 ‘View of Kidwelly from Pinged Hill’
by Henry Smythe (1852):
[see: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/a-view-of-
kidwelly-177495 ]

10. Looking up Ferry Road/ Mount
Pleasant Road
Bridge over Gwendraeth Fach, &
Trinity Methodist Church (c 1910)
From: www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk

11. Abbey Street (1960s?)Water Street/ Bower Street approx. 1900
From: www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk
From: Carmarthenshire County Council (1997) Gwendraeth Valleys
Note the stream running down the left-hand (western) side of
the road – called ‘Bushy Lake’

12. Holloways (the ‘Summerway’)
Summerway mentioned in 1396 in Muddlescombe deeds. Dating based on hedges
also indicates an age of around 600 years (Barnie & James, 1977)

13. Penallt
Penlan
Isaf
Penlan
Uchaf
Maes
Gwenllian
Llwyn y
Barcud
Parcymynydd
Goitre
Uchaf
Muddlescwm
Cwm
Hed
Banc o’Lord
Burton/
Bertwn?
Walking the
Boundary of
the Borough of
Kidwelly
(1818 OS map)
• Descriptions of Whit
Wednesday walk,
1863
• 14 walkers + flag
• Started and ended at
Penallt
• Went to Pelican
afterwards!
• Last recorded
‘beating of bounds’ in
1890
( Morris, 1960)

14. Looking beyond Kidwelly Town
(going backwards in time)

15. Ordnance
Survey, 1897
Points of interest:
• Great Western Railway
• Burry Port & Gwendraeth
Valley Railway (following
path of old canals)
• Gwendraeth Valley Railway
(to quarries) - disused?
• Lime Works
• Tinplate Works present on
map, but not marked
because closed for 3 years

16. Ordnance Survey, 1897 (overlaid on present map on rhs).
See: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=13&lat=51.7315&lon=-4.3060&layers=1&b=1

17. 1854 map (William Hughes)
• Railway (GWR) completed by 1852
(other railways 1860s)
• Road over marsh between Kidwelly
& Pembrey completed 1850
• Canals : Kymer’s canal (1766), [Lord
Ashburnham’s canal- 1796], Kidwelly
& Llanelli Canal & Tramroad (1812),
Pembrey Canal (1824)
Other points of interest:
• Gellideg (built 1852)
• Iscoed (built 1771
• Pembrey House (built 1823)
• ‘Race course’ near Allt Cunedda
• Inns seem to be important! e.g. ‘New
Inn’ & ‘The Star’

18. 1831 (Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge (Great Britain)
Points of interest:
• The current main road north of
Kidwelly (A484) was built around
1828 by the Kidwelly Turnpike
Trust
• Kidwelly & Llanelli Canal &
Tramroad & Pembrey Canal (1824)
• Carmarthenshire Tramway (horse-
drawn); later the Llanelli &
Mynydd Mawr Railway
• Ishmaelton?!

19. 1720
1829 map
(Henry
Teesdale)
The route:
Pontarddulais –
Llannon -
Carmarthen was
the main mail
coach route after
1794
The route:
Pontarddulais –
Llanelli - Pembrey
Mountain -
Kidwelly was in
very poor
condition in 1791
(Lewis, 1971)

20. 1794 (Kitchin,
Phillips, Laurie &
Whittle)
• Note ‘Ferry’
• Kymer’s canal (only one) to
Mancha: ? : Mansant/ Maen-
sant?? (near Meinciau)
• Forest: Carway Forest?
• Several odd spellings!

21. From: http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/turnpike2014.pdf
• Kidwelly Turnpike Trust-
founded 1760s- extended from
eastern Carmarthen to River
Loughor (other Trusts, also)
• Approx 14 gates around
Kidwelly (one at Spudder’s
Bridge)
• NB: Rebecca Riots: 1840s
(around 10 of Kidwelly Gates
damaged; eg. 1843 attack on
gate at northern end of Water
Street)
• End of turnpikes approx. 1860s
Turnpike roads
(map from Dyfed Archaeological Trust)
Not much indication of particular
Drovers routes – not so important
south of Carmarthen?

22. 1767
(Emanuel
Bowen)
• Several
landowners
noted
• Bridges over
Gwendraeth
Fawr well-
marked
• Ferry
• St Tylo’s Church
• Coal pits
• ‘a Well [nr]
‘Mudlescwm’:
Ffynnon
Mihangel
• Melin ‘Achloe’=
Achddu Mill
• ‘Mancha’ again!

23. 1753 (John
Roque)

24. The ‘King’s Highway’
The road on the eastern side of
Gwendraeth Fach Valley (running
west of Gellideg) is quite old -
referred to in 16th & 17th centuries as
‘King’s Highway’ or ‘Royal Way’, or
‘highway to Carmarthen’. Probably a
secondary road by 18th century
(Evans, 1988)

25. Emanuel Bowen’s map of
1720 (based on John Ogilby?)
https://www.llanellich.org.uk/projects/ma
ps/186-emanuel-bowen-map-1720
Llanelli
Gwendraeth Fawr;
Pont Spwdwr
(turn left to Pembrey)
(turn left to
Llansaint)
Ferry over towy
Llansteffan
‘Passage’ across
Taf
Laugharne

26. Hondius’ map of
1606

27. Gerald of Wales’ journey, 1188
Picture from: http://michaelfaletra.weebly.com/itinerarium-kambrie.html

28. From: John, T. and Rees, M. (2002) Pilgrimage: A Welsh Perspective. Llandysul: Gomer Press.
Pilgimage routes in South Wales
A large part of
this route was
referred to as the
‘Portway’

29. http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.
uk/projects/romanmilitary.htm
Dyfed Archaeological Trust 2005
analysis of possible Roman roads:
Two near Kidwelly:
• B4306 through Llangynderyn &
Pontyberem to Ponarddulais
• B4309 through Pontantwn &
Pontyates to Llanelli

30. OS 1946
O’Dwyer, 1936, quoted in Hughes,
L., 2002, suggests:
• A Roman road from Carmarthen
passing through Pontantwn and
Ponyates
But also…
• Another Roman route from
Carmarthen passed through
Pensarn, Croesyceiliog, Pen-yr-
Heol, Broadway, Portway, over
Mynydd Penbre to Llanelli and
Loughor (also mentioned by
Ethel M. Davies in her ‘Story of
Llandefaelog’, 1954)

31. “In light of the 2018 drought discoveries, analysis of LiDAR
showed the survival of 350m of probable agger [ridge
supporting road surface] entering Kidwelly town from the
north, emerging from the line of the modern A484 road south
of Llys y Gorlan, emerging on the south side of the modern
roundabout and running south-west fossilised by a track or
lane for 215m, and then continuing the line of the track as an
earthwork agger on LiDAR for a further 175m towards Millands
Farm. Evidence suggests a crossing of the Gwendraeth river
beyond Middle Mill, and the probable existence of a Roman
installation or port on the Gwendraeth in the vicinity of
Kidwelly.
It is interesting to note finds of a denarius of Antoninus Pius
(AD 151-2) and a Roman bow brooch fragment centred on SN
405 703 north-west of Kidwelly Castle.”
T. Driver, RCAHMW, 2019
(see: https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/423833/details/rr60-carmarthen-to-kidwelly-roman-
road-section-at-kidwelly )
Llys y Gorlan
Recent RCAHMW Roman findings south of Carmarthen:

32. References
• Barnie, H. and James, T. (1977) ‘Hedges and landscape history: a study of land use in the Kidwelly area’. Carmarthenshire Antiquary, Vol.13
• Booth, J. (1978). Antique Maps of Wales. Cambridge House Books.
• Carmarthenshire County Council (1997) Gwendraeth Valleys. Stroud: Tempus.
• Evans, M.C.S. (1988) ‘Forgotten Roads of Carmarthenshire: Carmarthen to Llanelli and the River Llwchwr’. Carmarthenshire Antiquary, Vol.12
• Davies, E.M. (1954) Story of Llandefaelog
• Gerald of Wales (1188; published 1978) The Journey through Wales / The description of Wales. Penguin Books, Middlesex.
• Hughes, E. (1999) Kidwelly: A History. Published by the author.
• Hughes, E. (2003) Kidwelly: Memories of Yesteryear. Published by the author.
• Hughes, L. (2002) A Carmarthenshire Anthology. Llandybie: Dinefwr Publishers
• James, H. (1980) ‘Topographical notes of the early mediaeval borough of Kidwelly’. Carmarthenshire Antiquary, Vol.16
• John, T. and Rees, M. (2002) Pilgrimage: A Welsh Perspective. Llandysul: Gomer Press
• Lewis, A.H.T. (1971). ‘Carmarthenshire highways of the late 18th century’. Carmarthenshire Antiquary, Vol.7
• Morris, W.H. (1960) ‘Walking the Boundary of the Borough of Kidwelly’. Carmarthenshire Antiquary, Vol.3
• Schlee, D (2014) TURNPIKE and PRE-TURNPIKE ROADS; Medieval and Early Post-Medieval Sites Scheduling Enhancement Project. Interim Report:
http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/turnpike2014.pdf
Web-sites:
• https://coflein.gov.uk/
• http://www.oldmapsonline.org/
• https://maps.nls.uk/
• www.kidwellyhistory.co.uk
• https://www.llanellich.org.uk/projects/maps/186-emanuel-bowen-map-1720
• http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/romanmilitary.htm