Swtan

A painstaking reconstruction of a piece of Anglesey's past

The cottage is named after the bay, Porth Swtan, where it is situated. The first documented reference to Swtan is in an indenture of 1678, when the land was owned by Hugh Lewis, who leased it to John Owen of Penrhos for 10 years for a sum of £10.

The restoration project is being funded through Menter Môn by the European Social Fund, and is being directed by the Muckle Partnership, an Anglesey-based firm specialising in the archaeology and history of traditional buildings. The team working on Swtan consists of Peter Muckle, Helen Riley (archaeologist), Jon Horsley (clerk of works), Wyn Williams (stonemason), William Tegetmeier (thatcher), and 5 unemployed trainees who are being trained in traditional building skills and buildings archaeology.

Work began in September 1998, when the heavily-overgrown cottage and garden was cleared and recorded, with nearly every piece of wood, iron or pottery being labelled and stored for future study. Building work is now (January) focussing on a small calf-shed, with the remaining buildings to be completed by summer 1999.

The majority of the materials used in the restoration are of local origin. For example, clay mixed with chopped straw is being used to pack the spaces between the stones, and, following Peter Muckle's research into regional thatching techniques, gorse from the surrounding area will be used as an underthatch to the main wheat straw thatch.

William Tegetmeier came all the way from York to work on the project. He is using long wheat straw from Yorkshire, an old-fashioned variety cut with a binder and put through a threshing machine. The gorse underthatch and straw ropes over the top will provide extra protection against the wind, a good method for coastal regions, as a thatched roof will stay on much better than slate. A thatched roof can last up to 70 years, depending on the materials used, which can include wheat and oat straw, water reed, heather, bracken, and even seaweed. Most cottages on Anglesey were thatched 300 years ago.

Wyn Williams, from Bangor, is in charge of the stonework. He has led the five trainees in taking down the walls, which had collapsed, and rebuilding them to look as natural as possible. Clay marl is being used, a technique not often found today.

Dave Davies, from Llanfairpwll, is the project's carpenter, and has been putting on the roof using hazel, pitch pine, elm, and gorse. The hazel is from a coppice near Llangoed, and the gorse is from the hills of Church Bay. The fireplace lintel, which is made of oak (probably originally from a shipwreck), will have to be replaced too.

When the team have finished working on Swtan, which is owned by the National Trust, will be leased and managed by local people, who have formed a limited company, Cyfeillion Swtan (Friends of Swtan). It will be opened as a local heritage centre, a place where schoolchildren and the people of Anglesey can find out about rural life in bygone times on the island. It is hoped that one of the first visitors will be Maggie Jones of Brynsiencyn, who used to live in Swtan in the 1920s (seen in the doorway of the photo below).

To see more information on the Friends of Swtan click here .