ABERALAW MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The exact TNA/MDR record is for Aberalaw in Anglesey. Independent historical evidence places Aberalaw as a medieval landholding and homestead in the Talybolion area, associated with Llanfachraeth, and distinguishes it from the similarly named Afon Aber Alaw estuary and unrelated fictional usage.
Representative point: 53.314418, -4.540132
Basis: documented_estate_centre — The documented Aberalaw farmstead/manorial homestead is located at the mapped site of the farm buildings called Aberalaw in Llanfachraeth. This is the best surviving geographic proxy for the historical Aberalaw estate centre; no documented manor house site was located.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: Sources establish Aberalaw as a medieval landholding/homestead and identify its locality in or near Llanfachraeth and the Talybolion commote, but no source located supplies a defensible perimeter for the historical manorial land. The modern parish, community, commote, or Anglesey boundaries cannot be substituted for the manor boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Aberalaw Manor, MDR record F236172: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F236172 — The supplied registry record identifies the exact manor as ABERALAW MANOR in Anglesey, under authority GB/NNAF/M171204.
- Gronant, Llanfachraeth, Anglesey: historical study of the Gronant estate and related kindred lands: https://discoveringoldwelshhouses.co.uk/library/Hhistory/ang%20006_HH_6_Gronant.pdf — Identifies Aberalaw as one of the estates/homesteads developed from kindred lands in Anglesey, alongside Presaddfed, Penhesgyn, Treiowerth and Llanfwrog.
- The Medieval Mills of Anglesey, Gwynedd Archaeological Trust report 405: https://walesher1974.org/her/groups/GAT/media/GAT_Reports/GATreport_405_compressed.pdf — Places the medieval Lord's mill of Aberalaw in the Talybolion commote and treats it as a historically documented Anglesey landholding locality.
- Other Mills on Anglesey: Melin Aberalaw: https://www.anglesey-history.co.uk/other-mills/ — Locates Melin Aberalaw at OS grid reference SH 31028 82890 in Llanfachraeth, confirming the Aberalaw locality near the estate centre.
- Farm buildings, Aberalaw - Wikimedia Commons / Geograph: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFarm_buildings%2C_Aberalaw_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4806764.jpg — Provides the mapped object location for the surviving farmstead called Aberalaw at 53.314418, -4.540132.
- Dictionary of Welsh Biography: Gruffudd ap Maredudd ap Dafydd: https://bywgraffiadur.cymru/article/c-GRUF-APM-1352.html — Records Aberalaw as one of three trefwelyog holdings in Talybolion, supporting its identification as a historical territorial holding rather than merely a modern settlement name.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative coordinate identifies the surviving Aberalaw farmstead/estate-centre locality, not a verified medieval manor-house footprint.
- No reliable historical map, rental map, survey, or scholarly reconstruction was found that defines the complete perimeter of Aberalaw Manor.
- Aberalaw should not be confused with the broader Afon Aber Alaw estuary or with the fictional Welsh mining town named Aberalaw in later literature.