Historical names: Abaty Cwm-hir (Manor)
Location: Radnorshire
Places / associated places: Radnorshire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 52.3299, -3.3874
Identity: confirmed — The supplied record identifies Abbey Cwmhir Manor with Abaty Cwm-hir and the Manor of Gollon or Golon. Independent historical research identifies the same Manor of Gollon as the former home grange and principal landholding of Cwmhir Abbey in historic Radnorshire, centred on the abbey site at Abbey Cwmhir.
Representative point: 52.3299, -3.3874
Basis: documented_manor_site — The manor's historical centre was the Cistercian Cwmhir Abbey and its associated home manor/grange of Gollon. The coordinate is for the documented abbey ruins and former monastic precinct, rather than the modern civil-parish centre or a later administrative boundary.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to post-Dissolution manor; particularly documented in the 1672, 1796, 1817, 1857 and 1846-1877 boundary and enclosure material.
Boundary confidence: medium
Boundary basis: The territorial extent was extensive but not a single compact modern parish-sized unit. The 1560 conveyance lists the Manor of Gollon, the monastery site and associated lands in Gollon, Llanbister, Llanddewi, Llananno, Llanbadarn, St Harmon, Nantmel, Carno/Cernaff and Clyro. The Powys Archives catalogue records an 1857 Manor of Gollon enclosure award covering townships or districts in Llandewy Ystradenny, Abbey Cwmhir, Saint Harmon, Llananno, Llanbadarn Vynydd and Llanbister, with twelve associated map sheets. The surviving online evidence confirms a dispersed manorial and estate territory, including the home grange, Cefn Pawl and Gollon townships, commons, parks, farms and detached lands, but does not provide a sufficiently georeferenced perimeter from which a defensible historical polygon can be generated. The available GIS image shows a research reconstruction of the Golon Grange boundary, but it is not accompanied by a coordinate dataset or sufficiently precise boundary description.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Abbey Cwmhir Manor, GB/NNAF/M172908, record F243125: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F243125 — Registry record for the exact manor and its authority/reference identity.
- The National Archives, 1672 perambulation with amendments, with Golon, record N14318674: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14318674 — Archive reference for a historical perambulation of the manor, demonstrating that a manorial boundary was recorded, although the online catalogue does not supply its mapped perimeter.
- Powys Archives catalogue: R/QS/DE/2, Manor of Gollon enclosure award, 1857: https://storipowys.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/public-records-held-by-powys-archives-blog_Quarter-sessions-records_Radnorshire_R_QS_bi.pdf — Lists the constituent parishes and districts, twelve map sheets, the 1846 Act for enclosing lands within the Manor or Lordship of Gollon, and related conveyance material.
- Abbey Cwmhir Heritage Trust, Geographical Information System: https://abbeycwmhir.org/geographical-information-system-gis/ — States that the research GIS overlays the 1817 survey, historic maps and a reconstructed Golon Grange boundary identified from David Williams's work; it locates Gollon Manor and associated abbey farms.
- Julian Lovell, The Fowlers of Abbey Cwm Hir: Myth or Reality?: https://abbeycwmhir.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TRS-2019-Julian-Lovell-Fowlers-copy.pdf — Summarises the 1560 conveyance of the Manor of Gollon and associated lands across several Radnorshire parishes, and explains that the acquired abbey holdings were scattered rather than one continuous block.
- Julian Lovell, A Walk Around Abbey Cwmhir: Heritage and Hidden History: https://abbeycwmhir.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TRS-2022-Julian-Lovel-Walk.pdf — Identifies the land around Abbey Cwmhir as the abbey's extensive home grange, Manor of Gollon and Township of Cefn Pawl, and describes Abbey Cwmhir as the centre of successive post-monastic estates.
- Coflein/Cadw, The Hall, Abbeycwmhir: https://coflein.gov.uk/media/19/17/cpg358.pdf — Provides the documented Abbey Cwmhir site grid reference SO 055712 and describes the abbey, later estate centre, parks and estate lands; useful for locating the historical manorial centre but not for defining the full manor boundary.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- Do not substitute the modern civil parish of Abbey Cwmhir, the Abbey Cwmhir community boundary, the later Philips estate, or the grounds of Abbey Cwmhir Hall for the historical Manor of Gollon.
- The manor's lands were dispersed across multiple parishes and included detached holdings; therefore a compact polygon inferred from the modern village or parish would be misleading.
- A historical perambulation and enclosure maps survive or are catalogued, but their boundary geometry is not available in a sufficiently precise, georeferenced form in the consulted online sources.
- The representative point is centred on the medieval abbey/manorial site, not on the later Victorian hall.
About the Manor
Abbey Cwmhir Manor, also known historically as Abaty Cwm-hir and as the Manor of Gollon or Golon, was the home manor and principal landholding of the Cistercian Abbey of Cwmhir in the historic county of Radnorshire. The abbey was established on the present site in the late twelfth century and held an extensive group of lands, granges, farms, commons and appurtenances in Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion. The monastic house was dissolved in 1535-1537, after which the abbey estate passed through Crown administration and a series of grants and purchases. The post-Dissolution estate was acquired by William Fowler and remained associated with the Fowler family until the early nineteenth century. It was subsequently held by Thomas Wilson and then by the Philips family. The manor should not be confused with the modern civil parish or with the separate buildings known as Abbey Cwmhir Hall, although the later hall and its grounds occupied part of the former manor estate.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest securely documented holder of the predecessor estate is the Cistercian community of Cwmhir Abbey. A deed dated 10 March 1200 records Roger de Mortimer granting and confirming lands and liberties to the Church of the Blessed Mary at Cwmhir and its Cistercian community. The home manor of Cwmhir, later styled Gollon or Golon, formed part of the abbey's extensive temporal estate. At the Dissolution in 1535-1537 the abbey and its lands reverted to the Crown. The Crown leased or administered parts of the estate, including a lease to John Turner in 1538, and then made successive grants: in 1546 to John Williams and Walter Hendley, in 1547 to George Owen and John Bridges, and in 1548 again to John Williams. After John Williams's death in 1558 the lands passed to his brother Nicholas Williams, from whom William Fowler acquired them in about 1560; the Manor of Gollon and associated lands are also reported as purchased by Fowler in 1565. The Fowler family retained the Abbey Cwmhir estate for approximately 260 years, although the precise individual descent within the family is incompletely documented in the accessible sources. A nineteenth-century account states that John Fowler died in 1697, that his son Edward Fowler held the estate until his death without issue in 1722, and that the estate was thereafter affected by an entail, trusteeship and litigation involving Rachel Fowler, Sir Richard Fowler and Sir William Fowler. Sir Hans Fowler obtained possession of the remaining estate after the disappearance or death of a later Sir William Fowler and held it until his death without issue in 1771. The property then passed to his sister Sarah, wife of Thomas Hodges, and subsequently to their son Thomas Hodges Fowler, who died in 1820. The estate then came into the hands of Henry Fauntleroy, whose bankruptcy and execution for forgery preceded the acquisition of the estate by his agent Thomas Wilson in 1822. Wilson held it until its sale in 1837 to Francis Philips. The Philips family subsequently held Abbey Cwmhir and were recognised locally as the principal landowning family; Francis Philips was followed by his son Francis Aspinall Philips and then by George Henry Philips. The accessible evidence establishes the descent through George Henry Philips's lifetime but does not securely document the later legal descent of the whole manor after 1886. Some later sources state that the wider estate remained in the Philips family into the twentieth century, but that claim has not been treated as a fully sourced manor conveyance here.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
1 record found.
1672: perambulation, with amendments 1720 and 1760, with Golon
Held by: National Library of Wales: Department of Collection Services
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Abbey of Cwmhir, Cistercian community
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 16 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Abbey of Cwmhir, Cistercian community
Transfer: Foundation, endowment and confirmation of the monastic estate
Shared holding: Cwmhir Abbey
A deed of 10 March 1200 records Roger de Mortimer granting and confirming specified lands and liberties in Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion to the Church of the Blessed Mary at Cwmhir and the Cistercian monastic community. Archaeological and estate research identifies the home manor of Cwmhir, later called Gollon or Golon, as the principal monastic estate surrounding the abbey. This entry represents the securely documented monastic predecessor of the imported manor record rather than a claim that every later manor boundary can be reconstructed from the 1200 deed alone.
Source: UCL Special Collections, MS DEEDS/LAT/1, Gift, Roger de Mortimer to Cwmhir Abbey, dated 10 March 1200; Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, Historic Settlements Survey: Abbey Cwmhir. — source link
Transfer: Dissolution of Cwmhir Abbey and seizure of its lands into Crown possession
Shared holding: Crown possession
Previous holder: Abbey of Cwmhir, Cistercian community
The abbey was dissolved in 1535-1537. The accessible historical building record states that the abbey and its lands then passed into Crown possession. The Crown's possession should be distinguished from subsequent leases and grants made out of the Crown estate.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.6; Coflein/Cadw-related historical record. — source link
Transfer: Lease from the Crown after the Dissolution
Holding arrangement: Other — Tenant or lessee under the Crown; not established as lord of the manor
Shared holding: Crown lease
The accessible historical building record states that after dissolution the lands were let by the king to John Turner in 1538, and that Turner had previously been responsible for their administration under the Crown. This is recorded as a Crown tenancy or lease and not as an outright transfer of the manor lordship.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.6. — source link
John Williams and Walter Hendley, Sir John Williams, Baron Williams of Thame, Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations
Transfer: Crown grant of the former abbey estate
Holding arrangement: Joint — Joint grant; the accessible source does not specify fractional shares
Shared holding: Joint Crown grantees
Co-holder: George Owen and John Bridges
A grant in 1546 passed the former abbey estate to John Williams and Walter Hendley. The source gives the annual value as £11 2s. The record is treated as a joint grant of the estate, but the precise legal relationship between this grant and the later named Manor of Gollon is not fully set out in the accessible material.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.7. — source link
Transfer: Further Crown grant of the former abbey estate
Holding arrangement: Joint — Joint grant; the accessible source does not specify fractional shares
Shared holding: Joint Crown grantees
Co-holder: John Williams and Walter Hendley
Previous holder: John Williams and Walter Hendley, Sir John Williams, Baron Williams of Thame, Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations
In 1547 Henry VIII made a further grant of the land to George Owen and John Bridges. The annual value is given in the source as £19 15s 2d. The following year Edward VI dispossessed George Owen and granted the land to John Williams.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.7-3.2.8. — source link
John Williams, Sir John Williams, Baron Williams of Thame, Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations
Transfer: Grant by Edward VI after dispossession of George Owen
Shared holding: Williams family
Co-holder: Nicholas Williams
Previous holder: George Owen and John Bridges
The accessible record states that in 1548 Edward VI dispossessed George Owen and granted the land to John Williams. John Williams died in 1558, after which the lands passed to his brother Nicholas Williams.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.8. — source link
Transfer: Succession after the death of John Williams
Shared holding: Williams family
Co-holder: John Williams
Previous holder: John Williams, Sir John Williams, Baron Williams of Thame, Treasurer of the Court of Augmentations
The accessible historical building record states that John Williams died in 1558 and that the lands passed to his brother Nicholas Williams. It then states that William Fowler acquired the lands from Nicholas Williams in about 1560.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.8-3.2.9. — source link
William Fowler and succeeding Fowler family holders, Provost of Shrewsbury, landowner
Transfer: Purchase from Nicholas Williams; subsequent descent within the Fowler family
Shared holding: Fowler family
Co-holder: Sir Hans Fowler
Previous holder: Nicholas Williams
The Cwmhir historical record states that William Fowler, Provost of Shrewsbury, acquired the lands from Nicholas Williams in about 1560. Other local estate research states that William Fowler purchased the Manor of Gollon and Cefn Pawl in 1565. The Fowler family then held the Abbey Cwmhir estate for approximately 260 years, until its sale or transfer in 1822. The available sources establish the family tenure but do not provide a complete, deed-based list of every individual Fowler holder. A 1564 letter by William Fowler refers to his house at Cwmhir, and later sources identify the Fowler family as lords of the Manor of Gollon.
Source: ArchaeoDomus, Home Farmhouse, Abbey Cwm-hir, Historic Buildings Record AD142, section 3.2.9; Abbey Cwmhir Heritage Trust and Radnorshire Society material on the Manor of Gollon; CPAT Historic Environment Record CPAT16112. — source link
Transfer: Obtained possession of the Fowler estates after litigation and the disappearance or death of a later Sir William Fowler
Shared holding: Fowler family
Co-holder: William Fowler and succeeding Fowler family holders
Previous holder: Sir William Fowler and the Fowler family
A nineteenth-century account states that after the death or disappearance of a later Sir William Fowler, the Abbey Cwmhir estate remained without an owner until his uncle Sir Hans Fowler returned to England and succeeded to the title and estates. Sir Hans sold substantial portions to meet litigation expenses and died without issue in 1771. The exact legal date at which he obtained the manor is not stated and is therefore given approximately.
Source: Sion Prys, History of Llangurig, 1875, account of the Fowlers of Abbey Cwm Hir, pp. 59-60; corroborative local history identifies Sir Hans Fowler with Abbey Cwmhir. — source link
Transfer: Succession to the Abbey Cwmhir estate after the death of her brother Sir Hans Fowler
Shared holding: Fowler-Hodges family
Co-holder: Thomas Hodges Fowler
Previous holder: Sir Hans Fowler, Baronet, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 1765
The 1875 account states that Sir Hans Fowler died without issue in 1771 and was succeeded at Abbey Cwmhir by his sister Sarah, who had married Colonel Thomas Hodges. This entry records the named succession but does not treat Thomas Hodges as sole owner merely because he was Sarah's husband; the source presents Sarah as the successor.
Source: Sion Prys, History of Llangurig, 1875, account of the Fowlers of Abbey Cwm Hir, p. 60. — source link
Transfer: Succession from his mother Sarah Hodges
Shared holding: Fowler-Hodges family
Co-holder: Sarah Hodges, née Fowler
Previous holder: Sarah Hodges, née Fowler
The 1875 account states that Thomas Hodges Fowler succeeded his mother at Abbey Cwmhir and died in 1820. This is a direct statement linking him to the Abbey Cwmhir estate, although the source does not give the exact date of his succession.
Source: Sion Prys, History of Llangurig, 1875, account of the Fowlers of Abbey Cwm Hir, p. 60. — source link
Transfer: Estate came into his possession after the death of Thomas Hodges Fowler; subsequent financial collapse
Shared holding: Fauntleroy estate
Previous holder: Thomas Hodges Fowler, Esquire
The 1875 account states that on the death of Thomas Hodges Fowler in 1820 the Abbey became the property of Mr Fauntleroy, identified by other sources as the banker Henry Fauntleroy. The account says that Fauntleroy was executed for forgery and that his agent Mr Wilson became the next possessor. The precise deed or legal mechanism by which the estate passed to Fauntleroy has not been located, so the transfer is reported without treating the intervening conveyance as proven.
Source: Sion Prys, History of Llangurig, 1875, account of the Fowlers of Abbey Cwm Hir, p. 60; Abbey Cwmhir Hall historical summary. — source link
Transfer: Acquisition of the Abbey Cwmhir estate after the Fauntleroy failure
Shared holding: Wilson ownership
Previous holder: Henry Fauntleroy, Banker
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust states that Thomas Wilson acquired the Abbey Cwmhir estate in 1822. He commissioned a survey, built a new house on the site of the later hall and undertook extensive improvements. A separate nineteenth-century account describes him as Fauntleroy's agent and next possessor, while later sources describe him as the purchaser. The acquisition is therefore secure, although the exact legal route from Fauntleroy's estate to Wilson has not been located.
Source: Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, Historic Settlements Survey: Radnorshire, Abbey Cwmhir; CPAT Historic Environment Record CPAT16112. — source link
Francis Philips, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant, proprietor of Bank Hall and Abbey Cwmhir
Transfer: Purchase of the Abbey Cwmhir estate from the Wilson ownership or its creditors
Shared holding: Philips family
Co-holders: Francis Aspinall Philips, George Henry Philips
Previous holder: Thomas Wilson, Solicitor, Mayor of Adelaide, 1842-1843
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust states that the estate was sold in 1837 to the Philips family. Other historical summaries identify the purchaser as Francis Philips of Bank Hall, Lancashire. The source evidence establishes the transfer of the Abbey Cwmhir estate but does not provide the conveyance instrument or specify whether every manorial right was included in the sale.
Source: Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, Historic Settlements Survey: Radnorshire, Abbey Cwmhir; Abbey Cwmhir Hall historical summary. — source link
Francis Aspinall Philips, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 1851
Transfer: Inheritance from his father Francis Philips
Shared holding: Philips family
Co-holders: Francis Philips, George Henry Philips
Previous holder: Francis Philips, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant, proprietor of Bank Hall and Abbey Cwmhir
Historical summaries of Abbey Cwmhir Hall state that Francis Aspinall Philips inherited Abbey Cwmhir from his father Francis Philips in 1850. He retained the estate while also inheriting the family's Lancashire property and was associated with Abbey Cwmhir as its principal proprietor. The accessible evidence is good secondary evidence for the estate succession, but no manorial conveyance has been located.
Source: Abbey Cwmhir Hall historical summary; Burke-derived family account reproduced in Aspinwall and Aspinall Families; Cadw-listed Hall history. — source link
George Henry Philips, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 1860
Transfer: Inheritance from his father Francis Aspinall Philips
Shared holding: Philips family
Co-holders: Francis Philips, Francis Aspinall Philips
Previous holder: Francis Aspinall Philips, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 1851
George Henry Philips inherited Abbey Cwmhir from his father in 1859 and lived at Abbey Cwmhir Hall. Contemporary and later local descriptions identify the Philips family as principal landowners and George Henry Philips as the resident proprietor. A source records that in 1891 the living was in the gift of trustees of the late George Henry Philips, but that patronage evidence is not treated as proof of continued manor ownership after his death.
Source: Abbey Cwmhir Hall historical summary; Cadw-listed Hall history; nineteenth-century parish description identifying Mrs Philips as lady of the manor and principal landowner. — source link
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JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
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