Whitchurch and Llandaff Living Issue 68

the village on the Tithe Map of 1840
when he was living in Wauntreoda
Farm (later of Flays Farm fame), and
tenanting all of the land on both
sides of the Merthyr Road towards
the Philog. At that time there were
no houses, just the farm, Ararat
Chapel, and the Three Elms pub
on the corner. Otherwise, it was just
open fields.
Ten years later, we find William
still living in Whitchurch, but not at
the farm. He was listed as a ‘retired
druggist’, living with his 23-year-old
son, a housekeeper, and two other
servants in a house on the Philog,
seemingly opposite the farm.
So where was he living? There’s
not much to guide us. Much later,
on the OS map of 1880, there was
a house called Bryn Glas, opposite
the farm. This was set back from the
road with a sweeping driveway and
extensive gardens with trees. Was
this the house that William had built
as his home? But, by then, there
were lots of small cottages along
the road too.
The sketch map shows the area
about 1851 with Bryn Glas in
splendid isolation. If Bryn Glas was
William’s house, I wonder what it
looked like? There are no drawings
or photographs to help, but there
are a few clues.
Tony Lloyd tells us that in 1851,
William had a terrace of 6 houses
built on North Road at Blackweir;
and they’re still there (see
photograph). They have Georgian
proportions with elegant windows
and hipped slated roofs. And there
were a few other grand houses
being built at that time; Roath Court
in Newport Road and Rosemount
The Georgian houses built by William on North Road
on North Road, both with Georgian
proportions and styling. Bryn Glas
might well have looked like them.
The coloured sketch below gives
an impression of what William
might have built on the Philog.
Possibly a 3-storey house with
bay windows on the ground floor
and sash windows over. I suspect
that Bryn Glas might have had a
render finish and, of course, topped
with a hipped slated roof with tall
chimneys. All very grand.
It’s been suggested that William
had plans to add extensive pleasure
gardens with lawns and landscaped
grounds all the way down to the
Philog, but this never happened,
So, what happened to William and
his son?
By 1861, William Bedlington, a
mining engineer from Durham
history
was living in the house with his
family, and there was no sign of the
Vachells. It is thought that William
Vachell died about 1860 (before
he had chance to landscape his
grounds), and William Bedlington
acquired the house.
William’s son Fredrick Charles
moved to Llandaff and had an
enormous house built for himself
there. I wonder what happened to
him?
In time, William Bedlington also
died but his widow and family
remained in the house (she was
still there in 1891, according to the
census).
We’ve been told tales of the
old house becoming more and
more derelict, and ending up as a
playground for local children after
WW1. Nothing of Bryn Glas remains
now. The ruins were cleared away
and the site is now occupied by the
block of flats called Retford Court.
The front boundary walls are all
fine stone, and I wonder if they were
part of the original house? And
there are some large trees in the
grounds, but they are probably too
young to be the originals from Bryn
Glas. But as so often is said in the
village, who knows?
A mystery house with an intriguing
family story. Do you know any more
about William and his son, or about
Bryn Glas? We’d love to hear!
Nigel Lewis is a member of AWEN@
thelibrary (awen.cymru@gmail.com)
What Bryn Glas may have looked like
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