...By Joseph Benjamin for TDPel Media.
Welsh councillor Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn from Snowdonia is calling on the Welsh Government to buy the site of Owain Glyndŵr’s home, which is located just a mile from the English border.
The site, located near Llansilin in Montgomeryshire, is where historians believe the legendary Welsh leader could have been born, and is said to have contained a “fine wooden house atop a green hill” with a “great lordly hall” within the bailey, a mill, fishponds, and a deer park containing a lodge.
Although the privately-owned site has received funding from historical preservation service Cadw, the councillor believes that the Welsh Government needs to go one step further and buy the site outright.
A petition calling on the Welsh Government to buy the site of Owain Glyndŵr’s home will be considered for debate in the Senedd after it reached 10,000 signatures.
The Bowydd and Rhiw councillor says the Welsh Government is “on the right track” but has not always been “fully committed” to ensuring that places like Sycharth are safeguarded and promoted.
The campaign has the support of other Plaid Cymru politicians, including MS for Mid and West Wales Cefin Campbell, who said: “Sycharth’s place in Welsh and British history cannot be understated.
However, despite the integral role it plays in our nation’s heritage, the site has too often been neglected by authorities.”
The privately-owned site has received funding from historical preservation service Cadw, but some believe the Welsh Government needs to buy the site outright.
Swansea West Labour MP Geraint Davies also supports the move to bring the historic site under government ownership.
Plaid Cymru’s leader in Powys County Council Elwyn Vaughan said: “Whilst some work has been done by Cadw to Sycharth over recent years, it remains neglected and overlooked.
Sycharth’s place in Welsh and British history cannot be understated.
The campaign to buy the site has gained momentum, and Councillor ap Elwyn is determined to see Sycharth developed for the benefit of Wales and future generations.
His aim is to make the site easier to reach, better to walk, and to make more resources available to tell the story of Glyndŵr properly.
Cadw has issued a grant to the site’s owners to replace the stile with a lower and less steep structure and implement a more durable car park surface.
The work is expected to be completed before the end of the financial year.
Earlier this month, Cadw took ownership of Llys Rhosyr on Ynys Môn, the court of the medieval princes of Gwynedd, after the site was bought for £17,000.
Llys Rhosyr has been made a scheduled monument, meaning it will be closely managed, with the expectation that it will be handed to future generations in the same state.
Campaigners hope that Sycharth will get the same protection as Llys Rhosyr.
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