This ffridd wall (Head Dyke) defines the extent of improved in-bye land associated with the farm of Troed y Rhiw (NPRN: 405541) and stretches for nearly 1km between the farm of Frongoch (NPRN: 405543) and the now open ground but once woodland known as Coed Troed y Rhiw (Yr Allt Goch) (NPRN: 405566). This ffridd wall replaced an early top boundary (NPRN: 406296) situated further to the west and with its construction extended the area of in-bye land.

A number of constructional phases are evident in the wall. It would appear that the first-phase wall comprised of an earthen bank, which was later faced on its external side with stones in the form of rough stone piling with a number of orthostats. The final phase of the wall can be seen defining the north-eastern boundary of the farmstead of Troed y Rhiw Ucha (NPRN: 405539) and was constructed between 1766 and 1843 and comprises simply of a wall or rough stone piling. Beyond the external face of the wall there is evidence of a quarry ditch, further hollowed by human and animal traffic. There is however a clear external ditch on the 163m stretch running from Frongoch to the gate through the wall at SN 76683 66469.

The date of the first-phase ffridd wall is unclear although it was in place by the time of the 1766 survey of the Crosswood (Trawsgoed) Estate, associated with the Vaughan family (later Earls of Lisburne) (National Library Wales (NLW): CW IV.9 volume II, map 4). At the top of the Frongoch/Troed y Rhiw farm boundary at SN 76679 66513, and just beyond the present ffridd wall, are two earthen banks which evidently predate the current arrangement. One extends the line of the farm boundary, and the other is an alternative course for the line of the ffridd wall. They were evidently intended to meet at a point some 30m above the present junction, but were never completed. It seems likely that the institiution of a new farm boundary which defined the land of Frongoch properly, and the construction of the first-phase ffridd wall, dates from the second half of the 17th century, the period when the Vaughans were beginning to `improve' the properties they had acquired in 1630, and to raise their rents.

A detailed survey of this feature was undertaken by RCAHMW in 2006 as part of a wider study of the Troed y Rhiw area (NPRN: 405578).

Louise Barker, RCAHMW & Andrew Fleming, June 2007.

Sources:
Fleming, A. & Barker, L. 2008 Monks and Local Communities: The Late-medieval Landscape of Troed y Rhiw, Caron Uwch Clawdd, Ceredigion. Medieval Archaeology 52, 261-290