1. Description derived from that drawn up for Pwllpeiran trail information board (Dec.2000)
It is not known if the Cwmystwyth grange had a focal settlement but the complex of earthworks located immediately in front of the forestry plantation has been identified as a centre of activity. Situated in a sheltered valley, and partly overlain by the plantation, it presents striking evidence for cultivation. To the west of the stream an oval enclosure contains nine raised plant beds each up to 10m long, 5m wide and 0.3m high. They are separated by narrow gullies to assist drainage and were probably enclosed by fences to maintain temperature. A pond on the west may have provided irrigation when necessary. Adjacent on the east, and apparently partly overlain by the first, is a second enclosure with a similar bedding lay-out though here the plant beds are far more eroded. The earthworks described here have been associated with monastic herbal practices in what may have been a herb garden.
To the east of the stream a larger enclosure of trapezoidal shape contains five or six linear banks separated by furrows. This enclosure was probably intended for rye or root-crop production. The east corner of the enclosure is defined by a steep natural slope which is now partly overlain by a recent dump of material scraped from a nearby track.
DKL 12/2000 (based on CSB + field observation)
RCAHMW AP955042/42

Although (in 1988-91) C.S.Briggs tentatively suggested that the site and its functions may have had its origins in the grange of Cwm Ystwyth , there is still no evidence that this is other than the remains of a post-medieval farm, though it is tempting to associate the group of nine down-graded raised beds with a medieval context. And even if this holding had belonged to a monastic grange, the connection with monasticism suggested above is unlikely to have stretched to herb gardening outside a more cloistered environment. At most, this could be a medieval horticultural site tenured coincidentally from a monastic grange. Its real importance needs to be seen in its relationship to what little is currently understood about the administration, agriculture and horticultural economies of monastic grange lands; how the enclosure operated in relation to the house plots still visible on the adjacent hillside, and in how many similar settlements may have made up the practical workings of a grange structure.

C.S.Briggs 19.10.05

Manuscript references have been identified by Jennifer Macve, the earliest dating from 1590 (NLW Pentyparc MS2) which refers to Llanerch Oerfa as one of several properties in the Hafod area being leased to the Herbert family. Crosswood Deeds II 177 and 396, dating to 1733 and 1772 respectively, are from the Johnes period of ownership and refer to the property as 'Bwlch yr Oywa' and Bwlch yr Orva'. A survey book from 1792 (Nottingham University Newcastle MSS survey book Ne S 150) contains watercolour maps and and schedules of various holdings within the Hafod Estate, including 'Bwlch yr Oerfa Cottage and fields' (20a. 3r. 3p), and the 1814 map of the estate shows the site as an empty rectangular, after which the site stops being featured on maps.

Information from Jennifer Macve, December 2017.