The farm now known as 'Brondre Fawr' is located about one and a half miles
north of Bwlch-y-sarnau and is shown on the modern OS map at grid reference
SO 035773.
The GG granddaughter of Rev Stephen Pugh, Margaret Ivy Sims Jones, has
written a book which records
the history of the Pugh family in Pant-y-dwr and Bwlch-y-sarnau. It includes
a considerable amount of information on the Rev Stephen Pugh and his farm
which is referred to as 'Brondrefawr'. The farmhouse is referred to as 'Old
Brondrefawr House' and there are two pen and ink drawings of it in the book
as well as a drawing of a stone shed at Brondrefawr.
The house is said to have been built by the monks of Abbeycwmhir in 1536. It
is described as 'a large stone house with beautiful oak beams and big
underground cellars'. The servants worked below ground and carried the food
up to the family who lived on the second floor. The farm comprised 1000
acres which Rev Pugh is reported to have farmed from 1817 until his death in
1872.
Margaret Ivy Sims Jones book is titled 'The Forgotten Composer Edward
Meredith Price Penlan A
Brief History of the Pugh's of Radnorshire 1712 to the Fifties Farming With
the Sims Family 1880 - 1950'. It was published by St. Idloes Press,
Llanidloes, Powys in 1999. I obtained my copy of the book from the Great Oak
Bookshop in Llanidloes who were not only kind enough to post it to me, but
also arranged for the author to sign it on one of her visits to the shop,
which pleased me a great deal as the book includes a number of mentions of
my Meredith family from the local area.
Stephen Pugh was, as John surmised, a baptist minister. He commenced
preaching at Brondrefawr in 1807 and preached there and at various
farmhouses in the district, including that of my GGG grandfather, John
Meredith of the Hendy in Bwlch-y-sarnau, until the congregations became too
large for farmhouses at which point he organised the building of
Bwlch-y-sarnau chapel in 1828.
I'm happy to provide any further information from the book to anyone who
wants it, but I'd recommend anyone who has an interest in the area to obtain
a copy as it has lots of interesting background material. I should perhaps
add that not all of the genealogical information in the book is accurate -
it represents oral history passed down through the family with all the
errors that that typically entails.
Dave in Australia