Cwmystwyth is now a tranquil community; due to the wild and
mountainous nature of the countryside and the limited
access, the land is now principally used for sheep farming.
However, during much of the 19th century, the area was as
industrialised as the valleys of South Wales. For over a
thousand years, the Ystwyth valley has been quarried to
extract the rich supply of metals to be found there. Copper
had been worked there since the Bronze Age with the Romans
later mining for Silver-bearing Lead. The Cistercian monks
of Strata Florida also had mines and a grange farm in the
valley.
In the 18th century, prospecting for lodes by scouring the
surface of the ground by a sudden rush of water - hushing - was
practiced. The channels and reservoirs required for this process
can still be seen. Indeed, the metal mining of the 18th and 19th
centuries has bequeathed a bewildering array of remains - an
industrial archaeologist’s paradise. Work finally ceased in
Cwmystwyth in 1921. With the closure of the mines, a return to
farming was inevitable, it having been prominent in the area for
over four hundred years.
The natural routeway of the Ystwyth valley in which this area
lies was emphasised in 1770 when a turnpike road was constructed
to supply the Lead mines. Remains of some of these mines can
still be seen from the road - the present B4574. This narrow
track, winding its way through the valley, provided the main
connection between the region and eastern Wales and England
until the completion of a new road through Ponterwyd in 1812.
The village of Cwmystwyth itself, with its chapels and school,
was probably founded in the 18th or 19th centuries and was
reliant on the metal mining industry. After the mining ceased
and the population inevitably declined, the school closed in
1960 and the Post Office, once the heart of the community,
finally closed in 1991.
The
skies above Cwmystwyth today are rarely without a Red Kite or
two circling and soaring over the hills yet intense persecution
once meant that Red Kites had vanished from England, Scotland
and most of Wales by the end of the 19th century. The 16th
century saw a series of Vermin Acts, requiring 'vermin',
including the Red Kite, to be killed throughout the parishes of
Wales and England - the bird was perceived as a threat to
expanding agriculture. The cull continued throughout the 17th
and 18th centuries and, at the end of the 18th century, another
devastating blow was dealt by the gamekeepers employed in
increasing numbers on country estates. By the beginning of the
19th century, Red Kites had bred for the last time in England
with the story in Scotland being similar. Only in rural Mid
Wales did Red Kites hang on - their numbers down to just a few
breeding pairs. At that point a few local landowners had the
foresight to set up an unofficial protection programme, to try
to safeguard the future of this beautiful bird. Thanks to the
efforts made by committed generations of landowners, rural
communities, dedicated individuals and organizations to maintain
the fragile breeding population over almost 100 years, Red Kite
populations have gradually been restored. Furthermore, due to
the high number of Red Kites in the valley, the area often
attracts wildlife photographers and even television crews.
