E-book library · 121 titles · 121 released
The Llandough–Leckwith Landscape Library
A library of short e-books about Great House Farm (Tŷ Mawr), Llandough, the Williams–Buckler family and the wider landscape of Llandough and Leckwith. Each first edition sets out its scope, what the record holds on the subject, a source register and the questions still open. Some first editions are short: they hold only what the sources support.
Every first edition is £0.00 – v0.01. Titles marked “In preparation” are planned and will appear here as they are released.
I.The Public Doorways8 titles · 8 released
Stand-alone introductions for readers new to the farm, the family and the landscape.
1.The House That Vanished
The accessible, illustrated history of Great House Farm, its occupants, the controversy over its future, its demolition in December 1988 and the questions that remain.
2.Tŷ Mawr: One House, Many Histories
A richly illustrated history of the building itself: its rooms, stonework, architectural development, daily life, alterations, surviving fragments and absence today.
3.The Lost Landscape of Llandough and Leckwith
A large-format narrative atlas showing how farms, woods, fields, roads, churches and settlements evolved across the wider landscape.
4.One Farm, Two Parcels
The clearest possible introduction to Parcel A and Parcel B: how their histories differ, how their boundaries were described and why those distinctions matter.
5.The 320-Year House?
A popular investigation of the family's recollection of occupancy from 1667, the surviving records, the Vaughan family, the Thomas connection and the documentary questions surrounding the Williams family.
6.The Village That Remembered
The community's memories of Great House Farm, the people who visited it, the preservation campaign, local press coverage and the stories that survived its destruction.
7.1,026 Burials: The Cemetery Beneath Modern Llandough
A carefully mapped account of the cemetery excavation and the people represented by its burials, distinguishing archaeological findings from questions about individual identities, chronology and land boundaries.
8.A Walk from the Roman Villa to Tŷ Mawr
An illustrated walking history connecting the area's archaeological and historic places, explaining what happened at each site and why neighbouring sites must not be treated as one archaeological monument.
II.Before the Farm: Deep History and Medieval Wales10 titles · 10 released
The deep history of the place, from the Iron Age to the medieval church, kept apart from the story of the farmhouse itself.
9.Before the Villa: Iron Age Llandough
An introduction to the earlier farming landscape, settlement evidence and the transition from prehistoric to Roman-period life.
10.Roman Llandough: The Villa and Its World
The archaeological story of the Roman villa, its buildings, domestic life, landscape, material culture and relationship to the surrounding countryside.
11.From Villa to Monastery
A major popular archaeology book examining the changing religious and settlement landscape from the Roman period into early medieval Wales.
12.The Early Christian Cemetery
What can be established from the burials, grave goods, excavation reports and dating evidence? What remains uncertain about the cemetery's origins and development?
13.The Medieval Settlement Beside the Church
The medieval archaeology around Great House Farm and the church, including pottery, possible buildings, graves and the limits of what the excavations establish.
14.Llandough Grange: Monks, Farming and the Medieval Economy
A study of medieval ecclesiastical landholding, agricultural production, religious institutions and the organisation of land in the area.
15.The Church and Parish of Llandough
The history of the church, churchyard, parish institutions, religious practice, memorial inscriptions and the relationship between worship and local landholding.
16.Wales Before the Marcher Lords
An accessible introduction to the Welsh political, social and landholding landscape before Anglo-Norman rule, with a focused investigation of what can be reconstructed for this part of Glamorgan.
17.Land After Conquest
A history of changing lordship, Crown grants, ecclesiastical landholding, the Reformation and later landed estates. It should examine how power over Welsh land changed without collapsing centuries of distinct events into one story.
18.An Archaeology of Neighbourhood
A site-by-site archaeological guide to Llandough, explaining the locations, dates and evidence for the villa, cemetery, medieval occupancy, Great House Farm and other known archaeological sites.
III.The Cedwyn Question: Names, Manors and the Estate11 titles · 11 released
The names Cedfin, Cydfin, Cedwyn and Tŷ Mawr, the manors and estates, and whether a greater estate can be reconstructed from the records.
19.Cedfin, Cydfin, Cefin, Cedwyn: A Name Under Cross-Examination
A dedicated place-name investigation using archival spellings, estate catalogues, maps, parish records and the Welsh historic-place-name resources. The objective is to establish which forms refer to the same places, and which do not.
20.The Cedwyn Estate Question: Was There a Greater Estate?
The flagship investigation into the proposed historical estate. It should reconstruct possible boundaries and ownership, then test them against contemporary records rather than assume the conclusion.
21.The 107 Acres: Cydfin or Tŷ Mawr Farm in the Bute Papers
A documentary study of the National Library of Wales catalogue entries and the underlying leases for Cydfin Farm or Tŷ Mawr Farm. It should establish what the records describe, where the land lay and whether its history can be connected to the land under investigation.
22.The Manor of Llandough and Leckwith
An account of manorial organisation, lordship, courts, landholding, rents and the relationship between the two localities.
23.Before Bute: Reconstructing the Earlier Welsh Landholding
The central book for investigating the hypothesis of an earlier Welsh estate. It should work backwards through the documentary record, separating evidence for a Welsh landholding landscape from evidence that specifically establishes ancestral ownership by the Williams family.
24.Bute and the Making of a Landed Estate
How the Bute Estate acquired, administered and transformed its landholding in the area, including its relationship with tenants, occupiers, freeholders and developing Cardiff.
25.The Vaughan Family: Minor Gentry of Glamorgan
A family and social history of the Vaughans associated with Great House Farm, including their memorials, standing, occupancy of the house and place in the local gentry landscape.
26.From Manorial Court to Estate Office
The transition from medieval and early modern landholding institutions to the administrative and financial machinery of later landed estates.
27.The Crown, Church and Lordship: How Land Changed Hands
A documentary history of the legal and institutional mechanisms through which land in Glamorgan changed ownership or control over successive centuries.
28.The 107 Acres, the 166 Acres and the Problem of Same-Name Farms
A practical historical-geography investigation into similarly named farms, acreage descriptions and the danger of assigning documents to the wrong property.
29.Llandough and Lecwydd: Place Names, Parish and Boundary
A study of Llandough and Leckwith, their Welsh names, historical spellings, parish boundaries, communications and shared landscape.
IV.The Williams–Buckler Family Library10 titles · 10 released
The people of the Williams–Buckler family, told as lives rather than as chapters of a land dispute.
30.The Williams Family's 1667 Tradition
A dedicated family-history investigation tracing the remembered starting date, the generations known by name, the surviving documents and the gaps still to be filled.
31.John Williams of Great House Farm
A biography drawing together farming, tenancy, family relationships, contemporary reporting, estate records and the documentary history of his occupancy.
32.Mary Williams: Born at Tŷ Mawr
A full biography of Mary Williams, her childhood, marriage to Frederick Buckler, family life, return to her maiden name after his death, and her long association with Great House Farm.
33.Frederick Buckler and the Williams–Buckler Family
The story of the Buckler family, the marriage connecting it to the Williams family, and the succeeding generations.
34.Daniel and Alfred Thomas: The Other Landlords
A study of the Thomas family and the land transactions and tenancy relationships associated with Great House Farm. It should examine the family's recollection of the quarrying-era arrangement against the surviving documentary record.
35.The Women of Tŷ Mawr
A social history of mothers, daughters, wives, widows and other women associated with the household, exploring domestic work, farming, inheritance, resilience and the preservation of family memory.
36.The Children of the Great House
Childhood at the farm across generations: education, recreation, household responsibilities, village life and the experience of the house before its loss.
37.Work and the Farm Year
A reconstruction of the agricultural calendar, seasonal labour, livestock, maintenance, food production and the rhythm of domestic and farming life.
38.Family Papers: Surviving, Lost and Still Missing
An investigation of the family's documents, photographs, letters, deeds and recollections, with an explicit distinction between located records, reported losses and unresolved questions about missing material.
39.Portraits, Letters, Recipes and Oral Histories
A more intimate family volume built around domestic objects, recorded recollections, photographs, family correspondence and the material culture of everyday life.
V.A Story for Every Part of the Land10 titles · 10 released
A history for each part of the land: house, yard, garden, wood, green and fields, tied together by one atlas.
40.The House and Its Rooms
A room-by-room reconstruction of the farmhouse, using photographs, plans, surveys, descriptions and recollections.
41.The Barn, Stable and Yard
The history of the outbuildings, their practical uses, construction, repairs, agricultural functions and place in local memory.
42.The Garden, Orchard and Kitchen Plot
A historical investigation of the cultivated ground around the house: planting, food production, fruit trees, household routines, boundaries and possible changes through time.
43.The Northern Wood: Trees, Boundaries and Parcel A
The history of the northern woodland as a physical landscape, a boundary feature, an ecological habitat and a component of the family's understanding of Parcel A.
44.The South-Eastern Green: VG41 and the Public Landscape
The story of the green ground, its changing physical and administrative identity, its place in the family's parcel account and its present-day significance.
45.The Eastern Fields: Parcel B
The agricultural landscape east of the house: its fields, boundaries, use, ownership and separate history from the occupied house-and-buildings area.
46.The Road That Divided the Farm
An illustrated history of roads, access routes, field crossings and changing transport connections, and how these altered the relationship between the farm and its surroundings.
47.Parcel A Beyond the House and Garden
The wider Parcel A history, examining the woodland, green, yard, buildings and other areas included in the family's understanding of Parcel A rather than reducing the parcel to the house's footprint.
48.Parcel B: Fields, Tenancy and Possession
A distinct documentary history of Parcel B, tracing the agricultural tenancy, subsequent ownership and possession history.
49.The Parcel Atlas, 1552–2026
A map-led book using chronological layers to show how land descriptions, boundaries, buildings and surrounding development changed over time. Every reconstruction should be labelled with its source and degree of certainty.
VI.The Green Library: Botany, Trees and Wildlife14 titles · 14 released
The plants, trees and wildlife of the landscape, grounded in survey records rather than imagined lists.
50.The Green Atlas of Llandough and Leckwith: A Botanical Survey
The flagship plant book, recording the plants of the woodland, green, field edges, roadsides, garden remnants and wider landscape. It should identify confirmed species, locations, seasonality, habitats and changes through time.
51.Trees of the Lost Farm
An illustrated guide to the trees of the area, including identification, age estimates where feasible, ecology, historic mapping and the role of trees in boundaries and landscape character.
52.Wildflowers, Meadows and Grasses
A seasonal guide to the flowering plants and grasses found in the local landscape, with an emphasis on species actually recorded during surveys.
53.Hedges, Verges and Boundary Plants
The overlooked natural history of field edges, roadside vegetation, hedgerows, boundary trees and the plants that can help reconstruct older land divisions.
54.The Garden That Outlived Tŷ Mawr
An investigation into the garden's former composition and the persistence, loss or survival of cultivated plants after the farmhouse disappeared.
55.Ferns, Mosses, Lichens and Fungi
A specialist natural-history guide extending the plant library into the wider organisms associated with woodland, damp ground, stonework and mature habitats.
56.Birds of the Woods and Fields
A guide to recorded bird species and their habitats, including seasonal changes and the relationship between woodland, open ground, church grounds and surrounding development.
57.Mammals of the Llandough Landscape
A field guide and survey project investigating the area's mammals, including the evidence needed to establish which species use particular habitats.
58.Pollinators and Insects
A book for naturalists, gardeners and schoolchildren documenting recorded pollinators and other insects, habitat requirements, seasonal life cycles and conservation opportunities.
59.Soil, Stone and Lime: A Natural History
The geology, soils, local building stone and lime-related landscape history, connecting natural resources to both the ecology and the farm's economic past.
60.Water, Wells, Drainage and the Shape of the Land
The investigation of slopes, runoff, groundwater, springs where evidenced, historical drainage, surface water and how water shaped farming and habitation.
61.The Year in the Cedwyn Landscape
A richly illustrated seasonal almanac following the landscape through winter, spring, summer and autumn. It could combine verified observations with historical descriptions and a repeatable annual recording programme.
62.Useful Plants: Food, Medicine, Craft and Folklore
How plants were used in rural Welsh households: culinary ingredients, dyes, fibres, materials, traditional remedies and folklore, with each historical statement credited to its source.
63.Landscape in 100 Images
An illustrated visual journey using maps, historic photographs, aerial images, botanical records and modern views to compare the changing landscape. Captions should identify dates and locations accurately.
VII.The Two World Wars and the People Who Served7 titles · 7 released
The two world wars and the people of Llandough and Leckwith who lived through them.
64.Llandough in the First World War
A local history of 1914–1918, investigating enlistment, military service, bereavement, labour shortages, farming and the changes experienced by households.
65.The Names on the War Memorial
A biographical project tracing the identities, service records, families and lives of people commemorated on local war memorials, while identifying unresolved names and uncertain matches.
66.The 1914–18 Home Front: Farms, Work and Women
A social history of wartime food production, household economies, changing responsibilities and the lives of those who stayed in the community.
67.Llandough in the Second World War
A dedicated history of 1939–1945, examining local records, military service, the home front, civil defence and documented wartime changes.
68.Blackout, Rationing, Evacuation and Civil Defence
The everyday experience of the Second World War in the surrounding communities, researched through local records, recollections and official documentation.
69.War Service: A Williams–Buckler and Neighbourhood Roll of Honour
An illustrated family and community register linking individuals to service records, photographs, memorials and family recollection wherever evidence survives.
70.Land at War: Fields, Woods, Roads and Wartime Use
An investigation of wartime land use and changes to the local landscape, using maps, aerial imagery, requisition records and other contemporary documentation.
VIII.Industry, Communications and the Making of Modern Cardiff8 titles · 8 released
Lime, stone, roads, wireless and the growth of modern Cardiff.
71.The Limeworks and the 1877 Division
An investigation of the quarrying-era arrangements, the land's industrial use and the proposed connection between quarrying and the later division of the farm.
72.Quarry Stone and the Making of Cardiff
The economic and physical story of local stone extraction, construction, transport, labour and the relationship between rural land and urban expansion.
73.Leckwith Woods and Cardiff: The 1940–42 Transaction
A documentary investigation into the wartime-era woodland transactions, the relevant authorities, plans, acreage and any relationship to the wider Llandough–Leckwith landscape. The exact conveyances and boundaries must determine the conclusion.
74.Roads, Railways and the Industrial Edge
The changing transport network and how it connected farms, settlements, quarries, ports and the expanding city.
75.Marconi at Lavernock: Signal, Shore and Llandough
A popular account of the wireless experiments associated with Lavernock Point and Flat Holm, and the wider technological history of the area.
76.Did the Williams Family Assist Marconi? A Sourcebook
A tightly focused investigation of the connection the family remembers to the 1897 experiments. It should distinguish the documented history of Marconi's work from the specific family connection, which requires its own supporting records.
77.The Barn, Jim Driscoll and Sporting Memory
The relationship between Great House Farm, local boxing history, Jim Driscoll and the way stories about sporting places survive in local memory.
78.Farm Work: Livestock, Dairy, Cheese and Harvest
A practical history of rural labour, food production, farming techniques and the household economy, using local evidence alongside clearly identified regional comparisons.
IX.Cedwyn Estate Fashion, Food and Cultural Life9 titles · 9 released
Dress, food, language and community life, with a modern design project clearly marked as modern.
79.Cedwyn Estate Fashion: A Welsh Landscape in Cloth
The proposed flagship fashion book and design identity. It would translate the landscape's trees, flowers, stone, historic maps, working clothes and Welsh cultural heritage into contemporary fashion. This is a modern creative project, it does not suggest that a historical fashion house existed.
80.The Cedwyn Wardrobe: Dress, Textiles and Status
An investigation of what people in the area might have worn across different periods, separating documented household and clothing evidence from carefully labelled historical reconstruction.
81.Welsh Wool, Working Clothes and Estate Dress
The relationship between rural work, Welsh textiles, practical clothing, local craft traditions and the distinctions between everyday dress and formal attire.
82.What Did a Glamorgan Farm Family Wear?
A visual social-history book reconstructing dress through photographs, surviving objects, inventories, contemporary illustrations and regional comparisons.
83.The Farm Kitchen at Tŷ Mawr
Food, recipes, ingredients, dairy work, household routines, celebrations and the relationship between a rural household and its land.
84.Furniture, Tools and Everyday Objects
An illustrated catalogue of the material culture of a farmhouse: agricultural implements, kitchenware, furniture, household objects and the objects remembered or recorded before demolition.
85.Songs, Welsh Language and Oral Traditions
A study of language, local speech, songs, storytelling and cultural transmission, including the changing use of Welsh and English in the area.
86.Hospitality, Lodgers and Travellers
The farmhouse as a household that received visitors or lodgers, investigating the records and recollections of the people who passed through it.
87.Village Sport, Boxing, Games and Community Life
A broad cultural history of sport, recreation, village gatherings and the local stories associated with Great House and neighbouring communities.
X.The Documentary and Legal Library13 titles · 13 released
Documentary studies of the actual instruments, orders, judgments and registrations.
88.The 1877 Agreement: Sale, Quarrying and the Promise of Title
A central investigation of the reported agreement between the Bute Estate and Daniel Thomas, the subsequent Thomas relationship and the family's recollection of what was to happen when quarrying ended.
89.1916 to 1938: Tenancy, Reversion and the Whole-Farm Description
A study of the 1916 tenancy, the 1938 transfer of the reversion and the descriptions of the property used in later documents and legal proceedings.
90.The 1955 Possession Proceedings
A documentary account of the earlier possession proceedings, the lands involved, the relevant order, and the difference between Parcel A and Parcel B in the family's case.
91.The 1962 Possession Order
The history and legal scope of the order relating to the occupied house-and-garden area, including how the order should be read alongside the wider ownership case.
92.Offers, Licences and Rejections, 1974–1984
A chronology of offers, correspondence and proposed licences, examining the language used, the parties involved and the records of acceptance or rejection.
93.BP Properties Ltd v Buckler: The Trial
A readable account of the proceedings, parties, evidence, legal arguments and judgment, using the court record rather than later summaries alone.
94.The 1987 Appeal: What Was Decided?
An analysis of the Court of Appeal judgment, identifying the questions actually determined, the legal reasoning and the issues that were not adjudicated.
95.Strasbourg 14464/88
The European human-rights proceedings, the application record, the decision of 14 April 1989 and what can properly be inferred from the result.
96.Land Registration, 1982–1987
A documentary study of the relevant Land Registry titles, their stated basis, the registration chronology and the later amalgamation of the properties.
97.The Missing Deeds: Archives, Custody and Open Questions
A forensic investigation of the documents reported missing, where they were last recorded, the provenance of surviving copies, the search history and the precise status of each unresolved question.
98.Title, Tenancy, Occupancy and Possession: A Legal Reader
A general legal guide explaining the distinctions between owning land, occupying it, holding a tenancy, accepting a licence and being subject to a possession order.
99.How to Read a Deed, Plan and Land Registry Entry
A practical guide to interpreting conveyances, historic plans, boundary descriptions, title registers and documentary chains of ownership.
100.Two Parcels, Two Stories: Competing Chains of Title
A side-by-side examination of the documentary histories of Parcel A and Parcel B. The purpose is to make each chain understandable, identify gaps and show where competing interpretations rely on different records.
XI.Demolition, Heritage and the Afterlife of the Site8 titles · 8 released
The demolition of December 1988, the heritage record and the redevelopment of the site.
101.The Last Winter of Tŷ Mawr
A narrative history of the final months of the house, bringing together household recollections, contemporary correspondence, press coverage and the surviving chronology.
102.The House Comes Down: 5–6 December 1988
An illustrated documentary account of the demolition, using photographs, official records, contemporary reporting and material relating to the fate of the building's contents and fabric.
103.The Listing That Came Too Late?
An investigation of the heritage-assessment and spot-listing history surrounding the demolition, reconstructing who knew what and when from dated records and correspondence.
104.From Farm to Church View Close
The planning and redevelopment history of the area, including planning applications, conditions, site changes and the transition from agricultural land to a modern neighbourhood.
105.The Cemetery and the New Neighbourhood
An account of the relationship between archaeological discoveries and later development, carefully mapping the excavation site and distinguishing it from the property's disputed parcel boundaries.
106.The Petition to Save Great House
A history of the public preservation campaign, petitions, local feeling, press coverage and the arguments over why the house mattered to the community.
107.The Heritage Record After Demolition
A documentary history of subsequent surveys, historic environment records, the preservation of photographs and architectural fragments, and the changing official descriptions of the site.
108.Who Owns a Story After the Building Is Gone?
A thoughtful book about historic memory, family history, public records, community testimony and the responsibilities of people and institutions documenting a demolished place.
XII.The Reference Library and Public Engagement Series13 titles · 13 released
Reference works and public resources that others can use and build on.
109.The Great House Chronology, 1552–2026
A rigorously referenced master chronology of significant events, documents, ownership changes, family milestones, archaeological discoveries, planning decisions and subsequent research.
110.An Illustrated Atlas of the Entire Landscape
A map-based reference work showing historic boundaries, buildings, woodland, fields, roads, archaeological sites, contemporary development and the evidence supporting each mapped feature.
111.The Sourcebook: Deeds, Letters, Court Papers and Historic Newspapers
An edited documentary collection, including transcriptions, provenance, dates, archival references, explanatory notes and clear indications where the original document has not been located.
112.The Llandough Gazetteer: People, Place Names, Buildings and Fields
An alphabetical reference to historical people, farms, buildings, field names, roads, localities, institutions and documentary variants.
113.The Evidence Handbook: Fact, Testimony, Inference and Open Questions
A guide to the research method: how to distinguish contemporary records from later testimony, how to evaluate conflicting evidence, how to record uncertainty and how to avoid treating an unproved assertion as a finding.
114.The Great House Farm Oral History Project
An edited collection of recorded interviews with former residents, neighbours, former visitors, local historians and others with relevant recollections. Each contribution should record provenance, dates and the limits of personal memory.
115.The Lost Map: A Children's Book About Tŷ Mawr
An illustrated story for younger readers following a family trying to understand an old map, a lost farmhouse, a woodland and two parcels of land.
116.The Two Parcels: A Graphic History
A graphic-narrative adaptation of the land's history, using maps, documentary extracts and visual storytelling to explain how a seemingly simple farm came to have competing historical descriptions.
117.The House by the Churchyard: A Historical Novel
A work of historical fiction spanning different generations around Great House Farm. All invented dialogue, scenes and characters should be clearly distinguished from the documented record.
118.A Pocket Field Guide to Llandough and Leckwith
A portable guide for walkers, residents and visitors, linking natural-history observations with archaeological landmarks, historic routes, place names and points of historical interest.
119.One Place, Two Thousand Years: A School Book
An illustrated educational book showing how a single local landscape can reveal changes in settlement, religion, farming, industry, ownership, ecology and public memory.
120.The Public History Toolkit: Walks, QR Routes, Plaques and Learning Resources
A practical guide for turning the research into walking trails, interpretation boards, digital maps, teaching materials, community projects and carefully sourced public displays.
121.The Llandough–Leckwith Research Bibliography and Archive Register
The reference work that ties the library together: a searchable record of sources, archive catalogues, documents, images, maps, published literature, research leads and unresolved questions.
Fiction and children’s titles are labelled as fiction or creative interpretation, and the fashion title is a modern creative project. Case theories in the legal titles are