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The Norman invasion of Wales is the period of military activity by Norman forces in Wales from the mid eleventh century until the final Conquest of Wales in 1283. Norman soldiers were already in active conflicts against Welsh forces during the reign of Edward the Confessor, but this activity increased substantially following the Norman conquest of England.

Under William the Conqueror, an organised invasion saw a large Norman force invade Wales in 1081. By 1094 much of Wales was under the control of William Rufus. However, by 1101 the Welsh had regained the greater part of the country under the long reign of King Gruffudd ap Cynan. By the reign of king Henry I of England the Norman advance had halted, and a relatively stable state of affairs developed. This situation continued during the reign of Stephen of England, who became locked in a power struggle and civil war with Empress Matilda.

Henry II of England launched another series of invasions into Wales, leading the first expedition in 1157. Henry met with a number of defeats, particularly at the Battle of Ewloe and at Coleshill(Coed Eulo), where Henry narrowly avoid being killed in battle. Henry launched another invasion in 1163, gaining homage from the two most powerful princes of Wales, Rhys ap Gruffydd and Owain Gwynedd. In South Wales however, the kingdom of Deheubarth became more powerful during Henry's reign, winning back most of their kingdom's losses from the Normans. In 1171, Henry agreed to confirm all of these conquests in exchange for tribute.

Early conflicts

By the mid-11th century, Wales had been united by the King of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. Gruffudd pushed into Saxon England, burning the city of Hereford, overwhelming border patrols, and proving the English defences there entirely inadequate to respond to Welsh invasions. During this time, Harold Godwinson led a campaign of retaliatory raids into Wales. In the wake of this campaign, Gruffudd was turned upon by his own men, who killed him in 1063 and shipped his head off to Edward the Confessor in exchange for the redivision of Wales into its traditional kingdoms. This left a vacuum of power in Wales in which princes and kings were free to squabble over their lands, without the unifying presence of Gruffudd to ward off Norman attacks.

It took some time for the Normans to concentrate any level of might against the Welsh, as they were more concerned, in the aftermath of Hastings, with England and Normandy. In addition, it was not William's goal to conquer Wales; he had come to inherit what he believed to be his birthright, the English throne, which entailed taking on the responsibilities of Edward and the Anglo-Saxon kings, including their relationships with Wales and Scotland. However, Wales had begun to force the matter, supporting English rebellions against the Normans.

In response to Welsh advances, William established a series of earldoms in the borderlands, specifically at Chester, under Hugh d'Avranches; Shrewsbury, under Roger de Montgomerie; and Hereford, under William FitzOsbern. He instilled a great deal of power into each earldom, allowing them control of the surrounding towns and land, rather than retaining it within the kingship. The inspiration for such an action seems to have been the overextended nature of the Norman troops, thus preventing William from exercising his own power in the area. It very well may have been implicit in the power granted the earldoms that they were to attack Wales, and, indeed, they did, beginning with south-east Wales, where many of the previous rebellions against England had begun.

First Norman invasion of Wales

Chepstow Castle, as seen above the Wye river

The Walls of Chepstow Castle

By the time of FitzOsbern's death in 1071, a castle had been established at a location known at the time as Striguil, near the mouth of the Wye. This served as a base from which the Normans continued to expand westward into Wales, establishing a castle at Caerleon by 1086 and extinguishing the Welsh Kingdom of Gwent. However, the attacks in south-east Wales "faltered badly when [the earl of Hereford’s] son [Roger de Breteuil]... forfeited his estates for treason in 1075 and involved some of his vassals on the Welsh frontier in his downfall". Nonetheless, the Normans pressed on.

Stalemate

These movements continued well into the 12th century, into the reign of Henry I. There was relative peace in the early 12th century, however, with the Anglo-Normans working to diplomatically manifest influence over Wales; leading to relatively little conflict. The only real expedition into Wales made by Henry was in 1114, when "he set in motion three separate armies intended to overware the ageing prince of Gwynedd". The prince, Gruffudd ap Cynan, however, saw fit to make peace with the king rather than engage in open warfare or hostility. Throughout the period, Henry exerted a great deal of control over Wales, establishing a series of new castles and placing new Lords into positions of power.

Following Henry's death in 1135, revolts once again broke out in parts of Wales. These revolts caused Norman retreat in many areas, most surprisingly in Deheubarth, where, according to R.R. Davies, "the Normans had made their most striking advances in the previous generation". A notable example was the Battle of Crug Mawr, near Cardigan, in which the Normans suffered a heavy defeat. The period saw a role reversal of sorts, as well, with infighting amongst the Normans, the same sort which had enabled the relative fall of Wales in the previous century.

Invasions of Henry II

Rhys ap Gruffydd

By the 1150s, Matilda's son King Henry II of England had set upon Wales, leading his first expedition into the country in 1157. He experienced costly ambushes and therefore defeat, particularly in the Battle of Ewloe at Coleshill / Coed Eulo, where Henry was almost killed in the fighting, but managed to return to friendly lines. He moved against his Adversaries again in 1163, and, with Welsh resistance exhausted, gained homage from the two most powerful princes of Wales, Rhys ap Gruffydd and Owain Gwynedd, along with the king of Scotland.

King John and Magna Carta

The Articles of the Barons, 1215, held by the British Library

Magna Carta was the first document in which reference is made to English and Welsh law alongside one another, including the principle of the common acceptance of the lawful judgement of peers.

Chapter 56: The return of lands and liberties to Welshmen if those lands and liberties had been taken by English (and vice versa) without a law abiding judgement of their peers.

Chapter 57: The return of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, illegitimate son of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) along with other Welsh hostages which were originally taken for "peace" and "good".

Post Norman era

By the thirteenth century, King John of England had a greater dominance over Welsh lords and Princes than many of his predecessors. In 1211, he took Llywelyn the Great's son as hostage, and also forced the surrender of territory in north-east Wales. However, Welsh noblemen had supported English Barons against the king during the First Barons' War, forcing John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Magna Carta held specific provisions for the Welsh nobles, winning back many of their rights including the return of lands and liberties to Welshmen if those lands and liberties had been taken by English, and the immediate return of Welsh hostages.

Llywelyn's son Dafydd ap Llywelyn would follow him as ruler of Gwynedd, however King Henry III of England would not recognise his right to inherit Llywelyn's hegemonic position over the other rulers in Wales. As such, war broke out again in 1241, resulting in defeat for Dafydd who was forced to give up his claims outside of Gwynedd under the terms of the Treaty of Gwerneigron.

While Llywelyn's other son, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn had been killed attempting to escape the Tower of London in 1244, Dafydd would also die suddenly two years later at Abergwyngregyn, during another period of open conflict. The turmoil that arose from these two sudden deaths ended with The Treaty of Montgomery in 1267, which confirmed the rise to power of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd over a large part of Wales.

Edward I of England disapproved of Llywelyn's alliance with the English rebel, Simon de Montfort and war was renewed in 1277. Llywelyn was obliged to seek terms, and the Treaty of Aberconwy greatly restricted his authority. War broke out again when Llywelyn's brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd attacked Hawarden Castle on Palm Sunday 1282. On 11 December 1282, Llywelyn was lured into a meeting in Cilmeri in Builth Wells castle with unknown Marchers, where he was killed and his army subsequently destroyed. His brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd continued an increasingly forlorn resistance. He was captured in June 1283 and was hanged, drawn and quartered at Shrewsbury.

See also

• Norman conquest of England
• Norman invasion of Ireland
• Welsh uprising of 1211
• Conquest of Wales by Edward I

References

Bibliography

• Carr, A. D. (1995). Medieval Wales. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-333-54772-1.
• Davies, John (1993). A History of Wales. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-028475-3.
• Davies, R. R. (2000). The Age of Conquest: Wales, 1063–1415. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-19-820198-2.
• Walker, David (1990). Medieval Wales. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31153-5.

The Ynys

Yr Ynys
Former names	Ynys Meadows Ynys Fields Ynys Grounds The Ynys Athletic Ground The Athletic Ground
Location	Aberdare, Wales
Coordinates	51.7127°N 3.4374°W / 51.7127; -3.4374
Record attendance	22,584 (for Soccer) 40,000 (for Rugby League)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Renovated	1893 1920 (for Soccer) 1971 (for Rugby Union) 2008 (for Cricket)
Tenants
Aberdare RFC 1890–present Aberdare Athletic F.C. 1893–1928 Aberdare RLFC 1908–1909 Aberdare CC 1968–present Aberdare Valley AAC 2008–present

The Ynys (Welsh: Yr Ynys) is an historic mixed sports venue in Aberdare, Wales. The ground is notable as the venue of the first ever international match in Rugby League history, and was also home to the professional rugby league club Aberdare RLFC as well as English Football League members Aberdare Athletic F.C.

Today the Ynys hosts the Aberdare Rugby Union Club, Aberdare Cricket team and Aberdare Valley AAC, as well as the Sobell Leisure Centre and the Ron Jones Athletics Stadium.

Name

The Welsh word Ynys (cognate with the Irish language innis), is commonly translated as island. However, it can also mean a flood plain, peninsula or river meadow. It is a common toponym in the South Wales Valleys, denoting a flat area of land along the banks of a river. As such, a number of places named Ynys were found around the modern playing fields.^nb

History

Early history

Aberdare was described as "very remarkable" for its traditions of Taplasau Hâf (summer games), rhedegfeydi (races) and gwrolgampau (manly sports) as early as 1853. Although it is unknown when the Ynys was first used for sport, a number of special areas had been set aside by the townsfolk for these games since at least the 1640s, with the three most prominent being at Ton-glwyd-fawr (also known in English as "The Ton" in Cwmdare), Tontypel in Cefnpennar and most notably, "a small ynys on the shore of Cynon". However, the text explicitly names this "Ynys" as Glan-rhyd-y-gored near Llwycoed Mill, someway up river from the current playing fields.

1875-1908

By 1875, The Ynys was under the supervision of the Abernant ironmaster, Richard Fothergill who contiued to use the land as a place for fêtes and athletic tournaments. As Fothergill was leasing the grounds to local societies, the area continued to be set aside and remained largely undeveloped, despite the rapid growth of Aberdare and the Ynys' situation as flat open land between the town's two main railways stations. In August 1875, the Ynys hosted the first of an annual athletic tournament which would also include equestrian events and a brass band competition. These events were sponsored by the town's hostilaries and attracted crowds of up to 10,000.

The ground was opened in 1893 as the home of Aberdare Town, who later became Aberdare Athletic.

1908-1930

On 1 January 1908 the Athletic Ground the venue of the first rugby league international involving a team from outside the British Isles when Wales played New Zealand as part of the 1907–08 tour, with Wales winning 9–8. The match attracted approximately 15,000 fans

By 1920 the ground was still quite basic, with a narrow grandstand on the southern touchline and a cycle track around the pitch. With Aberdare attempting to gain entry to the Football League, the stand was rebuilt, the cycle track removed, and banking installed at each end of the pitch. The following year saw the ground's record attendance of 22,584 set for a schoolboy international between Wales and England on 14 May. In the same year Aberdare were elected to the Football League, and the first League match was played at the ground on 27 August 1921, with Aberdare and Portsmouth drawing 0–0 in front of 9,722 spectators. In 1927 Aberdare were voted out of the Football League.

1930s-1960s

The first Greyhound racing meeting at the Ynys took place on December 26th 1931. By 1959, the stadium had an Inside Sumner hare installed at a cost of £1400.

During the late 1920’s Ynys Park became host to Rugby Union, but by 1931 an approach by a newly formed Greyhound Racing saw the venue change dramatically forcing the Rugby Club to look elsewhere to stage their fixtures. The Cycle Track and athletics track became removed to the see the venue transformed in a more recognised greyhound stadium. Greyhound Racing was staged at The Ynys Stadium for the first time with a meeting on the 26th of December 1931.

Little is known on how it operated, but a race distance of 475 yards has been discovered, with the installation of a new inside Sumner type hare during 1959, at a cost of £1400. It is clear that Greyhound Racing was staged at an independent level and continued until the latter end of 1961. The sport could claim that 20 bookmakers would stand during meetings during its best years with just seven standing at the end. Its closure was blamed due to the reduced interest and lack of greyhound entries.

After its closure the stadium drifted into a derelict state before being demolished during the late 1960’s. The venue was covered by The Michael Sobell Sports Centre and its sports pitches, before that too was eventually replaced with today’s Aberdare Community School and its Sports pitches.

The venue began to develop on grazing land around 1890, very close to a Railway line less than a mile east of Aberdare town centre.

During the early years the venue hosted athletics, with a cycle track also added to increase the size of the venue with enough viewing space for 23,000 people, which was vast considering the town had only a population of just 75,000. The success on the football pitch increased immensely, enough to see Aberdare Athletic enter the Football League during 1921. Aberdare Athletic became one of six Welsh clubs now competing in the English Football League, the others being Cardiff City, Swansea Town as they were called then, Wrexham, Newport County and Merthyr Town. Aberdare’s first League fixture was played on the 27th of August 1921, with Aberdare and Portsmouth drawing 0–0 in front of 9,722 spectators.

Success in the football league was only brief, as its decline seemed to begin on the 7th of November 1923, after a serious fire destroyed the man stand, its offices along with all the player’s kit. The Football Club continued, but with the depression of the 1920’s looming down on the people of South Wales, the football club was in serious financial trouble by 1927, leaving them in a position to sell Ynys Park to the council. Soon after the football club amalgamated with nearby Aberaman Athletic Football Club, therefore becoming the end of Aberdare Athletic.

2000-present day

The newly redeveloped Sobell Leisure Centre in 2015

Aberdare's Dai "Tarw" Jones would score the decisive try in Wales' victory in the first ever international Rugby League match, played at the Ynys.

The modern Aberdare Rugby Club near the Ynys. The signage displays the initials as RUFC rather than RFC, distinguishing it as the town's rugby union club.

The Cynon Trail passes between the river Cynon and the Ynys playing fields before cutting through the fields to the old Aberdare Canal at Plasdraw.

Notes

^nb A number of historic placenames with the "Ynys" element adjoin the modern playing fields, all located along the river bank. Thomas Morgan notes Ynysllwyd as "situated on the river Cynon" and gives a tentative derivation from "Ynys y tywod llwyd" ("an island on grey sands"). Other recorded names include Glanynys, Ynyscynon and Ynysyfelin.

References

Category:Aberdare Athletic F.C. Category:Cricket grounds in Wales Category:Defunct football venues in Wales Category:Rugby union stadiums in Wales Category:Defunct rugby league venues in Wales Category:Sports venues completed in 1893 Category:Sports venues completed in 1920 Category:Sports venues completed in 1971 Category:Sports venues completed in 2008 Category:Aberdare Category:Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Category:Greyhound racing in Wales