Epynt clearance
The Epynt clearance (Welsh: Cliriad Epynt; or Y Chwalfa, lit. 'the upheaval') was the eviction of 200 people in Mynydd Epynt, Powys by military authorities in 1939 during World War II. As the War Office decided the area was needed to establish a military training ground, residents of 54 farms and a pub in Mynydd Epynt were sent letters informing that they were to be evicted from their properties for such a purpose. The War Office proceeded to establish the Sennybridge Training Area at the evicted properties. The phrase "Cofiwch Epynt" ('remember Epynt') has been used in memory of the eviction in a similar manner to Cofiwch Dryweryn.[1][2][3][4]
Clearance and military acquisition
[edit]In September 1939 an army officer, struggling with Welsh orthography, asked children at the local school to identify and locate fifty-two homes. By December, each of these households had received a notice to vacate their property before the end of April. The letter stressed the importance of the area to the war effort and that they would be compensated for their losses.[5]
A number of Welsh MPs and other figures spoke out against the acquisition. However, this opposition was largely dismissed at the time as countering the war effort.[6] As the evictions took place during the lambing season, some farmers were granted a short extension, but all of the evictions had been completed by June 1940. In total, four hundred people were ejected, with the army seizing an area of 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares). The area now forms the core of the Sennybridge Training Area, the largest military training zone in Wales.[7][8]
Training operations destroyed most of the original structures which had formed the community of Mynydd Epynt, including chapels and their cemeteries. Despite this, the area saw the construction of an artificial village in 1988. The Fighting In Built Up Areas zone (FIBUA) saw the construction of many mock buildings, including a fake chapel with imitation gravestones.[9]
Impact of the evictions
[edit]The evictions, also known as Y Chwalfa ('the clearing') in Welsh, have been described as "the death blow to Welsh-speaking Breconshire" by Euros Lewis. Lewis drew comparisons with the end of the community in Capel Celyn, noting the comparatively young death rate of the evicted, and the belief that one resident had "cried himself to death". As the evicted were dispersed into areas where English was more prevalent, the evictions had a significant impact on Y Fro Gymraeg (Welsh-speaking Wales), reducing both its area in eastern Wales and the number of dialects spoken.[10][11] The historic trackways over Mynydd Epynt had long been protected as public rights of way, but all routes through the training area were closed as a result of the acquisition.
Later accounts suggest that many of the evicted believed they would return at the end of the Second World War, with accounts of people leaving their keys in locks, returning to keep the homes in a habitable condition and even continuing to plough the fields. The military had difficulty keeping some former residents away. Thomas Morgan returned to his "Glandŵr" house daily to light a fire in the hearth, protecting the stonework. Morgan was repeatedly warned to stop returning, but continued until his home was destroyed by explosives, with a military officer informing him that "We’ve blown up the farmhouse. You won’t need to come here anymore".[11][12]
The evictions, were documented by Iorwerth Peate, the curator and founder of the Saint Fagan Folk Museum. Peate made several visits to the area, including the last day of evictions. Peate evocatively described meeting one of those evicted, at her "Waunlwyd" home. The elderly woman sat motionless and tearful with her back to her house (Peate later discovered that the woman was 82 years old and had been born at the property, as had her father and grandfather). Wary of the solemnity of the occasion and believing he had not been noticed, Peate tried to back away when the woman suddenly asked him where he was from. Peate answered ‘Caerdydd’ (the Welsh name for Cardiff), to which she replied: "Fy machgen bach i, ewch yn ôl yno gynted ag y medrwch" ('My little one, return there as soon as you can'), "Mae’n ddiwedd byd yma" ('it is the end of the world here'). The Welsh phrase, Mae’n ddiwedd byd yma has become associated with the evictions and is the title of the Welsh-language history of Mynydd Epynt published in 1997.[13]
See also
[edit]- Imber
- Langford
- Tyneham
- Tottington
- The Stanford Battle Area, in Norfolk, contains six villages also taken over for military purposes.
References
[edit]- ^ "Epynt village clearance: Woman remembers, 80 years on". BBC News. 2020-06-10. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ^ "'Cofiwch Epynt' slogan appears on A470 in mid Wales | brecon-radnor.co.uk". Brecon & Radnor Express. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ "Cofiwch Epynt... Is it not high time that the army left the area?". undod. 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ "Cofiwch Epynt". Literature Wales. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
- ^ Bevan, Nathan (2021-08-14). "The mountain community booted from homes so Army could train there". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ Turner, Robin (16 August 2010). "Remembering the tragedy of Welsh-speaking Epynt cleared for an MoD training area". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ Mair, Angharad (14 July 2010). "From Penyberth to Parc Aberporth: Welcome to Warmongering Wales". Institute of Welsh Affairs. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ Tomos, Angharad (2 June 2020). "'It's the end of the world': Why we should remember the clearing of Epynt 80 years on". Nation.Cymru. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ T, Driver (8 March 2005). "Sennybridge German Villa Ge; 'fibua' Training Facility". Coflein. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ Turner, Robin (16 August 2010). "Remembering the tragedy of Welsh-speaking Epynt cleared for an MoD training area". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
- ^ a b Williams, Clare. "Epynt: A lost community". NFU Cymru. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ Hughes, Herbert Daniel (1998). An uprooted community : A history of Epynt. Llandysul, Wales: Gomer. ISBN 9781859026663.
- ^ Hughes, Herbert Daniel (1997). 'Mae'n ddiwedd byd yma ... ' : Mynydd Epynt a'r troad allan yn 1940 (in Welsh). Llandysul: Gwasg Gomer. ISBN 9781859024140.
