Sunday 27 April 2008

A lost dwelling

A favourite sycamore tree is leafing up fast. At the base of the tree there is an old stone seat. It's in what would have been the garden of a little cottage which once stood here, close to the stream. It was a 'Ty Unnos' or 'One Night House' - these were little dwellings thrown up overnight on order to claim the right to live there and the surrounding land to the distance of a stones throw. Often the initial structure would be replaced with a more substantial dwelling. This one was called 'Gernos' which means 'wrought in a night'. It first appears on the 1861 Census return and was still inhabited in 1901. All that now remains of the dwelling itself are a couple of stones visible on the ground; sometimes we spot pieces of thick, old fashioned roofing slates.

The seat at Gernos.

A solitary stone which would have once formed part of the cottage walls.

This old stone gatepost marks the entrance to the former vegetable garden - the other is missing.

www.loststones.co.uk

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