A tour of the cottage
The interior of the cottage represents the period 1900-1918. The cottage has been in the same family since 1851, and present-day members can still recall accurately details of the cottage around this period (Mr Gwilym Jones, the last tenant until the roof collapsed in the early 1960s, is currently a member of Cyfeillion Swtan's Board of Trustees). The improvement in living standards, furniture, and possessions over the last century are remarkable, and can be contrasted with the slower rate of change in the previous century.
The main room was the hub of family life. Here one cooked, ate, and slept. According to Census figures, there were never more than seven people living here at any one time, although it was not uncommon in the past to have ten or even twelve living in one room! As was customary, the floor is earth, swept with a besom until it shines.
To accommodate the children, a croglofft (crockloft) was built. This used the roof-space, and gave rise to the development of two-storey cottages, which are very common in rural areas.
Next to the chimney breast is the tŷ llaeth (milkroom or pantry). Food and home-made butter was prepared here. The small window is designed to keep the room cool, because it was also used to store home-cured meats and cheese.
The gwely wenscot (wainscot bed) was a small bedroom for the parents. The adjoining room is unusual, and suggests that an outbuilding may have been converted to make the bedroom extension. this may have happened around 1851, when apparently a former schoolmaster from Amlwch was a lodger in the cottage. Today, the room is a shop and exhibition, featuring many items (eg seed-drills) which would not have been used in this cottage, but which belong to various periods of rural life.
The small detached building was the calf-shed, and the first part of the site to be rebuilt. Adjacent to this is the main cowshed, suggesting from its size that there were no more than two or three cows - enough to support one family.
After the main room, the next building would be a general store and preparation area. Potatoes, swedes and carrots would be stored here in straw, along with farm implements and tackle. Butter would also be churned here, and in the winter the mangle would be stored inside. Handmade straw ropes would be started in this room, with the children walking out across the yard as the length of rope increased.
The final building was the henhouse. There was also a pigsty, but this is where the public toilets are now situated. A new pigsty is planned for the future, built in traditional style.
