Laques and its Families

By Major Francis Jones, C.V.O., T.D., D.L., F.S.A.,
Wales Herald Extraordinary

Just over a mile due west from Llanstephan, the old mansion of Laques clings to an abrupt southerly slope above a wooded dingle, out of view yet within sound of the sea. Alongside, a busy little freshet, which gives name to the house, goes tinkling and laughing through the undergrowth to the reach the sea at a picturesque inlet near the holy well dedicated to St. Anthony.

The original name which this instance developed into the written form Laques, derives from the Old English word lac/lacu or lak, meaning a stream, and continues to be used in that sense in south-west Wales where several examples are still to be found (see B.G. Charles, Non-Celtic Place-Names in Wales, 1938). The local rendering of Laques to rhyme with 'lax', is an interesting phonetic survival of the Old English pronunciation. I shall use the spelling Laques throughout this essay unless quoting direct from original documents.

Before discussing the history of the families who lived here, I propose to place on record a few facts about the house itself which seems to have escaped the attention of bodies and societies concerned with vernacular architecture. Laques certainly deserves the attention of experts, whereas all I can offer are some random notices of an amateur antiquary in the hope that this somewhat remote out-of-the-way residence may attract in due course pens more facile than mine.

The House of Laques
The mansion stands on a grassy platform on a fairly steep slope, some two-hundred feet above sea-level. Less then half-a-mile to the southwest, close to the coast, is the farmhouse of Laques-fawr. Possibly at an earlier stage both were included as one property, but a part was "hived off" to become known as Laques-fawr to distinguish it from its parent. In later times Laques-fawr was owned by another family, in 1840 by Thomas Morris, who had let the farm consisting of 179 acres to one Peter Hughes. In that year Laques (mansion) was owned and occupied by William Lloyd, esquire, and the demesne consisted of the mansion and surrounds (3 acres), plantation (7 acres), Ffynnon Down cot and garden, Parc Laques, Cock and Bush, and Parc Spite, in all 175 acres.

...
to top