Event marks anniversary of forced displacements of Welsh-speaking community

Mark Mansfield

A special event marking the anniversary of the Epynt clearances will revisit one of the most significant forced displacements of a Welsh-speaking community in modern Welsh history.

On 30 June 1940, the War Office requisitioned land on Mynydd Epynt in Breconshire for military training, resulting in the removal of 220 farmers, shepherds and their families from 52 farms and smallholdings.

Eighty-six years later, storyteller and author Euros Lewis will revisit the history of the Welsh-speaking community in a talk at Canolfan Bethlehem in Newport, Pembrokeshire, on 30 June.

Organisers say the event will examine not only the loss of Epynt but also its continuing relevance to debates about rural communities, language and identity in Wales.

While the story is rooted in mid Wales, organisers have highlighted its strong links to north Pembrokeshire.

Just six years after the Epynt clearances, the War Office drew up plans for a major military training area in the Preseli Hills. Had the proposals gone ahead, farming communities across the Preseli uplands could have faced a similar fate.

The plans sparked a campaign known as Brwydr y Preseli – the Battle of Preseli – which united farmers, chapel communities, local leaders and residents in opposition.

Campaigners argued that the proposals threatened not only the landscape but also the communities, culture and Welsh language associated with it. The plans were ultimately abandoned.

Organisers say the contrast between the two stories remains striking.

“The story of Epynt is not simply a story about the past,” they said.

“It is a story that asks important questions about land, belonging, language and identity. For people living around Preseli, it is especially powerful because it reminds us how close local communities came to experiencing exactly the same fate.”

At the time of the clearances, northern Breconshire was a predominantly Welsh-speaking area.

Traditions

Organisers say the loss of Epynt represented not only the removal of people from their homes but also the dispersal of a community whose traditions, place names and local knowledge had developed over generations.

Drawing on stories gathered from former residents and accounts from the community’s final months, Euros Lewis will explore the human impact of the clearances and the legacy they left behind.

The event will also consider broader themes including the future of rural communities, the resilience of the Welsh language and the relationship between people and the landscapes they inhabit.

Colli Epynt / The Epynt Story will take place at Canolfan Bethlehem, Newport (Trefdraeth), on Tuesday 30 June at 7.15pm. Doors open at 6.30pm, with music from local performer Danny Sioned.