History of the Site - From Corn Mill to Holiday Cottages

Post House Garden Holiday Cottages stand on the site of a former water powered corn mill, the original construction date of the mill is unknown but such mills would have been common in the period leading up to the industrial revolution.

Mills would have been at the hub of farming communities and the cluster of buildings around the Cwmbach mill (including a school house, a Methodist chapel and a village inn) would have sprung up at the point where tracks converged from the surrounding farms, mill owners would  also often be benefactors of local developments.

The map below is from the mid 1800s, the green line marked on it indicates the boundary of what is now the Post House Garden.  Towards the northern end of the garden, the map shows a small pond which would have been fed from the river via a weir.  The quarry to the southern end of the pond suggests an earlier mill may once have stood here.  The pond was enlarged in the late 1970s to form an ornamental feature that still exists today.

Moving south, the map shows a mill race alongside the river.  This has now been filled in to make a riverside path that runs the length of the garden.

At the southern end of the garden the map shows a second mill pond, this no longer exists but its location can be made out as it is one of few flat areas within the garden.

The photo below, taken in the 1920s, shows the mill with outside steps leading up to a raised working area inside.

An artist's impression suggests what the internal workings of the Cwmbach Mill may have looked like.

Only remnants of the mill can be seen today, remains of the building now form an outside seating area with a few features in the slate walls still being visible, along with part of a cast iron wheel that once would have held wooden gear pins.

The pit that housed the water wheel has been filled in but the course of the mill race, that channelled water from the mill pond to the water wheel, can be traced in the contours of the rock face.  Old mill stones have now become ornamental features that gather moss at the entrance to the garden, they serve to provide visitors with a tangible link to the past.

Next to the mill was a village store.  The picture below was taken in the late 1920s and shows the shop on the left with a warehouse next to it and a truck parked in front.  Trucks were used from 1925 to 1950 to deliver produce (including butter, eggs and rabbits) on a weekly basis, to Cardiff and the South Wales Valleys.  Vehicles used were a left-hand-drive - ex US army Dodge, and a Bedford - the one shown is believed to be the Bedford.  The son of the mill owner tells that his father and a mate would sometimes set out at 3:00 am and not return home until midnight, particularly in bad weather or during the war years when lighting on the truck had to be dimmed!

Today the shop has been turned into a games room for holiday cottage guests to enjoy, and the warehouse has become Red Kite Cottage.  The building towards the back of the image no longer exists but its outline can be seen on the ground.  The building to the right (only a corner can be seen in the photograph) is now Kingfisher Cottage.

Behind the shop was a small dairy where unsalted butter, collected from surrounding farms, was processed, packed and sold as Welsh, Salted “Shir Gar” butter.  The Shirgar brand was sold to Cow & Gate in the late 1950s and can still be found on supermarket shelves today.

Mains electricity was connected to the village in 1962, an electricity pole can be seen in this aerial image which is believed to have been taken shortly after.  The mill can be seen behind the main house with two smaller buildings to the left of it, these were removed in the 1980s to make way for a modern double garage and workshop.

To the front of the Post House is a telephone box which served the local community, as well as passers-by, until the 1980s.

Fuel was sold from the village store; next to the phone box is an enclosure (possibly for the sale of paraffin) and two petrol pumps.

The greenhouse to the foreground was constructed on an old footbridge that crossed the river, neither greenhouse or bridge remain today.

The image below is believed to be from the 1980s as the edge of the telephone box can still be seen on the right.  It shows the shop as it would have appeared up until closure in the early 1990s, above the shop door is a post office sign.

The brick building on the right has been used for various purposes including: a post sorting office, a motor repair workshop, a tea room and a gymnasium.  It is now Kingfisher holiday cottage.

Around the time the above photo was taken, the Post House Garden was opened up to the public via the National Garden scheme - attracting visitors from far and wide. 

Finally an image of the Post House, with Red Kite and Kingfisher Holiday Cottages as they appear today...