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94-728: Flemingston ( Welsh : Trefflemin ) (previously known in English as Michaelston Le Mont , Flimston or Flimstone , and in Welsh as Lanmihangel y Twyn ) is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales . It is located 8.5 miles (13.7 km) northwest by road from the town centre of Barry . It contains the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, the ruins of Flemingston Court, and Flemingston Manor or Grange, all of which are listed buildings. Historically,

188-584: A Grade II listed building on 18 June 2007. The rectory is located in the northern part of the village in a wooded garden and dates to the 19th century. Rose Cottage is dated to the 16th or 17th century, built from rubble stone, with a thatched roof and "eyebrow windows". The poet, Iolo Morganwg (Edward Williams; 1747–1826), was from Flemingston. Homeschooled by his mother, he learned to read by watching his father carve words on tombstones . Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )

282-431: A Grade II* listed building on 18 June 2002. Its barn dates to the mid 19th century. The detached kitchen building, which became a Grade II listed building on 18 June 2003, dates to the early 16th century and may have been part of a later 17th-century renovation. Yr Hen Fferm Dy, also known as Gregory Farm, has a white painted rubble farmhouse dated to the 17th century but refashioned in the 18th and 19th centuries. It became

376-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under

470-536: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified

564-414: A building is cool in summer and warm in winter. Thatch also has very good resistance to wind damage when applied correctly. Thatching materials range from plains grasses to waterproof leaves found in equatorial regions. It is the most common roofing material in the world, because the materials are readily available. Because thatch is lighter, less timber is required in the roof that supports it. Thatch

658-647: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had

752-469: A chimney. Fires can also begin when sparks or flames work their way through a degraded chimney and ignite the surrounding semi-charred thatch. This can be avoided by ensuring that the chimney is in good condition, which may involve stripping thatch immediately surrounding the chimney to the full depth of the stack. This can easily be done without stripping thatch over the entire roof. Insurance premiums on thatched houses are higher than average in part because of

846-405: A lot of water. There should not be a significant increase to roof weight due to water retention. A roof pitch of at least 50 degrees allows precipitation to travel quickly down slope so that it runs off the roof before it can penetrate the structure. Thatch is also a natural insulator, and air pockets within straw thatch insulate a building in both warm and cold weather. A thatched roof ensures that

940-436: A maintenance cycle in the UK of 12–15 years. At this time, the ridge will need to be replaced and any other works to the main body of a roof can be undertaken. Rethatching takes place when the coat work has eroded to such an extent that fixings which hold the thatch material in place become visible on the surface of a roof. Each roof is subject to its own specific conditions and will weather according to many outside influences -

1034-507: A performance set light to the surface of the thatch. The nearby Rose Theatre was actually thatched with cereal straw, a sample of which was recovered by Museum of London archaeologists during the excavation of the site in the 1980s. Whether thatch can cope with regular snowfall depends — as with all roofing materials — on the strength of the underlying roof structure and the pitch of the surface. A law passed in 1640 in Massachusetts outlawed

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1128-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into

1222-563: A skilled thatcher. Traditionally, a new layer of straw was simply applied over the weathered surface, and this "spar coating" tradition has created accumulations of thatch over 7’ (2.1 m) thick on very old buildings. The straw is bundled into "yelms" before it is taken up to the roof and then is attached using staples, known as "spars", made from twisted hazel sticks. Over 250 roofs in Southern England have base coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago, providing direct evidence of

1316-399: A slate roof was built upon 11th century foundations. Although most of the church dates to the 19th century, some remains of the 14th-century church remain. It became a Grade II* listed building on 18 June 2002. The church contains a monumental stone slab bearing a full-length effigy of a lady, probably dating from the 14th century. The name "Elizabeth" can be made out, and she may be a member of

1410-947: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave

1504-420: Is a versatile material when it comes to covering irregular roof structures. This fact lends itself to the use of second-hand, recycled and natural materials that are not only more sustainable , but need not fit exact standard dimensions to perform well. Thatched houses are harder to insure because of the perceived fire risk. In the UK, 50–80 thatched roofs are destroyed in house fires yearly. Because thatching

1598-403: Is as good as the amount of correctly laid thatch covering the fixings.” Thatch is not as flammable as many people believe. It burns slowly, "like a closed book," thatchers say. The vast majority of fires are linked to the use of wood burners and faulty chimneys with degraded or poorly installed or maintained flues. Sparks from paper or burned rubbish can ignite dry thatch on the surface around

1692-643: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Thatching Thatching methods have traditionally been passed down from generation to generation and numerous descriptions of

1786-427: Is blown off the roof by wind and rain. Thatched roofs generally need replacement when the horizontal wooden 'sways' and hair-pin 'spars', also known as 'gads' (twisted hazel staples) that fix each course become visible near the surface. It is not total depth of the thatch within a new layer applied to a new roof that determines its longevity, but rather how much thatch covers the fixings of each overlapping course. “A roof

1880-405: Is connected to the villages of St Mary Church, Vale of Glamorgan and St Hilary, Vale of Glamorgan to the north; and Tre-Aubrey and Llantrithyd to the northeast. The River Thaw flows to the east across Flemingston Moor; excavations on the moor have unearthed some pottery dated to the 12th-13th centuries. The Nant y Stepsau also flows to the southwest. In the 19th century, Flemingston parish

1974-667: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to

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2068-455: Is labour-intensive, it is much more expensive to thatch a roof than to cover it with slate or tiles. Birds can damage a roof while they are foraging for grubs, and rodents are attracted by residual grain in straw. New thatched roofs were forbidden in London in 1212 following a major fire , and existing roofs had to have their surfaces plastered to reduce the risk of fire. The modern Globe Theatre

2162-468: Is much less of a problem on thick straw roofs, which also provide much better insulation since they do not need to be ventilated. The performance of thatch depends on roof shape and design, pitch of roof, position—its geography and topography —the quality of material and the expertise of the thatcher. Thatch has some natural properties that are advantageous to its performance. It is naturally weather-resistant, and when properly maintained does not absorb

2256-450: Is one of the few thatched buildings in London, but the Globe's modern, water reed thatch is purely for decorative purpose and actually lies over a fully waterproofed roof built with modern materials. The Globe Theatre, opened in 1997, was modelled on the original Globe, which was destroyed by a fire on a dry June night in 1613 when a burning wad of cloth ejected from a special effects cannon during

2350-538: Is sufficient to shed snow and water. In areas of extreme snowfall, such as parts of Japan , the pitch is increased further. Some thatched roofs in the UK are extremely old and preserve evidence of traditional materials and methods that had long been lost. In northern Britain this evidence is often preserved beneath corrugated sheet materials and frequently comes to light during the development of smaller rural properties. Historic Scotland have funded several research projects into thatching techniques and these have revealed

2444-505: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain

2538-704: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows

2632-494: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in

2726-461: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in

2820-525: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol

2914-727: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and

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3008-618: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has

3102-573: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for

3196-589: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in

3290-522: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,

3384-812: The Americas , such as the former Maya civilization, Mesoamerica, the Inca empire, and the Triple Alliance (Aztec), lived in thatched buildings. It is common to spot thatched buildings in rural areas of the Yucatán Peninsula as well as many settlements in other parts of Latin America, which closely resemble the method of construction from distant ancestors. The first Americans encountered by Europeans lived in structures roofed with bark or skin set in panels that could be added or removed for ventilation, heating, and cooling. Evidence of

3478-481: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for

3572-545: The Fleming family. Some castle remains adjoin the churchyard. Flemingston Court dates to the first half of the 16th century and possibly functioned as a rectory or steward or farm manager's house. Flemingston Court Farmhouse dates to the 16th century and is a two-storey rubble and slate roof building. It contains eaves, gables, stone end stacks, a font stack, and an exposed chimney breast. Additional features are its windows, casements, moulded stone mullions, and drip-moulds. It became

3666-588: The Flemingston parish was within the Bridgend district or Glamorgan. The population included approximately 63 residents, and there were ten houses. Flemingston was described as being one estate, the manor belonging to Sir John Fleming, one of the twelve knights who came in with Fitzhamon in the time of William Rufus . The rectory, part of the diocese of Llandaff had a patron, the Earl of Dunraven . Flemingston exists within

3760-536: The Flemingston ;% Eglwys Brewis community electoral ward, being allocated three councillor seats to sit on the St Athan Community Council. The village is approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-southeast from Cowbridge , 9.25 miles (14.89 km) south-southwest of Llantrisant , 2 miles (3.2 km) north of St Athan , and it is also north of Eglwys Brewis and RAF St Athan . Flemingston

3854-539: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published

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3948-535: The UK it is illegal under the Plant Variety and Seeds Act 1964 (with many amendments) for an individual or organisation to give, trade or sell seed of an older variety of wheat (or any other agricultural crop) to a third party for growing purposes, subject to a significant fine. Because of this legislation, thatchers in the UK can no longer obtain top quality thatching straw grown from traditional, tall-stemmed varieties of wheat. All evidence indicates that water reed

4042-429: The UK with a thatched roof; they are usually made of long straw, combed wheat reed or water reed. Gradually, thatch became a mark of poverty, and the number of thatched properties gradually declined, as did the number of professional thatchers. Thatch has become much more popular in the UK over the past 30 years, and is now a symbol of wealth rather than poverty. There are approximately 1,000 full-time thatchers at work in

4136-631: The UK, and thatching is becoming popular again because of the renewed interest in preserving historic buildings and using more sustainable building materials. Thatch is popular in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, parts of France, Sicily, Belgium and Ireland. There are more than 60,000 thatched roofs in the United Kingdom and over 150,000 in the Netherlands. Good quality straw thatch can last for more than 50 years when applied by

4230-489: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,

4324-673: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither

4418-584: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of

4512-515: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer

4606-481: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to

4700-606: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of

4794-622: The Wyndhams of Dunraven. In 1801, the population amounted to 66 residents. A Topographical Dictionary of The Dominion of Wales (1811) by Nicholas Carlisle described Flemingston as belonging to what is now called the Hundred of Cowbridge, within the County of Glamorgan. Thomas Wyndham was the patron of the rectory , and the village church was dedicated to St. Michael . The John Marius Wilson 's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72) states that

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4888-517: The black fibres of the sugar palm , called ijuk , is also used as thatching material, usually in temple roofs and meru towers. Sugar cane leaf roofs are used in Kikuyu tribal homes in Kenya . Wild vegetation such as water reed ( Phragmites australis ), bulrush /cat tail ( Typha spp.), broom ( Cytisus scoparius ), heather ( Calluna vulgaris ), and rushes ( Juncus spp. and Schoenoplectus lacustris )

4982-456: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of

5076-511: The countryside, in many towns and villages, until the late 1800s. Commercial distribution of Welsh slate began in 1820, and the mobility provided by canals and then railways made other materials readily available. Still, the number of thatched properties actually increased in the UK during the mid-1800s as agriculture expanded, but then declined again at the end of the 19th century because of agricultural recession and rural depopulation. A 2013 report estimated that there were 60,000 properties in

5170-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within

5264-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of

5358-470: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over

5452-485: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of

5546-463: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval

5640-469: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to

5734-451: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period

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5828-547: The introduction of the combine harvester in the late 1930s and 1940s, and the release of short-stemmed wheat varieties. Increasing use of nitrogen fertiliser in the 1960s–70s also weakened straw and reduced its longevity. Since the 1980s, however, there has been a big increase in straw quality as specialist growers have returned to growing older, tall-stemmed, "heritage" varieties of wheat such as Squareheads Master (1880), N59 (1959), Rampton Rivet (1937), Victor (1910) and April Bearded (early 1800s) in low input/organic conditions. In

5922-587: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for

6016-496: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to

6110-546: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c.  600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )

6204-409: The manors of Flemingston and Constantine Walles to a younger son. In 1317, Flemingston was held by Philip le Fleming. It continued in his descendants until, on failure of issue male, William Fleming sold the estate to Lewis Thomas of Bettws; while an alternate account states that the le Fleming line ended in an heiress, who married a Thomas, of Llanfihangel, through whom a sale of the property was made to

6298-460: The many complex buildings with fiber-based roofing material was not rediscovered until the early 2000s. French and British settlers built temporary thatched dwellings with local vegetation as soon as they arrived in New France and New England, but covered more permanent houses with wooden shingles. In most of England, thatch remained the only roofing material available to the bulk of the population in

6392-1025: The materials and methods used in Europe over the past three centuries survive in archives and early publications. In some equatorial countries, thatch is the prevalent local material for roofs , and often walls . There are diverse building techniques from the ancient Hawaiian hale shelter made from the local ti leaves ( Cordyline fruticosa ), lauhala ( Pandanus tectorius ) or pili grass ( Heteropogon contortus ). Palm leaves are also often used. For example, in Na Bure, Fiji , thatchers combine fan palm leaf roofs with layered reed walls. Feathered palm leaf roofs are used in Dominica. Alang-alang ( Imperata cylindrica ) thatched roofs are used in Hawaii and Bali. In Southeast Asia, mangrove nipa palm leaves are used as thatched roof material known as attap dwelling . In Bali, Indonesia ,

6486-468: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in

6580-426: The names Flimston, Flimstone and Flemingston gradually came into use. The Welsh version of this name, Trefflemin is a modern appellation. The area is part of the Cantref of Gorfynydd , historically part of the kingdom of Glamorgan . John le Fleming is said to have gained the manors of St. George, Wenvoe, Flemingston, and Llanmaes. Fleming was married to Amicia, daughter of Baldwin Magnus, Lord of Whitney. Fleming gave

6674-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,

6768-535: The parish of Flemingston was a sub-manor of Aberthaw or St Athan . The village was anciently known as Lanmihangel y Twyn (the Llan of Saint Michael on the hillock), following the Norman invasion of Wales this name was commonly transliterated into Michaelston Le Mont. Robert Fitzhamon gifted both the castle and the "Lordship of St George" to Sir John le Fleming, whose family maintained possession for generations. As such,

6862-464: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to

6956-534: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,

7050-499: The perception that thatched roofs are a fire hazard, but also because a thatch fire can cause extensive smoke damage and a thatched roof is more expensive to replace than a standard tiled or slate roof. Workmen should never use open flame near thatch, and nothing should be burnt that could fly up the chimney and ignite the surface of the thatch. Spark arrestors usually cause more harm than good, as they are easily blocked and reduce air flow. All thatched roofs should have smoke detectors in

7144-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase

7238-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over

7332-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by

7426-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in

7520-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of

7614-623: The roof pitch. In areas where palms are abundant, palm leaves are used to thatch walls and roofs. Many species of palm trees are called " thatch palm ", or have "thatch" as part of their common names. In the southeastern United States , Native and pioneer houses were often constructed of palmetto -leaf thatch. The chickees of the Seminole and Miccosukee are still thatched with palmetto leaves. Makuti thatching in East Africa uses Cocos nucifera . Unlike conventional roof coverings, thatch has

7708-454: The roof space. Spray-on fire retardant or pressure impregnated fire retardants can reduce the spread of flame and radiated heat output. On new buildings, a solid fire retardant barrier over the rafters can make the thatch sacrificial in case of fire. If fireboards are used, they require a ventilation gap between boarding and thatch so that the roof can breathe, as condensation can be a significant problem in thin, single layer thatch. Condensation

7802-627: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in

7896-416: The skill of the thatcher being an important aspect affecting longevity. Moss can be a problem if very thick, but is not usually detrimental, and many species of moss are actually protective. The Thatcher's Craft , 1960 , remains the most widely used reference book on the techniques used for thatching. The thickness of a layer of thatch decreases over time as the surface gradually turns to compost and

7990-487: The types of materials that were used for thatching in the medieval period. Almost all of these roofs are thatched with wheat, rye, or a "maslin" mixture of both. Medieval wheat grew to almost 6 feet (1.8 m) tall in very poor soils and produced durable straw for the roof and grain for baking bread. Technological change in the farming industry significantly affected the popularity of thatching. The availability of good quality thatching straw declined in England after

8084-518: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from

8178-414: The use of thatched roofs in the colony for this reason. Thatch is lighter than most other roofing materials, typically around 34 kg/m (7 lb/sq ft), so the roof supporting it does not need to be so heavily constructed, but if snow accumulates on a lightly constructed thatched roof, it could collapse. A thatched roof is usually pitched between 45 and 55 degrees and under normal circumstances this

8272-476: The water reed used in the UK is now imported from Turkey , Eastern Europe , China and South Africa. Water reed might last for 50 years or more on a steep roof in a dry climate, modern imported water reed on an average roof in England, when thatched by a proficient craftsman, is more likely to last roughly 40 years. The lifespan of a thatched roof also depends on the skill of the thatcher, but other factors must be considered—such as climate , quality of materials, and

8366-455: Was approximately 600 or 672 acres in size. The following landmarks are listed historic buildings: Church of St. Michael the Archangel (grade II*), Flemingston Court Farmhouse (II*), Detached Kitchen at Flemingston Court (II), Garden Wall and House Ruins at Flemingston Manor (II), Combination farm buildings at Flemingston Court Farm (II), Telephone Call-Box north of parish church (II) and Gregory Farm / Yr Hen Fferm Dy (II). This stone church with

8460-608: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to

8554-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through

8648-505: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern

8742-524: Was probably used to cover shelters and primitive dwellings in Europe in the late Palaeolithic period, but so far no direct archaeological evidence for this has been recovered. People probably began to use straw in the Neolithic period when they first grew cereals—but once again, no direct archaeological evidence of straw for thatching in Europe prior to the early medieval period survives. Many indigenous people of

8836-481: Was rarely used for thatching outside of East Anglia. It has traditionally been a "one coat" material applied in a similar way to how it is used in continental Europe. Weathered reed is usually stripped and replaced by a new layer. It takes 4–5 acres of well-managed reed bed to produce enough reed to thatch an average house, and large reed beds have been uncommon in most of England since the Anglo-Saxon period. Over 80% of

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