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Welsh Food History

Historical period

Prehistoric and Roman Wales; the medieval kingdoms and the laws of Hywel Dda, which record food renders, the value of livestock and the duties of a royal cook; the Cistercian abbeys — Strata Florida, Tintin, Margam — which ran enormous sheep flocks and shaped the upland economy; the Edwardian conquest of 1282-83 and the Acts of Union of 1536-43; the drovers, who walked Welsh cattle to the English markets for centuries and whose routes and banks are part of the food economy; Methodist revival and temperance; coal, slate and iron from the late eighteenth century; the Rebecca riots and the tollgates; depopulation and emigration; the 1926 and 1984-85 disputes; and devolution from 1999 with an explicit Welsh food policy.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

Languages: Welsh

What is recorded

  • The laws attributed to Hywel Dda, recording food renders, livestock values and the duties of a royal cook. documented
  • Cistercian abbeys — Strata Florida, Tintern, Margam — run large sheep flocks and shape the upland economy. documented
  • The Edwardian conquest of Wales. documented
  • The Acts of Union incorporate Wales into the English legal and administrative system. documented
  • Welsh drovers walk cattle to the English markets, building routes and banks that underwrite the rural economy. documented

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.