Whitchurch Pigs

At the beginning of the 19^th Century, there were no more than 400 people living in Whitchurch and probably less than 80 houses and cottages. Most of the cottages were very simple, with only a few rooms and an outside yard.

Most families kept a pig and a few chickens and grew their own vegetables.

Without mains drainage or piped water supply, conditions were primitive. In the outside yard was a privy (most likely an earth closet) with a basic pigsty adjacent. Perhaps, the sketch below gives a flavour of what most families had (there are rebuilt examples of similar outbuildings at St Fagans), but I don’t think there are any left in Whitchurch now.

The residents were obviously very proud of their pigs, as an article in the Cambrian newspaper dated 20^thFebruary 1846 advises:

‘Fat Pigs, two pigs about 20 months old were slaughtered and weighed 24 score and 5 pounds (about 220 kg) and the other 34 score and 6 pounds (over 310 kg). they were pure Glamorgan breed, reared from old stock in the Parish of Whitchurch, a place celebrated for the superiority of its breed of pigs’

In his book ‘Old Whitchurch’ Edgar Chappell suggests that the local community came to be known by the popular nickname ‘Whitchurch Pigs’.

Folk living near the tinplate works were apparently called ‘Melingriffith Quackers’ and anyone living in Pentyrch would be a ‘Pentyrch Cuckoo’!

Does anybody have any other information or stories about the livestock, people kept in Whitchurch? Simply email awen.cymru@gmail.com.

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