IN ANCIENT TIMES
The Parish was responsible for its own poor, and had powers to put the able-bodied to work at fixed wages and to expel any wanderer deemed likely to become a charge on the public purse.
Judged by modern principles of humanity, it was a harsh system of local government for, in practice, it resulted often in a form of serfdom with the stocks, pillory and floggings to enforce it. But such a state of affairs existed in substance until the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834, which combined parishes into Unions, all subservient to the central government authority.
The Prichard family resided at Llancaiach Fawr which remains today unaltered in substance and is the most complete example of a stately Elizabethan mansion in district It is considered to have been built in 1599 by Edward Prichard but there is little doubt that a dwelling had existed there for many years previously. The owners were reputed to have possessed a small ironworks nearby in 1478 which continued to operate for some considerable time, for it is again mentioned in an Inventory of Henry VIII.
Welsh cultural traditions were well supported at this time at Llancaiach.
The unconstitutional conduct of Charles I had led to a civil war, the effects of which were felt in this neighbourhood when cultural pursuits were disrupted. Most of the landowners were at first staunchly loyal to the Stuarts but the savage behaviour of Colonel Charles Gerard and his cavaliers who pillaged the land as they swept to Pembroke induced an apathy to that cause.
In an effort to raise men and money, Charles came to South Wales and was met by Colonel Prichard and two other prominent men of the county, who had enrolled a force of 4,000 men. At a conference Colonel Prichard complained, among other things, of the insolent demeanour of the English cavaliers and the ruthless behaviour of their troops. Charles could only withdraw but his dire need of support soon brought him back to Cardiff, although it was to a reception that was distinctly hostile.
Leaving Cardiff for Brecon, he dined at Llancaiach Fawr, so states Cutch in his "Iter Carolinium", and thus his host on his last day on Glamorgan soil was Colonel Edward Prichard.
The illfated Charles was escorted by him over Gelligaer Mountain to Brecon, passing Fochriw on the way. His heart must have been heavy and his famous cavaliers could no longer have laughed as they wended their way along one of the most romantic roads in the whole of Wales.
His mission in south Wales, upon which so much had depended, had been a lamentable failure. It is significant that on arriving at Brecon Priory he wrote a letter to Charles, Prince of Wales, urging him to flee to France with all haste.