Thread by @OwsWills, Laugharne, once home to Wales' most celebrated poet, Dylan Thomas, has a [...]

OwsWills

Laugharne, once home to Wales' most celebrated poet, Dylan Thomas, has a strange and intriguing past.

Still presided over by a male-only medieval "corporation," Laugharne's (Talacharn in Welsh) 730-year-old system of governance is utterly unique in Wales.

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The Laugharne Corporation dates back to 1290, and is administered by a 'Portreeve' and his court of 'Aldermen' and 'Burgesses'.

The corporation deals with civil suits and land disputes, and has a range of traditions, including "The Beating of the Bounds" (or "The Common Walk")

The Beating of the Bounds, a muddy 25-mile slog over the corporation's land led by the Portreeve (derived from the Saxon words for "Market Town" [Port] and "Official" [Gerefa]) and his Court, takes place every 3rd Whit Monday, retracing Laugharne's ancient boundaries with sticks.

On the Monday after Michaelmas (29 Sept), the township swears in a new Portreeve, and elects its officials, including:
• 500 burgesses
• 2 attorneys (collecting money/rent)
• 4 constables (armed with a truncheon, with responsibility for the strict security of grazing lands)

The new Portreeve is draped in a chain of golden cockles and hoisted aloft on a wooden chair, which is then ceremoniously carried three times around the town hall.

The following Sunday, the Portreeve holds a civic Breakfast followed by a church procession to request a Blessing.

The corporation owns several fields, notably on an area known as The Hugden, each delineated by "landskers."

The 76 most senior burgesses each hold a "strang" of land, which is theirs until death.

This open-field medieval farming system is one of only two still in use today.

Laugharne Corporation, along with City of London Corporation, is the last surviving medieval corporation in the curious and convoluted history of these islands.

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