Saith Cenedl 

Inspired by the welsh words Gofalwr (‘care-taker’) and the idea of Saith Cenedl (‘seven generations’) means that as we look back into the past and forward into the future, we are in touching distance of the people who came before us and will come after us.

Stewarding land means we can use the land, but we must always do so in a way that is caring and protective and nourishing.

The idea is to transform private landownership, piece by piece, into collective ownership, using either a co-operative, community benefit society, or inalienable trust system. This is to establish a way in which land can only be stewarded, or cared for, in order to look after it.

Stewardship is very different to ownership. It encapsulates a concept of ‘caring’ for a period of time. It means that land would be the responsibility of the community rather than the property of an individual to use as they saw fit.

Hywel Dda’s laws remind us that Welsh society is connected with place, and developed ways of organising itself that differed markedly from the subsequent laws of conquest and property appropriation.

Degraded land would be restored and existing environmental land stewarded in a way that could include cultivation - but would have at its heart the protection of the soils and species.

That would mean a ‘permaculture’ or ‘regenerative’ approach where edibles are a part of the mosaic rather than the sole purpose of the land.

More to come soon…

The laws of Hywel Dda

These were a system of laws, also known as Cyfraith Hywel, that governed medieval Wales. They included rules about marriage, divorce, theft, and the rights of children. 

Marriage and divorce 

Marriage was an agreement, not a holy sacrament

Divorce was permitted by mutual consent

Theft 

There was no punishment for theft if the sole purpose was to survive

Children 

Children born within and outwith marriage had the same rights.