Stephen W Williams

Career

He was originally articled in 1852 to Samuel Bate of Trent Vale from November 1852 for five years. He was then employed as an engineer by a Mr Atkinson who was a sub-contractor to Benjamin Piercy and between 1858–1861 he was an engineer on the Vale of Clwyd Railway. He also worked as an assistant engineer on the Oswestry and Newtown Railway. It is suggested by Scourfield that Williams may have been responsible for the design of Welshpool railway station, which was completed in 1862.

In March 1861 he set up his own architectural practice in Rhayader. At this period he continued to undertake railway survey work in Wales and in parts of England In 1864 he was appointed county surveyor for Radnorshire. He was elected a FRIBA in 1886 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1890. He became company secretary and Surveyor for the Llandrindod Estate and Building Company. He was a man of wide interests and joined the 1st Herefordshire Rifle Volunteers in 1878. He set up the Rhayader Company of the Volunteers, with the rank of Captain and eventually he became Lieutenant Colonel in command of the entire battalion. In 1899 (the year of his death) he was the High Sheriff of Radnorshire.

Land surveying and civil engineering

Williams supplemented his salary of £100 p.a.as Radnorshire County Surveyor by undertaking work as a land surveyor and estate agent. This included work on Enclosure Awards. One of the largest awards was the '’Swydd Neithon'’, which enclosed the Llandrindod and Cefnllys commons and made available the land on which the new town of Llandrindod Wells was to be built. The contacts he made led to further work as a surveyor and agent with local estates. He surveyed the Gogerddan and Rhydoldog estates and was the agent for the Llysdinam estate where Francis Kilvert was a regular guest.

The Elan Valley Reservoirs

In 1892 the Birmingham Corporation Water Act was passed which gave the Birmingham City Council powers to compulsorily purchase land in the Elan Valley close to Rhayader, for the construction of dams for a water supply for the city. Birmingham Corporation had appointed the engineer, James Mansergh, to oversee the project but he needed someone to plan and build the workers' village. In October 1892 Williams was requested to value various estates by the Birmingham Town Clerk and in May 1893 he was appointed Elan Valley Estate Agent by the City Council. This involved the management of 45,000 acres of land and he was also involved in the delicate negotiations over land leases, dealing fairly and discreetly with local tenants, many of whom lost their lands as a result of building the reservoirs. In these matters he was to work closely with James Mansergh, who referred to him as 'our ubiquitous friend'

The Development of Llandrindod Wells

A major scheme in which Williams was involved was the planning and laying out of Llandrindod after the '’Swydd Neithon'’ was enclosed in 1862. The development and layout of the town then proceeded in two parts. Lands owned by Richard Green Price was surveyed and laid out by Williams around Rock park, while the Pump House Estate to the east was laid out by Thomas Nicholson. Apart from William's designs for shops and houses, his work also included;

Interest in archaeology and the Cistercian Order

William's attended his first meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Association at Welshpool in 1857 at the age of 20. He had fairly diverse interests which included Numismatics, arms and armour, the study of monumental effigies in churches and he contributed an article about Roman finds at Kenchester in Herefordshire. Shortly before his death in 1899, Williams, as High Sheriff of Radnorshire, was instrumental in holding a groundbreaking Treasure Trove proceedings on the hoard of late Iron Age or Roman gold bracelets and a ring that were found at Carreg Gwynion, Nantmel near Rhayader. The hoard was declared Treasure Trove and is now in the collections of the British Museum, but Williams at the time made a plea for the foundation of a National Museum for Wales., which could house such discoveries in future. It was the Cistercian Abbeys of Wales that were to become his main interest and he has been described as the 'father of Cistercian archaeology in Wales' To assist him with his Excavations he employed his archictural assistant, Telfer Smith as clerk of Works and Worthington George Smith to act as an architectural draughtsman. Worthington Smith was both a distinguished botanical illustrator and a leading Palaeolithic archaeologist.

Strata Florida

Encouraged by the Cambrian Archaeological Association, Williams conducted two seasons of clearance and digging in 1887 and 1888, with a short season of excavation in 1890. The Cambrian Archaeological Society had taken Strata Florida Abbey into guardianship and wished to display it for the public. William's plans were the first accurate survey of the Abbey and in 1889 he published The Cistercian Abbey of Strata Florida: Its History, and an Account of the Recent Excavations Made on Its Site.. This was a history of the Abbey and description of the excavation, which set new standards for a publication about the Cistercians.

Abbey Cwmhir, Radnorshire

Williams published a history of this Cistercian Abbey in 1890 following the discovery of carved capitals while gardening by Mrs Philips, the owner of the Abbey. This led to a more detailed excavation of the nave the Abbey church, sponsored by the Society of Cymmrodorion in 1890, who were hoping the burial place of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales 1258–82.

Strata Marcella

Excavations carried out for the Powysland Club in 1890 and managed to recover much of the plan of the church of the Cistercian Abbey. The finds from the excavations are now in the Powysland Museum in Welshpool

Talley Abbey

Talley Abbey in Carmarthenshire was a Premonstratensian Abbey founded around 1185 by Rhys ap Gruffydd. Williams was invited by Sir James William Drummond to arrange an exploratory excavation in 1892. This led to a local committee being formed and excavations continued until 1894 on the site.

Churches

All in Breconshire and Radnorshire

Public Buildings

Schools

Houses

Bridges

As County Surveyor Williams was responsible for at least six bridges. These include

Publications by S W Williams

Literature