EV-0220 — Leckwith Woods: c.109 acres given by Western Ground Rents to Cardiff council (offered 1940, completed April 1942)

Working theories (evidence pending): the 1940–42 woods gift and Parcel A. Each theory is stated as a theory, with its support and the record that would test it. Each rests on the dated records named and on our case’s reading of them; evidence being added.

Provenance of the plan of the Williams parcel (corrected 20 Oct 2026): date and origin unknown; disclosed 2026. Our case, prospective, links it to the 1877 Daniel Thomas & Son agreement, which is not yet in hand [SOURCE PENDING]. It is the only known source for the three-way split of Parcel A, much as Parcel B is known from the 1939 tenancy plan. See the plan.

• T1 (theory): the woods gift to Cardiff took in the woodland third of Parcel A. Support: the gift was “110 acres of wooded land at Leckwith” (Western Mail, 14 Sep 1940, p.5; press search snippet), about 109 acres in the council’s own history (Cardiff Parks; EV-0220); Parcel A’s woods are “practically Leckwith” and are now held by the Forest of Cardiff charity (our case, 20 Oct 2026; charity 1002867; woodland title WA735527, transferred 10 Nov 1994: EV-0136, GHF-E149). Test: the April 1942 WGR → Cardiff conveyance and its plan, laid over the c.1841 tithe parcel 266 “Wood” and the WA735527 plan; Cardiff’s Parks Committee minutes of 15 Oct 1940 to 15 Apr 1942 (Glamorgan Archives BC/C/6/78–80). The plan will show whether the gift’s ground reaches the woods beside the farm, some of which straddle the Llandough–Leckwith line, or lies higher on Leckwith Hill.
• T2 (theory): Parcel A went to the Williams family in 1928, so it was not in the 1938 Bute → Western Ground Rents conveyance. That would explain why WGR never let Parcel A to Williams. Support: Mary (Nancy) Williams’s statement (c.1974) that rent was last paid in 1928 (statement; EV-0016); the May 1939 WGR–John Williams tenancy plan shows Parcel B only (EV-0023). Point raised in our case (20 Oct 2026). Test: the conveyance of 25 Dec 1938 with its parcels and plan (EV-0019; root recited in EV-0216), and any 1928 receipt or instrument (EV-0016).
• T3 (alternative theory): Parcel A did pass to WGR, and WGR gave part of its woods to Cardiff. On this reading the givers held Parcel A, or acted as if they did, while Mary (Nancy) Williams, formerly Buckler, asserted that she owned it (our case, 20 Oct 2026). Support: WGR let land at Llandough from 1939 to 1963 (Glamorgan Archives DBDT123/7–13; Woodland & Land-Transfer Assessment). Test: the same 1938 conveyance and 1942 plan.
• Possible connection: the 1949 attempt to make Mary’s Parcel-A occupation appear permissive (2 Feb 1949; SOURCE PENDING) and the 29 Mar 1961 deed between WGR, South Western Brick & Tile and “Cardiff City”, recited on the Forest of Cardiff woodland title WA735527, pink strand (GHF-E129; EV-0040), may relate to this gift (our case, 20 Oct 2026). Test: the 1961 deed and its plan, from the HM Land Registry title files.