Ar lan gogledd-orllewinol Llyn Cwmtyleri mae olion ffermdy carreg sylweddol ôl-Canoloesol ar lwyfan mawr a dorrwyd i’r bryn ac a gyfluniwyd o’r dwyrain i’r gorllewin. Dynododd yr Arglwydd Rhaglaw a’r Cyng. W. F. Deasey y safle fel olion Ty Nest Llewellyn neu Nest John Rosser. Llewellyn oedd ei henw priod [Bradney 1906, 478]. Roedd Nest yn un o aelodau cyntaf Eglwys Bedyddwyr Blaenau Gwent a defnyddiwyd ei chartref fel man addoli drwy gyfnod o erledigaeth wleidyddol yn ystod y 1660au a’r 1670au [Jones 1779, 97). Fe’i disgrifiwyd fel menyw ddewr a grymus ac er iddi gael ei galw o flaen barnwyr fwy nag unwaith, cadwodd ei safiad a pharhau i groesawu achos y Bedyddwyr ym Mlaenau Gwent i’w chartref [Thomas 1960, 4].
Yr oedd Bedyddwyr ac Annibynnwyr yn y cwm yn wreiddiol wedi cwrdd gyda’i gilydd, ond darbwyllwyd y Bedyddwyr i wahanu a chanfu’r ddwy gynulleidfa eu lleoedd eu hunain i addoli. Cyfarfu’r Bedyddwyr “at the House of Nest John Rosser; higher up in the Valley of Tilery”, tra cyfarfu’r Annibynnwyr yn the House of John ap John, a very holy Man” yn Gelli’r Grug [Jones 1779, 98].
Mae’n debyg fod Nest yn chwaer i William John Rosser, y rhoddodd Edmund Jones fywgraffiad byr ohono:
“he was a very kind charitable Man; helping the poor about him, with Milk and Oatmeal, and being a Weaver would make Cloaths for the poor; having a small Estate of his own, to enable him to do good. It was also said of him, that, in the market he would give cans of Ale to one and another of his acquaintance, who, he thought, were poor and unable to pay; drinking but little himself. In a word; He carefully abstained from sin, and did every good in his power to all about him: He lived near the upper end of the Valley of Tilery: I think he was never Married, nor had any Children. I heard a firm old Church-woman say, who was acquainted with him; ‘If any of the Round-heads ever went to Heaven (that was her Word) William John Rosser went thither.’ A good character from an adversary is a sure sign of great excellence.” [ibid. 114-15].
Disgrifiwyd John Rosser, tad Nest a William, fel iwmon, a sonnir amdano mewn dogfen o 1650 emwn cysylltiad gyda Fferm Clyn Mawr [Swyddfa Cofnodion Gwent].
Cyfeiriadau
Bradney, J. 1906. A History of Monmouthshire: The Hundred of Abergavenny, Cyfrol. I, Pt 2b (9 cyf, at: Academy Books, 1992).
Deasy, W. F. N.D. Unpublished notes on Cwmtillery (Amgueddfa Abertyleri).
Swyddfa Cofnodion Gewnt D.397.631.
Jones, David. 1839. Hanes y Bedyddwyr
Jones, Edmund. 1779. A Geographical, Historical and Religious Account of the Parish of Aberystruth,(1779), 60-61.
Thomas, Clifford J. 1960. History of the Blaenau Gwent Baptist Church, Abertillery, 1660-1960 (Abertyleri: South Wales Gazette).
