Historic Buildings of Carmarthenshire, Wales

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Image right - Kidwelly castle

See Table of Welsh Place names (Table listing where places are in Current [Post 1974/1996] Welsh Counties/Historic Counties

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If you have information about any of the Buildings mentioned below please share it here. If you have ancestors linked to any of the places please add them to the project.

The object of this project is to provide information about historic buildings in the county of Carmarthenshire, with links to sub-projects for specific buildings as appropriate. GENi profiles of people associated with those establishments can be linked to this project and/or to individual projects where they have been set up.

Castles, Baronial and Historic houses

... in alphabetical order

❊ Indicates an available image in Gallery attached to the project

Including Castles, Abbeys, Manor Houses, Mansions, Stately Homes, Country houses, Estate houses, Courts, Halls, Parks and other listed buildings of historic interest

Bold links are to GENi projects and profiles; others are to external websites

A

• Aberdaunant - farmhouse, Llandeilo - National Trust
• Aberglasney House and Gardens, Llangathen - Country house, Grade II* listed building

B

• Bishop's Palace at Abergwili, home to the Bishop of St David's since 1542, when Bishop William Barlow transferred his palace from St David's to Abergwili, re-using the premises of an older college of priests. The building is believed to have been built between 1283 and 1291, when Thomas Bek was made bishop of St Davids. It was known as a college until it was amalgamated with another to create Christ College in Brecon. It was almost completely rebuilt in 1903 following a disastrous fire. It contains the chapel originally added by Archbishop Laud in 1625, when he was Bishop of St David's. In 1974 the old episcopal palace was purchased by Carmarthenshire Council for use as a museum, whilst a new residence for the bishops, "Llys Esgob", was built in part of the grounds, together with Diocesan Offices - thereby continuing a connection with Abergwili which has now lasted for well over 400 years. Until 1802 the river Towy ran past the back of the Palace until it changed course and left an oxbow lake. Today it is a large lily pond with large amounts of wildlife.
• Bwthyn-y-Felin, Llangain is an old woollen mill which employed four full-time workers in its heyday. Llangain Mill closed in the 1940s.

C

• Cardigan Priory A painting of the River Teifi falls was made by Frank Miles and is now at Nottingham City Museum. Miles's father inherited Cardigan Priory from his father, Philip John Miles, but lived in Nottinghamshire as Rector of Bingham.
• Castell Caerfyrddin ❊ (Carmarthen Castle) - the strategic importance of Carmarthen was such that the Norman William fitz Baldwin built a castle, probably around 1094. The existing castle site is known to have been used since 1105. The castle was destroyed by Llywelyn the Great in 1215. In 1223, the castle was rebuilt and permission was received to wall the town and crenellate (a murage). Carmarthen was among the first mediæval walled towns in Wales. In 1405, the town was taken and the castle was sacked by Owain Glyndŵr.
• Carreg Cennen Castle: carregcennencastle.com
• Castell Moel - ruins of 15th-century great house. It was never a castle but a residence built for the Reed family in the early 15th century and was in ruin in Elizabethan times. It is possible there had been some earthen fortification there at one time. Some believe this to be at Old Castle.
• Castle House Laugharne - Georgian Townhouse; a Grade II* Listed building
• Coedmor Llangain was built in 1968 for Mr and Mrs E.J.Williams, retired farmers of Penycoed. Coedmor Avenue is named in recognition of their ownership of the land and the family's continuing local connection.

D

• Dinefwr Castle ❊ - (or Dynevor Castle) overlooks the River Tywi near the town of Llandeilo. It lies on a ridge on the northern bank of the Tywi, with a steep drop of several hundred feet to the river. Dinefwr was the chief seat of the kingdom of Deheubarth and the seat of Rhys ap Gruffydd, one of the early kings over most of Wales. The foundations of two Roman forts have been discovered in the grounds of the Dinefwr estate, which is in the custody of the National Trust. The estate of Golden Grove lies near the town, and further away, Carreg Cennen castle. The remains of Talley Abbey can be seen six miles away to the north of the town. Ten miles further north are the remains of the Roman gold mines of Dolaucothi, another National Trust property. cadw.wales.gov.uk
• Dolau Mawr, country mansion - built in 1777, now Highmead, centre of religious studies for Mohammedans.
• Dolaucothi Estate and mansion House - whose owner, John Johnes, was murdered by his butler in 1876. The mansion house was demolished in 1952.
• Dryslwyn Castle: cadw.wales.gov.uk
• Dylan Thomas Boathouse - Dylan Thomas lived in the parish of Langharne from 1949 until he died in 1953.

F

• Fernhill, Llangain a small gentry house dating back to 1723 and listed as a grade II building for its architectural and cultural connections. Famous as a frequent childhood holiday retreat of the world renowned poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), it became immortalised in one of his best-known poems, Fern Hill. Fernhill is also known for its association with the notorious county hangman, Robert Rickets Evans who lived there at the turn of the 20th century. His daughter was heiress to a fortune. He imprisoned her in a cell in the courtyard (which can still be seen today) to gain her fortune, but her lover helped her to escape, according to folklore. The story has been confirmed in more recent research, which has also described Thomas' stays at Fernhill and the extent of his family connections in the Llangain area.

G

• Great House Laugharne - Georgian Townhouse; a Grade II* Listed building

K

• Kidwelly Priory was a Benedictine abbey in Kidwelly. Roger, bishop of Salisbury (d.1139), a Norman invader, founded the priory of Kidwelly, but it seems to have been a place of Celtic veneration of Saint Cadog for some centuries prior to that. It was a daughter abbey of Sherborne Abbey, and although well documented in the historical record it appears to have remained small for its extent. It was dissolved 1539, by Henry VIII. Today the abbey remains a parish church, St Mary's with much of the surviving fabric dates to the fourteenth century, c. 1320
• Kidwelly Castle ❊ - founded in 1106 by invading Normans. The present remains of the castle include work from about 1200 to about 1476. Created as a defence against the Welsh, the castle fell to the Welsh several times in the twelfth century. Later in its history, it was unsuccessfully besieged by forces of Owain Glyndŵr in 1403 with assistance from soldiers from France and Brittany who captured Kidwelly town. The castle was relieved by a Norman army after three weeks. The gatehouse was extensively damaged and it was rebuilt on the instructions of King Henry V. It largely escaped involvement in the English Civil War. Kidwelly was used as a location for the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, appearing in the very first scene after the titles. The castle is relatively well-preserved, and is managed by Cadw.

L

• Llandovery Castle - remains; built in 1110 and almost immediately captured by the Welsh, changing hands between Normans and Welsh until the reign of King Edward I of England. The castle was used by King Henry IV while on a sortie into Wales when he executed Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Fychan in the marketplace. It was later attacked by the forces of Owain Glyndŵr in 1403.
• Llanelly House, - one of Llanelli's most historic properties; an example of an early 18th century Georgian town house, built by Thomas Stepney in 1714. The house, directly opposite the parish church, is currently in a poor state of repair, though town council has bought it and plans to restore the house for civic and public use. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, stayed at the house several times
• Llangadog Castle - destroyed in 1204.
• Llansteffan Castle: cadw.wales.gov.uk
• Laugharne Castle ❊: Founded 12th century. The castle was known originally as the Castle of Abercorran; it existed in Laugharne before the Norman Conquest and belonged to the princes of South Wales. Henry II visited it in 1172 on his return from Ireland and made peace with Prince Rhys of Dynevor. Through the marriage of Prince Rhys' daughter, the castle passed to Sir Guy de Brian, who had been Lord High Admiral of England. His daughter Elizabeth inherited the castle and married Owen Laugharne of St Bride's who gave his name to the castle. Possession passed to the Crown and during the 16th century belonged to Sir John Perrot, returning to the crown after his death. In 1644 the castle was garrisoned for the king and taken for Parliament by General William Laugharne, who subsequently reverted to the king's side; Oliver Cromwell lay siege to the castle, burning and leaving it in ruins.
• Llansteffan Castle, built by the Normans in the 12th century, stands above the village of Llansteffan on a promontory commanding the estuary passage. The village and castle – located between ferry crossings of the Towy and Tâf rivers – were an important staging post on the Normans' coastal route from Glamorgan via Kidwelly to Pembroke
• Llwyndu mansion, Llangain a Grade II listed building, was built in the early 19th century. In 1821-1823 Captain Henry Harding lived there and it was afterwards the home of Frederick Philipps, JP. In 1906 the owner was Charles Bankes Davies. It has an upper and lower lodge. The original name for the upper lodge The Beeches, was Chweched meaning Sixth, indicating the six lanes.

N

• Newcastle Emlyn Castle: overlooks River Teifi; a ruined 13th-century castle, first mentioned in Brut y Tywysogion in 1215, when it was seized by Llewelyn the Great. The castle was captured by the Welsh during the revolt of 1287-8 Rhys ap Maredudd's revolt to an end. Owain Glyndŵr also attacked it in 1403. castlewales.com
• Newton House, Llandeilo - historic house

P

• Pantyrathro mansion, Llangain was built by James Richards in the early 19th century. It was developed as a direct result of selling local milk products to London with the coming of the railway to Carmarthen. It became the local hotel in 1970.
• Penryn manor - contains an ancient family mansion called Cwm
• Pilroath mansion, Llangain is situated at the southern end of the parish above the confluence of the Rhoth Brook and the Afon Tywi. In 1902 the property was purchased by T J Harries, Esq. who built the present mansion. The property was occupied by the Harries family for three generations and owned until 1994 by County Councillor Arthur Harries. The courtyard and outbuildings are now being adapted into a production base where films and TV programmes reflecting local life can be made.
• Plas Llanstephan, Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant's former residence, which is also a grade II* listed building

S

• St Clears castle" - Ruins of a Norman castle in Llanddowror; constructed in the twelfth century but only the castle mound now remains. The town, which was a Marcher borough, grew around the castle. Below the castle there was a port on the river Tâf, which could take ships of up to 500 tons according to a plaque at the site. The castle held out against Owain Glyndŵr.

T

• Talley Abbey - Ruins; a former Premonstratensian foundation destroyed in about 1536 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
• Trefenty house became the home of a branch of the Perrot family in the 16th century, and it was here that the amateur astronomer Sir William Lower and a neighbour, John Protheroe, set up one of Britain's first telescopes in 1609, which they used to study the craters of the Moon and Halley's Comet.

W

• Whitland mediæval Cistercian abbey. The monastery pre-dates Tintern but now is very much a ruin. The "white land" of the name (Latin: Albalanda) may refer to the famous White House where Hywel's parliament met, to the monks' unstained woolen cloaks, or to the abbey's limestone. Whitland Abbey was dissolved during Henry VIII's conversion to Protestantism. Much of its limestone was taken and used for other buildings. The magnificent setting of the ruin and the Abbey's layout can still be viewed.

References and Sources

Carmarthenshire Specific

General

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monastic_houses_in_Wales
• http://www.castlewales.com/listings.html
• http://www.scottishcastlesassociation.com/
• http://www.stravaiging.com/history/castles
• http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Main/HomePage
• http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk
• http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/
• http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
• http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_houses_in_the_United_K...
• http://www.britainsfinest.co.uk/historichouses/
• http://www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_go_in_Britain/historic_house...
• http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/
• Historic Houses Association - represents 1,500 houses in the UK
• Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens - UK - guidebook of over 2,000 houses open to the public
• The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses - database of over 7,000 houses
• Lost Heritage - A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England - list of over 1,700 houses
• National Trust for Historic Preservation - online database of historic houses in the United State
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Houses_Association - http://www.hha.org.uk/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Houses_of_England

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