Broneirion is a

Victorian house In Great Britain and former British colonies, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During the Industrial Revolution, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian ...

and grounds on the hillside across the River

Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

from the village of

Llandinam Llandinam () is a village and community (Wales), community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, central Wales, between Newtown, Powys, Newtown and Llanidloes, located on the A470 road, A470. As a community, Llandinam is made up of the village itself, small ...

. It was built by Welsh industrialist David Davies. It has been used as a training centre for

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

since 1946 and has been owned since 1992 by

Girlguiding Cymru Girlguiding Cymru (Welsh: ''Bysowch Barod Cymru'') is one of the nine regions of Girlguiding UK. It serves the approximate area of Wales, although the boundaries are not exact. In 2004, there were 6,964 youth participant groups. Until 1938 Wales ...

. In 2022 they announced the mansion had been put on sale and the centre would be closed.

History

The house was built in the

italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

/ Romanesque revival style in 1864-5 by the architect David Walker It is set in four and a half acres. The roof is Welsh slate. In November 1996, Broneirion House, Coach House, and the Lodge all became

Grade II listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The bridge from the main road towards Broneirion was the first iron bridge constructed in

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

, designed by

Thomas Penson Thomas Penson, or Thomas Penson the younger (c. 1790 – 1859) was the county surveyor of Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire. An innovative architect and designer of a number of masonry arch bridges over the River Severn and elsewhere. He was th ...

and built by Davies. It spans 90 feet (27.5 m). The Davies family moved into the house in 1864. In 1940, Davies' grandson,

David Davies, 1st Baron Davies David Davies, 1st Baron Davies (11 May 1880 – 16 June 1944) was a Welsh Liberal politician and public benefactor who was MP for Montgomeryshire from 1906 to 1929. He was a grandson of the great Welsh industrialist David Davies. As a phi ...

, offered use of the house to

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

school, which needed a new home due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Guiding Centre

Lord Davies and his son, David Michael, the succeeding 3rd Baron Davies, both died in 1944. The latter's widow, Lady Eldrydd Davies, was a supporter of Guiding. Her friend, Heather Kay was enthusiastic for a training centre for Welsh Guides, so Lady Davies offered Broneirion for this purpose. Broneirion became the Welsh Training Centre for the Girl Guide Association in 1946 and was opened by the World Chief Guide,

Olave Baden-Powell Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (''née'' Soames; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder o ...

, in 1947. In 1992 it became the property of

after a campaign that raised £510000 for the purchase and an endowment fund. At the same time, a much-needed campsite was purchased close to the house and named Cae Gwenllian. In 1995, the opportunity unexpectedly arose to buy Broneirion Lodge, on the property boundary. Both the house and grounds are used for training and camping activities, and the site is used by Guides, other organisations and private groups. The Brownie house, originally the Davies children's

summer house A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden ...

is now a Pack Holiday facility.

Cae Gwenllian

Broneirion's campsite, Cae Gwenllian, was purchased in 1994. It is named after Girlguiding Cymru's Treasurer and a former Chief Commissioner, Gwenllian Philipps. It has a toilet block and equipment store.

Future of Guiding Centre

In October 2022, Girlguiding Cymru offered the 30-room Broneirion mansion up for sale for £3M, in addition to its Lodge House, Coach House, Summer House and approximately 10 acres of grounds, and announced they would close the Centre. The Chief Commissioner of Girlguiding Cymru gave as their reasons for sale the decline of Girlguiding membership and use of the centre, increased running costs and the effects of the recent

Covid pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifi ...

on business. It was hoped to invest the proceeds into improving Girlguiding facilities elsewhere in Wales.Report by Sue Austin.

Broneirion Gallery

References

External links

Broneirion home pagePhotograph of Broneirion Lodge
{{Authority control Grade II listed buildings in Powys Grade II listed houses in Wales Girlguiding Montgomeryshire