Fronfraith Hall is a mid-Victorian house in the historic parish of

Llandyssil Llandyssil is a village in Powys, Wales, about two miles from the town of Montgomery. The village is part of the Llandyssil community. In 2001 there were 420 inhabitants in the parish, of whom 300 lived in the village itself.The population figu ...

in the shire area of

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 ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

. Fronfraith also appears in records as ''Bronfraith'' and ''Vronvraith''. Fronfraith was also a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

within the parish of Llandyssil. The present house was built in 1863 under the supervision of the Shrewsbury architect James Pickard This house replaced a large house, probably a

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

Tudor mansion, which had been the home of the Morgan family. In 1966, the west wing of the Fronfraith Hall was badly damaged as the result of a fire, but has now been restored. The Hall is now partly used as a guest house.

History

The first family to be associated with Fronfraith were the Morgans. Richard Morgan who lived at Fronfraith, was elected MP for Montgomery Boroughs in 1592–3. He was married to Margaret Lloyd, daughter of Thomas Lloyd of Gwernabuarth, in Llandyssil. His third son Robert Morgan (1608–1673) in 1660 became

Archdeacon of Merioneth This is a list of the archdeacons of Meirionnydd. The Archdeacon of Meirionydd is the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Meirionydd, an administrative division of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The archdeaconry comprises the five dea ...

in 1660 and was consecrated

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol. The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...

in 1666. In the 18th century Fronfraith had passed to the Jones family. A notable member of the family was Rear Admiral Sir Charles Thomas Jones (1778–1853). Jones saw distinguished service in the Royal Navy and was knighted in 1809. He was High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire 1832. A fine memorial to Admiral is in Montgomery Church, where he is buried. After his death the new house was built, probably by Captain Maurice Jones, who was living there 1868. A family dispute then arose and on the order of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

the Fronfraith Estate was put up for sale, and was sold at auction as single lot, in Manchester on 21 July 1871. Fronfraith Hall is described as ''A Newly Erected Handsome, Large and Commodious Mansion… Charmingly situated and replete with every convenience, suited for a family of distinction, and surrounded by a beautiful and Romantic Park, studded with Ornamental and Choice Trees, and Terraces commanding the Most Extensive, Picturesque and Varied Views''. The Estate consisted of ''630 Acres… of excellent pasture, meadow and arable land, woods and plantations... producing a rental of £1,028. 11s. 4. per annum''. The Fronfraith Estate was acquired by Charles Whitely Owen, who was High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1887. In 1918, following the death of Charles Whitely Owen the Estate passed to Gilbert Saltoun Jones, who, on inheriting, changed his name to Gilbert Whitely Owen. On his death in 1926, the Estate was inherited by Captain and Mrs Cordeaux. They were to put it up for auction September 1931 and it was sold, with exception of the Waterloo Public House to John Crawford Allen of Croydon. Allen must have been a property speculator because in 1932, he sold it to Senator Rupert Davies (1879–1967), Canadian politician and newspaper editor, who was born in

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

. Davies continued to use it as his home in Wales until he sold it in 1948. His son,

Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...

(1913–1995), the noted Canadian novelist and Shakespearian scholar, lived at times at Fronfraith in the late 1930s. The estate was sold by auction in 1948 to the Humphreys family of Llwynmaddoc in

. The house and its surrounding grounds were sold off separately in 1969.English E (ed) 1999 "A Collected History of the Communities of Llandyssil, Abermule and Llanmerewig". Section 6, pt. 1

References

{{reflist Houses in Powys History of Powys History of Montgomeryshire Buildings and structures in Powys Houses completed in 1863