The farm at Great Porthamel, at

Talgarth Talgarth is a market town, community and electoral ward in southern Powys, Mid Wales, about north of Crickhowell, north-east of Brecon and south-east of Builth Wells. Notable buildings in the town include the 14th-century parish church and ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, Wales, comprises a range of buildings including the farmhouse, the gate tower and an agricultural building. They form the remnants of a major

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

manor that was the principal seat of the Vaughan family. The complex has been described as "one of the more remarkable mediaeval houses of Wales". The gatehouse is a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

, and a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, while the farmhouse is listed at

Grade II* 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 ...

and the agricultural building at Grade II.

History

The estate at Great Porthamel was established by Sir William Vaughan, created the first

High Sheriff of Brecknockshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Brecknockshire or Breconshire. The office of High Sheriff of Brecknockshire was established in 1535 since when a High Sheriff was appointed annually by the Queen until 1974 when the office was merged into that o ...

in 1539. The Porthamel Vaughans, a junior branch of the Vaughans of Tretower Court, came to prominence and wealth as minor personages at the Tudor

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accorda ...

of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Rowland Lee, Lord President of the Marches, wrote to

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

that William Vaughan was “a man to be cherished”. Sir William began building at the end of the 15th, or the early 16th centuries, and a contemporary account records the gatehouse forming the entrance to a "a strong wall-embatteled" enclosure. Cadw's Coflein record gives a date for construction of 1536. The farmhouse also dates from this time, although reconstruction took place in the later

Tudor era The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with t ...

, including the addition of a two-storey

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

. Robert Scourfield and Richard Haslam, in their 2013 volume, ''Powys'', of the Buildings of Wales series, note that much of the Porthamel enclosure had been destroyed by the 19th century. The farm at Porthamel is the site of an

anaerobic digester Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the fermen ...

, following a controversial, but successful, planning application in the early 21st century, which saw the development opposed by the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...

authority.

Architecture and description

The Porthamel complex has been described as "one of the more remarkable mediaeval houses of Wales". The farmhouse is of two storeys and five bays. The tower is approximately 8m in height. It has an upper chamber with stairs leading to a

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

look-out point. It is a Grade I listed building and a

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The farmhouse is listed at Grade II*, while the agricultural building is Grade II.

Gallery

Manor House at Porthamel - geograph.org.uk - 3918711.jpg, The farmhouse Tower at Great Porthamel - geograph.org.uk - 3918704.jpg, Another view of the tower

Notes

References

Sources

* {{Cite book , last1=Scourfield, first1=Robert , first2=Richard, last2=Haslam , series= The Buildings of Wales , title=Powys: Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire , url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/powys-montgomeryshire-radnorshire-and-breconshire/oclc/935421607 , year=2013 , publisher=

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, location=New Haven, US and London , isbn=978-0-300-18508-9 , oclc=935421607 Buildings and structures in Powys Grade I listed buildings in Powys Grade II* listed buildings in Powys Talgarth