Penarth is a

timber-framed 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 ...

house set back from the

A483 road The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs from Swansea in Wales to Chester in England via Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Oswestry an ...

near to Newtown, Wales, close to the banks of 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 ...

. It is within the parish of

Llanllwchaiarn Llanllwchaiarn or Llanllwchaearn () in Welsh) is a village on the outskirts of Newtown in Powys, Wales. It forms part of the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn. Aberbechan Hall was a Tudor mansion in the eastern part of the parish d ...

, within the historic county 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 ...

, which now forms part of

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 ...

. It is amongst the best examples of the ‘‘Severn Valley’’ timber-framed houses. The Penarth vineyard stands within the grounds of the house. Penarth Powys

Architectural description

Penarth is a two storey

hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...

with two forward projecting gabled wings. The two bayed construction of the hall with a central cruck truss is likely to be the earliest part of the house and could be 15th century. It was originally suggested that it was an aisled hall, but restoration work in 1964 showed this was not the case. A chimney stack is positioned so that a ''Lobby entrance'' is formed, a typical feature of ''Severn Valley'' houses. The two gabled wings on either side of the hall are jettied with the second floor projecting forward and the timber framing forming a decorated ''geometric'' pattern. .

History of Penarth

Penarth lies in Dyffryn Llanfair, an ancient township which lies to the south of the river Severn. The earliest known owner of Penarth was Richard Pryce, who in 1604 was commemorated in a poem by the Welsh

Bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

and

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...

Lewys Dwnn Lewys Dwnn (c. 1550–1616) was a Welsh poet and Welsh genealogist. Also known as Lewys ap Rhys ab Owain. Lewys Dwnn originated from Bettws Cedewain in Montgomeryshire and claimed descent from a David Dwnn of Kidwelly. Welsh genealogist Lewy ...

. Dwnn was lived in nearby

Bettws Cedewain Bettws Cedewain ( cy, Betws Cedewain), also known as Bettws Cedewen, is a small village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. It lies in a sheltered valley on the banks of the River Bechan, some north of Newtown, on the B4389 road. T ...

. Penarth continued in the Pryce family ownership and there are references to a later Richard Pryce in the Manorial records in 1696. In 1710 and 1717 an Edward Powell, Gent is mentioned as living at Penarth Ucha. The Rev John Parker, (noted for his diaries and drawings of Church screens), who was Rector of Llanmerewig (1827-1844), lived here. Mr and Mrs Higgs restored the house with grants from the Historic Buildings Council in 1964.

Wine production at Penarth

Bernard and Tanya Herbert planted their first vines in 1999, and the acreage was increased 2 years later, so that all 10 acres of vines are now bearing fruit. Varieties that are grown include German and French varieties such as

Madeleine Angevine Madeleine Angevine is a white wine grape from the Loire Valley in France that is also popular in Germany, Kyrgyzstan and Washington state. The early-ripening grape is a cross between Madeleine Royale and Malingre Précoce grapes that grows wel ...

. However, the majority of the vines are the classical ‘sparkling wine grapes’-

Pinot Noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

, Pinot Meunier and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

. The vineyard has no winery, and wines are being produced by Three Choirs at Newent.

Bibliography

* Oliver H N Llanllwchaiarn Church and Parish 2000 * Pryce T E ''Half-Timbered Houses of Montgomeryshire'', (Part III, Penarth), "Montgomeryshire Collections" Vol 17, 1884, 149–164, 359–368. * Smith P and Vaughan-Owen C E ''Penarth, a Montgomeryshire Aisled Hall'', "Montgomeryshire Collections" Vol 58 pt ii, 1964, 107-113 * Scourfield R and Haslam R ''The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire.'' Yale University Press 2013 * Smith P ''Houses of the Welsh Countryside'', 2nd Edition, 1988, HMSO/ RCAHMW * Suggett R and Stevenson G ''Introducing Houses of the Welsh Countryside. Cyflwyno Cartrefi Cefn Gwlad Cymru.'' Y Lolfa/ RCAHMW, 2010

References

External links