Plas Machynlleth is the former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

residence of the

Marquesses of Londonderry Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of Londonderry ( ), is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry. He had earlier represented County Down in the Irish House of ...

. It is situated in the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Machynlleth Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a popul ...

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 ...

(formerly

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It was brought into the family following the 1846 marriage of the then Viscount Seaham (who later became, in March 1854, Earl Vane, and in November 1872 the 5th Marquess of Londonderry) to Mary Cornelia Edwards, who inherited it on the death of her father, Sir John Edwards, in 1850. Sir John had extended and renamed the house. It is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

building.

History

The house became the family home of the 5th Marquess. His eldest son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

left Machynlleth on succeeding to the Marquessate. The house was then lived in by his youngest son,

Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

. After Lord Herbert was killed in the

Abermule train collision The Abermule train collision was a head-on collision which occurred at Abermule, Montgomeryshire, Wales on 26 January 1921, killing 17 people. The crash arose from misunderstandings between staff which effectively over-rode the safe operation of ...

on 26 January 1921 no family members lived there. The oldest parts of the house date to the seventeenth century; the main entrance front was added in 1853. The house was called Greenfields for many years. It was later renamed after the town. After the

Second World War 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 ...

, The 7th Marquess of Londonderry, a prominent

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the I ...

politician, gave the mansion and its estate to the town. It adapted the house for use as council offices. In 1995, after a £3 million refurbishment, funded by

Montgomeryshire District Council , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the building became the "Celtica" heritage centre. It also had space to support conferences. For several years the centre was successful in attracting tourist and educational visits and conferences. The mansion was taken over by the new unitary authority,

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Governme ...

. With little investment by the Council and declining visitor numbers, the Council decided to close the centre in 2006. It cited a loss of £1.1 million between 1998 and its closure. The Plas is now used as a community and meetings venue.

References

{{Coord, 52.58827, -3.85287, region:GB-POW_type:landmark, display=title Country houses in Powys Grade II* listed buildings in Powys Machynlleth

History

See also

References