Penoyre House,

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

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 Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

is a nineteenth century country house. Designed by

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country h ...

for Colonel

John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins (1802 – 28 September 1865) was a Welsh Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in three periods between 1832 and 1865. Watkins was the son of Re ...

, it was built between 1846-8. In an

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 ...

style, it is described by Mark Girouard as "Salvin's most ambitious classical house". The enormous cost of the house almost bankrupted the family and it was sold only 3 years after Colonel Watkins's death. From 1947, the house was in institutional use, and was converted to apartments in the early twenty-first century. The building is Grade II* listed The gardens are listed Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

History

(1802–65) was a nineteenth century Welsh

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician who sat Member of Parliament for

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

. and was

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 ...

and

Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire. After 1723, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Brecknockshire. The office was abolished on 31 March 1974 and replaced with the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, wi ...

. Watkins inherited a late eighteenth century house from his father, the Reverend Thomas Watkins, and engaged Salvin to undertake a complete rebuilding from 1846-8. The cost of the house alone was over £33,000 and Allibone records that Watkins was obliged to "close (it) and live cheaply in a local hotel." Only three years after his death in 1865, the house was sold. Privately owned from 1868 to 1947, the house was then used as a school, the clubhouse to a golf club, a nursing home, an hotel and a rehabilitation centre. In the early twenty-first century, the house was converted to apartments.

Architecture

The house is designed in an

style, echoing Sir Charles Barry's Trentham Park and Thomas Cubitt's Osbourne House. Girouard calls it "Salvin's most ambitious classical house". It has a three-storey main block, a "colossal" entrance tower with a

belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

top, and a balancing conservatory wing which had a glass-domed roof, although this was replaced in 1899.

Notes

References

* * * {{Cite book , last1 = Scourfield, first1 = Robert , last2 = Haslam, first2 = Richard , series=The Buildings of Wales , title=Powys: Montgomeryshire,Radnorshire and Breconshire , url=http://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300185089&nat=false&sort=%24rank&sf1=keyword&st1=Powys&m=1&dc=1 , year=2013 , publisher=Yale University Press , isbn=9780300185089 , ref={{sfnRef, Scourfield & Haslam Country houses in Powys Grade II* listed buildings in Powys Registered historic parks and gardens in Powys Anthony Salvin