Tregwynt Mansion
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tregwynt Mansion is a house in the parish of
Granston Granston ( cy, Treopert) is a hamlet and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The parish was in the Hundred of Dewisland and includes the settlements of Llangloffan and Tregwynt, with Tregwynt woollen mill. Granston is in the community of Pencaer. ...
in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The
Tregwynt Hoard The Tregwynt Hoard is a mid-17th-century hoard of coins found at Tregwynt Mansion near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1996. The hoard is now in National Museum Wales. The treasure consisted of 33 gold coins, 467 silver coins and a gol ...
was found during renovations in 1996.


Location

Tregwynt means "place of the winds". The building has an exposed position on the coast above
Abermawr Abermawr is a stretch of coastline and is regarded as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Abermawr is a mostly shingle beach with marsh and woodland behind it. It is popular with many walkers who are walking along the co ...
. Tregynt is one of the oldest house sites in the north of
Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
, with records dating to the 14th century. For six centuries it was owned by the Harries family. The 1844 ''Topographical Dictionary of Wales'' says of Granston, the parish that contains Tregwynt, "It is intersected by the turnpike-road leading from
Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...
to
St. David's St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, ,  "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, ...
, and is watered by a small stream, which, after flowing through it, falls into the sea near Aberbâch. ... The surrounding scenery is not distinguished by any peculiarity of feature, though from the higher grounds some good views are obtained over the t. George'sChannel and the adjacent country."


Building

The present Grade II*-listed manor house and outbuildings date from the 18th century. The building is a plain two-story house with an L-plan, faced with yellow ochre
roughcast Roughcast or pebbledash is a coarse plaster surface used on outside walls that consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown at the wor ...
. The roofs are slate. There is a single-story farm wing attached to the west end. The six-window east entrance front with narrow sashes dates to the earlier part of the 18th century. The rear range, where an earlier stair-tower had stood, dates from the late 18th century or early 19th century. The owners decided to add a ballroom to the house in 1792. The large, plain hipped ballroom has five long windows above a low basement. In the interior, the front range has low rooms with an oak roof. The rear has a pine roof. There are fluted arches with keystones on both floors, which originally led to the rear stair. The present stair hall to the rear was built in the early 19th century.


History

From medieval times the estate was the property of the Harries family. James Harries, second son of John Harries of Tregwynt, married the daughter and heiress of Eynon Griffith of Trewissilt in 1640. He was the ancestor of the Heathfield branch of the family, headed in 1894 by George James Harries, resident at Priskilly. During the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
(1642–51), a hoard of coins was buried in a
redware Redware as a single word is a term for at least two types of pottery of the last few centuries, in Europe and North America. Red ware as two words is a term used for pottery, mostly by archaeologists, found in a very wide range of places. Howeve ...
pot in an outbuilding of the mansion. The hoard was worth £51 9s, which at that time would have been a month's wages for fifty soldiers. Possibly it was buried by a member of the Harries family in 1648 who was involved in the local conflicts of the Second Civil War. The owner of the Tregwynt estate at the time was Llewellin Harries, who died in 1663. He was a prominent landowner who named ten children in his will (dated 1659) but may have had others who did not survive him. He may have had royalist sympathies, but he avoided the fines levied on royalists after the war. It is not known why the treasure was not later recovered. In the 18th century the Harries family of Tregwynt Mansion owned land from just above
Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...
to beyond
Mathry Mathry (Welsh: Mathri) is a village, community and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The hilltop village is southwest of Fishguard, close to the A487 road between Fishguard and St David's. History Mathry (formerly Mathrey or Merthyr) was in the h ...
. This included the Dyffryn (Valley) Mill, now the
Melin Tregwynt Melin Tregwynt (Tregwynt Mill) is a woollen mill in the hamlet of Tregwynt in the parish of Granston, Pembrokeshire, Wales. A mill has stood on this site since 1819 taking fleeces from the sheep farms of the area, carding and spinning them into w ...
. In January 1737 George Harries of Tregwynt was appointed Sheriff of Pembrokeshire. On the night of 22 February 1797 Mrs. Harries was entertaining the local gentry in the ballroom of Tregwynt Mansion. An invasion force of 1,400 troops dispatched by the
French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...
landed on the beach near Llanwnda beach near Fishguard that night. Colonel Knox, who commanded the local militia, was a guest at a ball at Tregwynt that day when the event was interrupted by a messenger from the fort at Fishguard that the French had landed an invasion force. He left at once for the fort where his men were preparing to engage the enemy, but as the light was failing he decided to wait until the next day when
John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, FRS FSA (ca. 1753 – 1 June 1821), was a Welsh art-collector and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1777 to 1796. Biography John Campbell was born ca. 1753, the son of Pryse Campbell of Stackpole ...
, would arrive with reinforcements from Haverfordwest. The two militia met up the next day and Cawdor, an experienced soldier, took command. The French were disorganized and demoralized, and surrendered to Cawdor on the 24th. The incident has been called the
Battle of Fishguard The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, on 22–24 February 1797, is the most recent landing on British soil by a hostile foreign force ...
. The Harries family sold the Tregwynt estate in 1830. Richard Llewelyn owned the Tregwynt estate in 1841 according to the Tithe Map. The previous year Richard Llewellyn of Tregwynt was appointed Sheriff of Pembrokeshire. Richard Llewellin died on 24 March 1871 and was succeeded by his nephew, Richard Llewellin Purcell. Mr. Purcell-Llewellin of Tregwynt played an important role in breeding a line of "English"
setter The setter is a type of gundog used most often for hunting game such as quail, pheasant, and grouse. In the UK, the four setter breeds, together with the pointers, usually form a subgroup within the gundog group as they share a common fun ...
s. The Harries family brought the property back in 1877, but later sold it again. In 1996 the lawn outside the ballroom was taken up so a tennis court could be installed. A local metal detectorist was given permission to search for buried metal before the court was laid down, and discovered a hoard of 33 gold and 467 silver coins. He was given full value for the hoard, which is now held by the
National Museums & Galleries of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
in Cardiff. It includes coins minted for
Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
,
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
and
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
,
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
,
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
,
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
and the government of the
Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execut ...
. The present owners let the ballroom be used for events such as art exhibitions, concerts, plays and recitals. For example, in February 2015 the Fishguard Arts Society staged a miniature recreation of the Battle of Fishguard in the ballroom.


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Grade II* listed buildings in Pembrokeshire