Affinity Consider this man in the field beneath, Gaitered with mud, lost in his own breath, Without joy, without sorrow,… Without children, without wife, Stumbling insensitively from furrow to furrow, A vague somnambulist; but hold your tears, For his name also is written in the Book of Life. Ransack your brainbox, pull out the drawers That rot in your heart’s dust, and what have you to give To enrich his spirit or the way he lives? From the standpoint of…
On the road out of Oswestry travelling up the Tanant valley you will find a small village, Llanyblodwel, and tucked away the church of St Michael and the Archangel. It is beautifully kept and open each day for visitors. The church is believed to have been erected after the arrival of the Normans and its existence was noted in 1160. The building has survived turbulent centuries of boarder warfare between the Welsh and English. Nothing could quite prepare me for…
Aberystwyth is the principal holiday resort and administrative centre of the west coast of Wales. It is also home to the University of Wales Aberystwyth and the National Library. This excursion was especially worth the long journey across the hills through the rain to be greeted by wonderful blue skies. This brief piece gives me an opportunity to share some of my photographs. The town is nestled between three hills and two beaches, and hosts some castle ruins, a pier…
A bright day took the car South and West towards Montgomery and the glad open door of St Nicholas Parish Church built in the early 13th century. You can see the effect of the blazing sun on this Welsh Shropshire border town! The most conspicuous object in the south transept is the splendid Elizabethan canopied tomb of Richard Herbert of Montgomery Castle who died in 1596. He was father of a family which included two very famous sons, Edward I Lord…
Tredegar House is a 17th-century Charles II country house mansion in the city of Newport that for over five hundred years was home to the Morgan family, later Lords Tredegar; one of the most powerful and influential families in the area. Described as “The grandest and most exuberant country house” in Monmouthshire and one of the “outstanding houses of the Restoration period in the whole of Britain”. The earliest surviving part of the building dates back to the late 15th…
Beaumaris Castle, located on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, was built as part of King Edward I’s campaign to conquer the north of Wales. It was designed by James of St. George and was begun in 1295, but never completed. Beaumaris is part of the World Heritage site. Beaumaris Castle was positioned to face the royal llys at Abergwyngregyn on the opposite shore of the Menai Strait and was intended, along with Conwy Castle and Caernarfon Castle at either…
Chirk Castle (Welsh: Castell y Waun) is a castle located at Chirk, Wrexham, Wales. The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I’s chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the Ceiriog Valley. It was the administrative centre for the Marcher Lordship of Chirkland The castle was bought by Thomas Myddelton in 1595 for £5,000 (approx. £11 million…
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion’s designer, denied repeated claims that the design was based on the town of Portofino, Italy. He stated only that he wanted to pay tribute to the atmosphere of the Mediterranean. He did, however, draw from a love of the Italian village stating, “How should I not have fallen for Portofino? Indeed its image remained with me as an almost perfect example of the man-made adornment and use of an exquisite site.” Williams-Ellis designed and constructed the…
Powis Castle is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country mansion located near the town of Welshpool, in Powys, Mid Wales. The residence of the Earl of Powis, the castle is known for its extensive, attractive formal gardens, terraces, parkland, deerpark and landscaped estate. The property is under the care of the National Trust, who operate it under the name “Powis Castle and Garden”. Princess Victoria (later Queen Victoria) visited the castle as a child when her mother took her…
Life began in the town that was to become Conwy long before Conwy Castle stood here. Welsh settlers recognised the region as naturally strong because of the large estuary and the abundance of food and the remains of an early fortification can still be found above the town of Deganwy on the opposite bank of the River Conwy. The Maenan Monks Some of the earliest permanent settlers in what was to become Conwy were the Maenan Monks who built…
The legend of Melangell derives from two seventeenth-century transcript of a lost medieval Life of the Saints. One day a prince named Brochwe was hunting at a place called Pennant His hounds raised a hare that tool refuge in a thicket On pursuit, the prince found a virgin praying, with thE hare hiding under the folds of her garment. The hounds were urged or but fled howling; their huntsman raised his horn to his lips and wai unable to remove…
A hidden place in Wales, where a Celtic saint gave her protection to the hare, Pennant Melangell is situated at the head of the Tanat Valley, not far from Llangynog on the main Oswestry – Bala road. This church is the only one which is dedicated to Melangell. It is an ancient church and the present stone building is over eight hundred years old but it has a wonderful modem story attached to it Until a few years ago it…
This tranquil location on the eastern tip of Anglesey has remains spanning over 1,000 years. It was the site of a monastery dating back to the time of St. Seiriol, who is believed to have lived in about the 6th century. A holy well which survives may have its origins in this period. In the early 13th century the Celtic community was reorganized under the Augustinian Rule, and at this time the priory church was enlarged. This now serves as…
On Announcing that I was off to Wales for my summer holiday a well-meaning but I suspect slightly prejudiced enquirer responded: ‘Oh Wales – I’m terribly sorry’! Simon Jenkins offers my first in a short series about holiday books.I’ve had this one on my shelves for a while but it came into its own this year as I sought to explore some new sites across mid and North Wales.It is a beautifully produced book and anyone who is interested…
Cymer Abbey is a ruined Cistercian abbey near the village of Llanelltyd, just north of Dolgellau, Gwynedd, in north-west Wales. It was founded in 1158-9 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the patronage of Maredudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd (d. 1212), Lord of Merioneth and grandson of Owain Gwyned and his brother, Gruffudd ap Cynan, prince of N. Wales (d. 1200). It was a daughter house of Abbey Cwmhir in Powys. The remains of the church and west tower…
On the west coast of Wales within the beautiful Snowdonia National Park, Barmouth Bay sits between a spectacular mountain range and the sea, close to the town of Barmouth, the bar at the mouth of the river Mawddach.
Gregynog has existed for eight hundred years. By the sixteenth century it was the home of the Blayney family, local gentry who claimed descent from the early Welsh princes and whose courage and benevolence were praised by the court poets. Their coat of arms is the centrepiece of the fine oak carvings in what we now call the Blayney Room. For hundreds of years Gregynog was one of Montgomeryshire’s leading landed estates, at the heart of the community and…
The Arts Council of Wales Lottery funded transformation of Ruthin Craft Centre is now complete. This amazing re-development designed by Sergison Bates architects is located on the existing site in its own landscape and is a dynamic zinc and cast stone building with undulating roofs to echo the surrounding Clwydian hills. With three galleries, six artist studios, retail gallery, education and residency workshops, tourist information gateway and café with courtyard terrace.
Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship since the 6th century. The cathedral is built on a low-lying and inconspicuous site, possibly so as not to attract the attention of raiders from the sea. Te site of Bangor Cathedral was originally occupied by St….
St Melangell’s Church There has been a Christian Church here for over 1200 years. Its setting, in a place of great beauty deep in the Berwyn Mountains, is peaceful and unspoilt. The church stands in a round churchyard, once a Bronze Age site, ringed by ancient yew trees estimated to be two thousand years old. Parts of the building date from the 12th Century though the most recent, a rebuilding of the apse on its original foundations, was completed only…