Aberpergwm House (Welsh : Aberpergwm) is an abandoned and ruinous country house located in Glynneath, Wales. Within the grounds of the house sits the church of St. Cadoc, which is possibly of late medieval origin. [1]
Aberpergwm House (Welsh : Aberpergwm) is an abandoned and ruinous country house located in Glynneath, Wales. Within the grounds of the house sits the church of St. Cadoc, which is possibly of late medieval origin. [1]
The present house is a remodelling of an older house known as Neuadd Pergwm. [2] The house came into the ownership of the Williamses of Blaen Baglan in around 1560. [2] It is said that Oliver Cromwell was related, and so the house was saved from pillage during the English Civil War. [2] The Williams family were one of the few Welsh gentry families to remain faithful to the Welsh language. [3] The family's London residence was at Stratford Place. [4]
By 1850, the house was ‘playfully crenellated’ with a central pediment” [2] In 1876, the house was remodelled by Morgan Stuart Williams, [2] who later went on to restore St Donat's Castle [1] This ‘overwhelmed’ the work of 1850, and included the addition of a new front range dominated by a ‘remarkable top heavy Elizabethan gallery across the whole front’ of 94 feet. [2] The gallery was added in the spirit of the ancient Glamorgan halls, such as Llantrithyd Place. [2] A further castellated wing was added along the hill. [2] In 1868, Williams had rejected earlier plans by John Norton for a new house in Gothic style with a tower. [2] Williams, by rejecting Norton’s Victorian High Gothic appeared to be playing safe. [1] An elaborate central door surround (now missing) could be a 17th-century Jacobean survival, or may be a convincing replica. [1] The house is built of Pennant Sandstone with Bath stone dressings. [2]
The East Anglian School for Deaf and Blind Children at Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk was evacuated to the house in the summer of 1940 because of its vulnerable position on the east coast of England during the Second World War. For the rest of the war the school was based in Aberpergwm House. [5] [6]
After the war the house was leased to the National Coal Board and used as offices; the surrounding park land was mined for coal. [2] At some time the house finally suffered a disastrous fire, and was not rebuilt. The 1876 gallery on the third storey has since collapsed leaving a seven-bay front of two storeys, with a small part surviving of the third. [1] The house was finally abandoned during the 1990s. [7] Some of the medieval tracery from the original house has since been reincorporated into Penhow Castle. [2] The house is still owned by the Williams Family.[ citation needed ] Part of the Williams family remained in Wales until 2015 living in Llanharan House. [8]
The family are descendants of the last native ruler of Kingdom of Morgannwg Iestyn ap Gwrgant. [9] In the fifteenth century, Aberpergwm House was the home of Rhys ap Siancyn and his descendants, the most prominent of the poets’ patrons in Glamorgan during the period. [3] Dafydd Nicolas, a Williams family descendant, was among the last of the Welsh household bards and the folksong collector Maria Jane Williams was a member of the family. [3] Her older brother, Rees Williams, was involved in establishing the Bank of Williams and Rowland. The Williams family motto: 'A ddioddefws a orfu' ('He who suffers triumphs', in English) became the motto of Glamorgan County Council. [3]
The family had strong political links with Liberal Party MP Sir Rhys Rhys-Williams was a member of the family, as was Conservative Party MP and MEP Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams. [10] Nicholas Cayzer, Baron Cayzer shipping magnate and member of The House of Lords married into the family as did Conservative MP Michael Colvin. [11]
The house is listed Grade II by Cadw and is undergoing extensive building work[ citation needed ] to conserve its important historical contents and structure. [12] [13] The ornate wrought iron gates in the driveway are separately listed as Grade II, [14] and the church, which is being restored, is Grade II* listed. [15]
Neath Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located near the present-day town of Neath in South Wales, UK. It was once the largest abbey in Wales. Substantial ruins can still be seen, and are in the care of Cadw. Tudor historian John Leland called Neath Abbey "the fairest abbey of all Wales."
Neath is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historically in Glamorgan, the town is located on the River Neath, seven miles east-northeast of Swansea.
Glynneath, also spelt Glyn-neath and Glyn Neath, is a town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan. Glynneath ward covers only part of the community, with some 840 electors included in the neighbouring ward of Blaengwrach.
Iestyn ap Gwrgant (1014–1093) was the last ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Morgannwg, which encompassed the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.
Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg, was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector. He was seen as an expert collector of Medieval Welsh literature, but it emerged after his death that he had forged several manuscripts, notably some of the Third Series of Welsh Triads. Even so, he had a lasting impact on Welsh culture, notably in founding the secret society known as the Gorsedd, through which Iolo Morganwg successfully co-opted the 18th-century Eisteddfod revival. The philosophy he spread in his forgeries has had an enormous impact upon neo-Druidism. His bardic name is Welsh for "Iolo of Glamorgan".
The Battle of Mynydd Carn took place in 1081, as part of a dynastic struggle for control of the Welsh kingdoms of Gwynedd and Deheubarth. The result of the battle had a radical effect on the history of Wales.
Resolven is a small village and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the Vale of Neath.
Rhigos is a small village on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley. It was part of the old Neath Rural district Council under Glamorgan until 1974. The village then came under the jurisdiction of The Cynon Valley Borough which subsequently became Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales in 1996. It lies just off the old Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glynneath, before the A465 road was extended in the 1960s. The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos and Cwm-Hwnt lie to the west of the main village.
Cadoxton is a village situated in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Cadoxton is located just outside the town of Neath and borders the villages of Cilfrew and Bryncoch. The village has 1,684 residents and is located in the Cadoxton ward. Cadoxton elected a Liberal Democrat representative in the 2008 council elections.
Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg.
Aberpergwm is the site of a colliery in the Vale of Neath near Glynneath in south Wales.
Penychen was a possible minor kingdom of early medieval Wales and later a cantref of the Kingdom of Morgannwg. Penychen was one of three cantrefi that made up the kingdom of Glywysing, lying between the rivers Taff and Thaw, the other two being Gwynllwg and Gorfynydd. According to tradition, these cantrefi were created on the death of Glywys, the first king of Glywysing, when the kingdom was divided between his three sons: Pawl, Gwynllyw and Mechwyn. But our knowledge of the early history of the kingdom is very uncertain, being mainly sourced from medieval documents and traditional pedigrees.
Howell Jones was a Welsh rugby union forward who played for the rugby club Neath and county rugby for Glamorgan. He gained just a single cap for the Wales national team in 1904. Jones came from a sporting family, and his son, Howie Jones, also represented Wales in rugby union.
Maria Jane Williams was a 19th-century Welsh musician and folklorist born at Aberpergwm House, Glynneath in Glamorgan, South Wales. She rescued many Welsh songs from obscurity, including Y Deryn Pur and Y Ferch o'r Sger.
The Bank of Williams and Rowland was a bank established in the 19th century and operating in Neath, in south Wales.
John Edwards-Vaughan, also known as John Edwards was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1818 and 1832.
Llanharan House is a historic house on the outskirts of Llanharan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located off the A473 road, just east of Llanharan and is a Grade II* listed building. The gardens and park attached to the house are designated Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
St. Cadoc's Church is a Church in Wales church in Glynneath, Wales. It is located in the grounds of the now derelict Aberpergwm House for which it was an estate church.
Rheola House is a Grade II* listed country house between Glynneath and Resolven, in the Neath valley, South Wales. Designed by John Nash, it was built between 1812 and 1814 for Nash's cousin, John Edwards. It passed through inheritance to members of the Edwards, Vaughan, and Lee families, until in 1939, with the house becoming run down, it was bought by an aluminium company for use as offices, and part of the land was put to industrial uses. In 2012 an application was made for housing on the industrialised area, to enable restoration of the house and a leisure complex to sustain the estate. The application was granted in 2014. The gardens and park around the house are designated Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Dafydd Nicolas, or David Nicholas was a Welsh poet.