Sealyham Mansion | |
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![]() Sealyham Mansion | |
General information | |
Location | Near Wolfscastle, Pembrokeshire |
Country | Wales |
Coordinates | 51°54′48″N4°57′33″W / 51.91333°N 4.95917°W Coordinates: 51°54′48″N4°57′33″W / 51.91333°N 4.95917°W |
Sealyham Mansion, overlooking the little River Sealy, [1] is a Georgian country house in Pembrokeshire, Wales, near Wolfscastle and to the southeast of Letterston. Known for the creation of the Sealyham Terrier there in the 1800s, the house served as a sanatorium and medical facility from 1923 to 1964. Since 1986 it has been a children's activity centre. [2]
King Edward III granted some land at Sealyham in Pembrokeshire (Wales) to Thomas Tucker in the fourteenth century. Tucker was a captain in the King's army about 1356. [3] From that time the Tuckers remained identified with the manor until 1777. [4] Tucker married Ursula del Holme and they built a house at this Sealyham property, which is some 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Liverpool. The house was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. In 1777 the heiress to the property, Mary Tucker, married John-Owen Edwardes. [5] Their heir was William Edwardes (d. 1825), who was succeeded by William Edwardes-Tucker. [6] Captain John Edwardes was a descendant of this couple. In 1840, Tucker-Edwardes was married to Anna Jane Jones of Letterston (Wales) and their only son was John Tucker-Edwardes (1845) who married Hester Phillips. He died in 1891 (at 82 years of age) and his father also died in the same year. As they had no offspring Sealyham House became the property of John Owen's brother, Owen, who also died two years later in 1893; his son Charles Gustaves Whittaker Edwardes who inherited the property died in 1902 without any children. [7]
John Edwardes bred the Sealyham Terrier rare Welsh breed dog. It turned out the last of the descendant family members to live at the Sealyham Mansion was Catherine Octavia Edwards. She married Victor James Higgon. In 1905, they moved to Treffgarne Hall. Around 1910, portions of the land were sold to the Pembrokeshire County Council. [8]
In 1920, Sealyham Mansion and its immediate associated land were sold to the King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Association. The estate was converted into a tuberculosis hospital with 30 beds. [9] It continued to function as a tuberculosis hospital to 1954. In 1955, it was re-purposed for elderly patients, but was permanently closed as a medical facility in 1964. [8] In 1970, the Sealyham Mansion was sold to Nancy Ellen Perkins. She converted it into an apartment building as rentals. [8] In 1980, it was sold again to an investment firm that used it for an outdoor activities center. [8] It was resold in 1986 to the Sealyham Activity Centre for young people as an educational facility, run by Sam and Valerie Richards and John and Peggy Hone. [8]
On Friday, May 21 2021 Sealyham Activity Centre closed [10] Sealyham Activity Centre offered both residential and non-residential trips with a variety of activities including high ropes, canoeing, coasteering, sailing, archery, kayaking, orienteering, team building, climbing and abseiling, hillwalking, bush craft and surfing. The centre offered accommodation for up to 120 people as well as catered and self-catered stays and adventure days for children and adults. Despite assurances on its website that 'we will definitely be here waiting for you in 2021' the business has had to close its doors for good. Posting on Sealyham's Facebook page the team said: "Sadly due to Covid we have been unable to keep the centre going. We have tried all avenues to keep going but to no avail."
25th November 2021 "The future of Sealyham mansion near Wolfscastle has been secured as an Active Learning Centre, offering coastal and woodland residential learning experiences to young people. It is anticipated to reopen in Autumn 2022." [11]
The Tucker-Edwardes family of the 1800s were one of the leading landowners of Pembrokeshire. [12] Headed by Captain John Edwardes (1808-91), the family had the time and the means to breed dogs, which was almost a prerogative of people of noble families or military background. [7] The Welsh Corgi, Fox Terrier (Wire), and the now extinct English White Terrier all played a part in the make up of the Sealyham, [13] although Edwardes did not keep records. [14] After Edwardes' death in 1891, other breeders began to work with Sealyhams, [14] including Fred Lewis who promoted the breed. [15] According to the Kennel Club Stud Book of 2009 there were only 47 dogs of Tucker-Edwardes' breed, making it an endangered breed. [7]
Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 12,042 in 2011, though its community boundaries made it the second-most-populous settlement in the county, with 10,812 people. The suburbs include the former parish of Prendergast, Albert Town and the residential and industrial areas of Withybush.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, commonly called the Staffy or Stafford, is a shorthaired, purebred dog breed of medium size that originated in the Black Country of Staffordshire in the English Midlands. It is in the terrier group, one of several group designations used by various breed registries. It has been generally agreed by authorities that the Stafford's earliest beginnings trace back centuries to mastiff types when the old bulldogs were closely linked, and used for bull and bear baiting which required large dogs in the 100–120 lb range.
The Sealyham Terrier is a rare Welsh breed of small to medium-sized terrier that originated in Wales as a working dog. It is principally a white-bodied, rough-coated breed, developed in the mid-to-late-19th century by Captain John Edwardes at Sealyham House, Pembrokeshire.
A Dandie Dinmont Terrier is a small Scottish dog breed in the terrier family. The breed has a very long body, short legs, and a distinctive topknot of hair on the head. They are friendly but tough, and are suitable for interaction with older children. There are breed-specific health concerns: they can be affected by spinal problems due to their elongated body, and the breed is affected by canine cancer at a higher than average rate.
The Kerry Blue Terrier is a breed of dog. Originally bred to control vermin including rats, rabbits, badgers, foxes, otters and hares, over time the Kerry became a general working dog used for a variety of jobs including herding cattle and sheep, and as a guard dog. Today the Kerry has spread around the world as a companion and working dog. Despite a Kerry Blue winning Crufts in 2000, it remains an "unfashionable" breed, and is distinctly uncommon; however, it is not as threatened as some of the other terrier breeds such as the Skye Terrier, Sealyham Terrier, and Dandie Dinmont Terrier.
Wolfscastle, also spelt Wolf's Castle, is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, between Haverfordwest and Fishguard, in southwest Wales. It was historically in the parish of St Dogwells.
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The Landsker Line is a term used for the language border in Wales between the largely Welsh-speaking and largely English-speaking areas in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. The English-speaking areas, south of the Landsker line and known as Little England beyond Wales, are notable for having been English linguistically and culturally for many centuries despite being far from the England–Wales border.
A working terrier is a small type of dog which pursues its quarry into the earth. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the name dates back to at least 1440, derived from French chien terrier 'digging dog', which is from Medieval Latin terrarius, ultimately from Latin terra (earth).
William Edwardes, 1st Baron Kensington of Johnston Hall, Pembrokeshire, was a British landowner and a long-standing Member of Parliament.
Cemais was an ancient cantref of the Kingdom of Dyfed, from the 11th century a Norman Marcher Lordship, from the 16th century a Hundred, and is now part of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It occupied the coastal area between the Teifi estuary and Fishguard, and the northern and southern slopes of the Preseli Hills, covering an area of approximately 140 square miles (360 km2). The Afon Nyfer divided it into two commotes: Cemais Is Nyfer to the north and Cemais Uwch Nyfer to the south.
Vulnerable Native Breeds are a group of dog breeds originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and identified by The Kennel Club (KC) as having annual registration numbers of 300 puppies or fewer within the UK. The need for such a list was first identified in June 2003, with research conducted by the KC to identify the extent of the vulnerability and viability of each breed. It was a joint project, with the KC working with the British and Irish Native Breeds Trust, later to be known simply as the Native Dog Breeds Trust. The breeds on the list have been promoted at events such as Discover Dogs and Crufts, and by asking that owners of these breeds mate their dogs rather than having them spayed.
Manordeifi is a parish and community in the hundred of Cilgerran, in the northeast corner of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The population of the community in 2001 was 478. It has an elected community council and is part of the Cilgerran electoral ward for the purposes of elections to Pembrokeshire County Council.
The name Rhyd-y-gors or Rhydygors has been associated with two historic sites near the market town of Carmarthen in Southwest Wales. The first was the Norman Rhyd-y-gors Castle and the other was Rhyd-y-gors Mansion, home of the Edwardes family.
The Big House, also known as Landshipping House, is a historic house on the banks of the River Cleddau in Landshipping, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
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Blaenffos is a small village of around 200 inhabitants in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the community of Boncath. It sits on the boundary between the former parishes of Llanfihangel Penbedw and Castellan Chapelry.
Treffgarne Hall is a privately owned Grade II listed Georgian country house, located to the west of the village of Treffgarne, West Wales. It was built in 1842 for David Evans whose family had owned the land for some time.
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