Welsh tower houses were fortified stone houses that were built between the early 14th and 15th centuries. They are related to tower houses, which occur in considerable numbers in Ireland and Scotland and to a much lesser extent in England. A map showing the distribution of tower houses within the United Kingdom is given in Houses of the Welsh Countryside. [1]
The main concentration of tower houses is in southern Pembrokeshire, Wales. These were first published with detailed drawings in 1877–8 by Rev. E L Barnwell. [2] The Pembrokeshire examples have a coastal distribution; this is also true of the Monmouth and Glamorgan tower houses, as well as the demolished examples at Penhryn (in Caernarfonshire) and Ty Gwyn (in Abermo). [3] Otherwise, the tower houses are distributed along the Welsh—English border, with one example, Wattlesborourgh, just over the border in Shropshire. In 1976, Hilling produced a map (with listing) showing seventeen examples. [4] Further houses have been added by Suggett and it is possible that new examples will be recognised as being incorporated into existing buildings, as at Sandyhaven House in Pembrokeshire. [5]
The Welsh tower houses are not particularly large and have up to three storeys above an undercroft, as at the Old Rectory, Angle and the Tower at Talgarth. Smith distinguished a smaller group of house which only have one storey above an undercroft, The best example of this type is Carswell in Pembrokeshire. Smith compared this group to the Irish £10 tower houses. These were built after 1427 when a statute was passed that any of the King’s liege living within The Pale would be paid £10 for building a house of a minimum size. [6] It seems likely that the Welsh houses were built about the same time. [7] ”
Taller tower houses, such as the Old Rectory, Angle, are likely to have been built before 1400, as they have arrow slits, rather than an early form of gun port, which would have been used after that date. At Penhryn, Licence to crenellate was granted in 1438. The internal round staircase at the corner at the Old Rectory, Angle is similar to some Irish tower houses and some the Welsh tower house have projecting garderobes similar to the Scottish and Irish tower houses. There is also some evidence that a stone or timber hall would have been built or added to the tower at the same time or shortly after the tower house was built. At Eastington and Bonville Court, the tower which was built against a hall, is rectangular, rather than square. The Old Rectory at Angle clearly shows the evidence for a gable of a hall butting up against the tower.
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Dolwyddelan Castle is a Welsh castle located near Dolwyddelan in Conwy County Borough in North Wales. It is thought to have been built in the early 13th century by Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd and Wales. Initially comprising just one tower with two floors, a second tower was built in the late 13th century, and a third floor was added to the first during repairs in the late 15th century.
Llanidloes is a town and community on the A470 and B4518 roads in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire, Wales. The population in 2011 was 2,929, of whom 15% could speak Welsh. It is the third largest settlement in Montgomeryshire, after Newtown and Welshpool.
Cefnllys Castle was a medieval spur castle in Radnorshire, Wales. Two successive masonry castles were built on a ridge above the River Ithon known as Castle Bank in the thirteenth century, replacing a wooden motte-and-bailey castle constructed by the Normans nearby. Controlling several communication routes into the highlands of Mid Wales, the castles were strategically important within the Welsh Marches during the High Middle Ages. As the seat of the fiercely contested lordship and cantref of Maelienydd, Cefnllys became a source of friction between Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Roger Mortimer in the prelude to Edward I's conquest of Wales (1277–1283). Cefnllys was also the site of a borough and medieval town.
Beguildy is a village and community in Powys, Wales.
Archaeologia Cambrensis is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society notes and accounts of field visits. The journal has included "much valuable material on the manuscripts, genealogy, heraldry, toponymy, folklore and literature of Wales".
Malator is a house in Druidston, Pembrokeshire, Wales, built in the Earth house architectural style. It was built for, and owned by, former Member of Parliament Bob Marshall-Andrews. The architectural firm who designed the building was Future Systems. Malator has appeared on television series such as the More4 programme Homes by the Sea, and has been received positively by critics with Architectural Digest listing it as one of the most innovative houses of the 20th century.
Poundley and Walker or John Wilkes Poundley and David Walker were a land surveyors and architects’ partnership with offices at Black Hall, Kerry, Montgomeryshire and at Unity Buildings, 22 Lord Street, Liverpool. The partnership was established probably in the mid-1850s and was dissolved in June 1867. The partnership was involved with large country estate building projects, church and civic buildings and some civil engineering. They specialized in building model farms. J. W. Poundley was also the county surveyor for Montgomeryshire from 1861–1872. The architect, canal and railway engineer, T. G. Newnham appears have been associated with the partnership.
Penarth is a timber-framed house set back from the A483 road near to Newtown, Wales, close to the banks of the river Severn. It is within the parish of Llanllwchaiarn, within the historic county of Montgomeryshire, which now forms part of Powys. It is amongst the best examples of the ‘‘Severn Valley’’ timber-framed houses. The Penarth vinyard stands within the grounds of the house.
Glas Hirfryn is a farm in Cwmdu, at east side of the road through the valley of the Lleiriog on the southern side of the Berwyn Mountains. It is in the community of Llansilin, which was formerly in Denbighshire, but since 1996 has been in the Montgomeryshire part of Powys. The timber-framed farmhouse, which stands within a group of farm buildings was abandoned in the mid-20th century, at which time it was listed as Grade II. The house has now been dated by dendrochronology to about 1559 AD or shortly afterwards.
Trewern Hall or Trewern Farmhouse is a country house in Montgomeryshire, Wales, close to the Shropshire border. It is on a spur in the floodplain of the River Severn, in the Trewern community area of what is now Powys, to the north of the A458 road from Shrewsbury to Welshpool. It is a fine example of a Severn valley half-timbered house. The Grade II* listed hall was occupied by the Lloyd, Francis and Whittaker families. In 1985–86 and 1993–94 it was extensively restored with some remodelling by the architect M. J. Garner for Murray Ll. Chapman.
Hyssington is a parish in the South-Eastern corner of the historic county of Montgomeryshire in Wales and borders the county of Shropshire in England. It is now within the area of the Church Stoke community council in Powys. It is dominated by Corndon Hill. The church which is in the Diocese of Hereford lies just the north of a small village and is sited just to the west of a medieval Motte-and-bailey castle. This area was also the source of late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age battle-axes and axe-hammers, made from picrite that were widely traded around 2000 BC.
Plasau Duon or Plasauduon is a timber-framed house, formerly in the parish of Carno, but now within the area of the community council of Caersws in the historic county of Montgomeryshire, and now in Powys, Wales. It is located on a site above the left bank of the Afon Carno, on a farm road leading off the lane from the A.470 to Bwlch-y-garreg. It is a fine example of a ‘’Severn Valley’’ house and has a Grade II* listing. It is likely to have been built in the second half of the 16th. century.
Tufton is a crossroads hamlet in the parish of Henry's Moat in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the B4329, a road between Eglwyswrw and Haverfordwest across the Preseli Hills. It is in the community of Puncheston.
Architecture of Wales is an overview of architecture in Wales from the medieval period to the present day, excluding castles and fortifications, ecclesiastical architecture and industrial architecture. It covers the history of domestic, commercial, and administrative architecture.
The Old Swan is a former historic public house at the centre of Rhayader, Powys, Wales. The buildings are timber framed and while there is a datestone of 1683, it is very probable that it is late 16th century, if not earlier. The buildings still have their original roof of stone flags and distinctive leaning stone chimney stacks. The buildings were listed Grade II in 1995.
Orielton is a historic country house near Hundleton in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It has been used as a field studies centre for environmental sciences but was put on sale in early 2022.
St Michael's Church is a Grade I listed building and parish church in the community and parish of Rudbaxton in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The building dates from the 15th century, and has a 12th-century font. It was listed on 1 March 1963 as a fine example of a substantial mediaeval double-nave church with important memorials.
William Owen was a Welsh architect working in Haverfordwest in the late Georgian and early Victorian periods. He built up a considerable practice in Pembrokeshire and Carmathenshire. He was the county surveyor of Pembrokeshire, four times Mayor of Haverfordwest and High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1859.
The Straining Tower at Lake Vyrnwy is an intake tower built to extract water from the lake. The tower stands on the north shore of Lake Vyrnwy, near the village of Llanwddyn, in Powys, Wales. The Lake Vyrnwy dam project was designed to provide a water supply to the city of Liverpool and work on the dam began in 1881. On its completion 11 years later, the lake was the largest reservoir in Europe and water was drawn from it into the straining tower and carried to Liverpool on a 110km-long aqueduct. The engineers for the project were Thomas Hawksley and George Frederick Deacon, although the straining tower was entirely Deacon's design. The tower is constructed in a Gothic Revival style, purportedly based on the tower of the castle at Chillon, Switzerland. It draws heavily on the contemporaneous work of William Burges, whose Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch are clear influences. The straining tower is a Grade I listed building.
The farm at Great Porthamel, at Talgarth in Powys, Wales, comprises a range of buildings including the farmhouse, the gate tower and an agricultural building. They form the remnants of a major medieval manor that was the principal seat of the Vaughan family. The complex has been described as "one of the more remarkable mediaeval houses of Wales". The gatehouse is a Grade I listed building, and a scheduled monument, while the farmhouse is listed at Grade II* and the agricultural building at Grade II.
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