Newton House (Llandeilo)
Newton House , also called Dynevor Castle or Welsh : Plas Dinefwr , is a mansion in Carmarthenshire in Wales . The manor house, classified as a Grade II * cultural monument, is located about 1200 m west of the town of Llandeilo and about 800 m north-northeast of the ruins of Dinefwr Castle .
history
Newton in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period
At the time of the conquest of Dinefwr Castle by Edward I towards the end of the 13th century, there was a Welsh settlement east of the castle. In competition with this settlement, a new settlement was founded north of the now royal castle around 1297. The first inhabitants were settlers of English origin, who, unlike the conquered Welsh, received more privileges. The settlement was called New Towne (English for New City). Under Edward of Woodstock , the black prince, the settlement received further rights and privileges.
A mansion was built in the settlement, which was acquired around 1440 by the royal representative in South Wales, Gruffudd ap Nicolas . His grandson Rhys ap Thomas , who from 1485 also held the post of royal deputy in South Wales, had Newton House expanded, but moved to the larger Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire towards the end of the 15th century . His grandson Rhys ap Gruffydd FitzUrien was executed in 1531 under Henry VIII for high treason, Newton House and its other property were confiscated by the Crown. Between 1595 and 1603 the old mansion was rebuilt by its new owners.
Construction of the new mansion in the 17th century
The descendants of Rhys ap Gruffydd FitzUrien changed their name to Rice and were only able to hold offices again under Maria I and later Charles I and were given back a small part of their family's former lands. They later managed to buy back more of their property. Edward Rice repurchased Newton House in 1659 and began building a new mansion in 1660, which was surrounded by a formal garden. The Borough Newton was moved in favor of this mansion and the adjoining west Hirsch parks and demolished.
The park was laid out in the 18th century
The mansion was rebuilt between 1757 and 1779 under George Rice and his wife Cecil Talbot. With Cecil Talbot as the only child and heiress, the title Baron Dynevor was created in 1780 for Cecil's father William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot , whom she inherited after his death in 1782. The formal garden was also converted into a landscape garden in the second half of the 18th century . The famous landscape architect Lancelot Brown provided additions to the plans in 1775. The park now also included the castle ruins, on whose keep a summer house was built. The southern and western part of the park with its old trees was a popular destination for visitors and painters and was often painted and written on.
Newton House from the 19th century to the present day
From 1856 to 1858, under the 4th Baron Dynevor , the manor was given its present form by Richard Kyrke Penson .
After the death of the 7th Baron Dynevor in 1956 and the death of the 8th Baron in 1962, high inheritance taxes forced the 9th Baron Dynevor to sell most of the family's property. Newton House was also sold in 1974, but the house was subsequently unoccupied and fell into disrepair. It was inhabited by squatters who caused severe damage to the house by using parts of the furnishings, as well as the beams and girders of the attic, as firewood. In 1987 the National Trust acquired the wildlife park and outer park, and in 1990 it bought Newton House. The house was restored with the help of Cadw and can be visited today. In 1990 the National Trust acquired Home Farm to the northeast of the park and Penparc to the east of the mansion. The new park with its old trees and the grounds of the castle ruins were acquired by the West Wales Wildlife Trust in 1979 . The park is freely accessible.
investment
Mansion
The access to the manor is from Llandeilo from the east. The three-story mansion has four corner towers with high slate roofs. Parts of the house date back to the 16th century, but the majority of the structure comes from the new building that was built around 1660. The exterior was designed in the neo-Gothic style until 1858 . To the south of the house are the farm buildings around two large courtyards.
The manor house has showrooms on the ground floor that are furnished in the style of the Edwardian era . In addition to the representative rooms, this also includes the kitchen, storage rooms and the servants' living quarters. In the rooms on the upper floor there is an exhibition on the history of Dinefwr.
Garden and park
The house is surrounded by a 286 hectare walled park and garden, the garden wall was completed in 1774. A small formal garden with a fountain borders the west facade of the manor house, which is separated from the adjacent wildlife park by a wall and a ha-ha . With the exception of the south side, where the farm buildings are located, the manor house is surrounded by the wildlife park designed as a landscape park with meadows and groups of trees, which is bordered in the north by the A 40. Only remnants of an avenue of lime trees are reminiscent of the formal garden of the early 17th century. A herd of 100 fallow deer and a small herd of White Park Cattle live in the wildlife park , which was mentioned 1000 years ago under Hywel Dda .
To the south, the park merges into Castle Wood, which borders the castle ruins to the east, a forest with a large population of old trees, including over 300 oaks that are more than 400 years old. In 2007 the forest was designated a National Nature Reserve because of its old tree population, making Dinefwr Park the only park in Wales to have this status. In the south the park is bounded by the Tywi .
Several remains from Roman times were discovered in the park, as well as old road remains and a Roman milestone. The remains of a Roman fort were discovered at the Home Farm, acquired by the National Trust in 2002.
The old church of St Tyfi von Llandyfeisant is located southeast of the manor house in the middle part of the park . Originally from the Middle Ages, the church was restored in the neo-Gothic style in the 19th century and later served as the family church of the Barons of Dynevor. It was used for church services until 1961, after which it fell into disrepair. In the 1990s, the two-aisled church was restored and briefly used as an information center, which is currently closed.
Web links
- Dinefwr Castle near Cadw
- Dynevor Castle in the Coflein database of the National Monuments Record of Wales
- Newton House at the National Trust
- Dinefwr Park & Newton House. Llandeilo.org
Individual evidence
- ^ British Listed Buildings: Plas Dinefwr. Retrieved August 30, 2013 .
- ^ Dinefwr Park & Newton House. Llandeilo.org, accessed April 3, 2020 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 52 ′ 48 ″ N , 4 ° 0 ′ 57.6 ″ W.