Tymawr House
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The earliest record of the house is from the 16" Century, but evidence suggests that a house may have existed here earlier. The earliest mention of the manor of Llangasty Talyllyn puts it in the time of the Norman conquest of Wales. Bernard de Neutmarche, the Norman warlord bequeathed the manor to Reginald Walbeoffe in the late 11"‘ Century There is a Norman motte (an earth-mound castle) in a nearby field. ln 17" century court records. the house is described as the Croft Y Yarll (“Croft of the Earl") which is also a sign that the history of the site dates to Norman times.In the 1580's Ty Mawr, then called Talyllyn House, was owned by Hugh Powell, Lord of the manor of Llangasty Talyllyn. At this time Powell also resided at the Kings House, next to Salisbury Cathedral where he was buried. ln 1584, Powell was involved in a dispute over fishing rights on the lake He had illicitly built weirs which undercut eels traps owned by the proprietor of the fishing rights of this side of the lake. who at the time was a woman called Blanche Parry, Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth l. A map was drawn up in 1584 (see below) as part of the court inquiry over the dispute, which are the first documents relating explicitly to the house The witnesses interviewed included one gentleman who remembers being a servant in the house under Hugh Powells father about 50 years before. This suggests that the house had been there in 1534.The house passed from the Powells to the Vtfllliams’ through marriage in 1623.The house was an important building on the lake, home to the Lord of the manor of Llangasty Talyllyn. lt was the location of court hearings for the parish, where local disputes were heard and settled. Court rolls survive from courts of Hugh Powell in the 1580s, and later under Edward Williams in the mid 17"“ Century.

Joshua Parry became lord of the manor through his marriage to Rachel Williams, Edward \M|liams' sister. He chaired the courts at Llangasty Talyllyn, his last was in 1714. He was the great-great-grand nephew of Blanche Parry. A wine-bottle seal with his name on it was unearthed during archaeological investigations on the site during the late 1990s. He died in 1729. The Davies family were from Cwrt Y Gollen. They had amassed a considerable estate by the time Richard Davies became proprietor of Talyllyn House, and upon its sale the estate covered 2000+ acres. According to a sale notice from 1794, and adverts in the Hereford Times from 1792, the house was undergoing some building work, in the form of an extension.

The De Crespigny family were active socialites among upper-class circles. Phflip purchased the house as part of a larger estate including the manors of Llangasg, Talyllyn and Blaenllynfi in 1794. He and his son Charles were occasionally High Sh of Brecon between 1794-1812. The existing buildings at Talyllyn House were probabty built, or at least modified or finalised, during de Crespigny’s ownership.

From 1800 Philip de Crespigny started to lease the building to taming tenants such as William Perrott (from 1810), and this marked its long history as a farm house. The diminished importance of the house was probably due to it now being part of a much larger collection of estates accumulated by de Crespigny and Davies.

The house was sold in 1838 to James Holford, head of the Bucktand Emato. At this point Talyllyn House becomes known as Ty Mawr or “Great House”. it continued to be leased as a farm house to the Perrott family. Census records from 1861 show that by this point the tenancy had passed on to William Jones and his family. Maps showing the house were produced in 1840 and 1887. The first mfiéfiiorwng church tithe schedules, shows a very different structural plan to that of buildings. The second, an Ordnance Survey map, show the structures to be  in plan to as they stand today. lt seems that the old “Manor House‘ was  before 1887.

The Jones family, who had leased the house and land torfaiiming since ‘IM1,the house in 1920 after the sale of the Buckland  and  it unfit 1* lt was subsequently purchased by the Brecon Beacons Nattonat Park M a bid lb qrnl possibie development which would compromise the areas herbage md beauty.

The present owners bought the house in 1993 as a family home and restoration project. Since 1995 they have developed a successful business making lime-based plasters and mortars. Their own keenness to stress the heritage and history of the site has led to the initiation of an archaeological excavation on the site of the old manor house, and an associated educational project offering local school groups the opportunity to experience a dig first-hand. The family stll live on the site and the production facility and training centre for the business are situated on site which also has a campsite, kitchen garden shop and cafe.


 



Ty Mawr Timeline
1090's The Normans
Reginald Walbeoffe
1500's Powell family
1534 Hugh Powell
1580's Thomas Powell
1623 Margaret Powell
married Thomas Williams
  William Williams
1644 Edward Williams
brother of
1669 Rachel Williams
married
Joshua Parry
1695 Joshua Parry
1729 James Parry
  Mary Parry
married
Richard Davies
1745 Richard Davies
sold house to
Philip de Crespigny
1794 Philip Champion
de Crespigny
1803 Charles Fox
Champion de Cresprgny
1810 Wlliam Perrott (tenant)
1838 James Price Gwynne Holford
1840 Perrolt family (tenants)
1861 William Jones (tenant)
1887  
1920 Jones family
1990 Brecon Beacons
National Park
1993 Nigel Gervis and Joyce Morgan-Gervls and family (Henry, Harvey & Cai)
   
   


Ty Mawr Historic Map
(click on image for full screen view)