Abbey Cwmhir Hall facts for kids
Abbey-Cwm-Hir Hall is a large country house in the Welsh county of Powys. It was built in a style that looks like old Elizabethan houses.
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History of Abbey-Cwm-Hir Hall
Building the First Hall
The main part of Abbey-Cwm-Hir Hall was built in 1833. It was made for Thomas Wilson, who was a lawyer from London. The new house was built where an older Tudor-style house once stood. That older house was built around 1656 for the Fowler family. Later, the Hastings family, who were Earls of Huntingdon, owned it.
Thomas Wilson bought the huge estate, which was about 3,000 acres. He worked hard to design the gardens and land around the house. He built the hall on a steep hill facing south. From there, you could see the old, ruined abbey. He also created a lake to provide water power for the village's sawmill.
Changes and New Owners
Thomas Wilson spent a lot of money on the hall and the estate. Because of this, he ran into financial trouble. He then moved to Australia. In 1842, he became the Mayor of Adelaide there. After he left, the hall and its grounds became quite run down.
Later, the Philips family bought the estate. Between 1867 and 1869, they made the house much bigger. Architects Poundley and Walker from Liverpool extended and changed Wilson's house. They turned it into a grand Victorian mansion. It was decorated with colorful stone bands and fancy wooden boards called bargeboards. The house doubled in size in 1869. They also added a snooker room in 1894.
The Philips Family at the Hall
In 1837, Francis Philips bought the Abbeycwmhir Estate. He was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant from Lancashire. The estate was in poor condition, and he worked hard to improve it. His oldest son, Francis Aspinall Philips, inherited the estate after him. Even though he lived at another family home, he spent a lot of time at Abbeycwmhir. He eventually became the High Sheriff of Radnorshire.
His younger son, George Henry Philips, inherited and lived at Abbeycwmhir. It is believed that George Henry was responsible for shaping the house into what it looks like today. The Philips family was an old family from Staffordshire. They had owned land there since the time of King Edward VI. Their family home, The Heath House, is still owned by the Philips family today. In the mid-1700s, the family built mills and became well-known cotton manufacturers in Manchester.
Recent History and Public Access
Paul and Victoria Humpherston bought Abbey-Cwm-Hir Hall in late 1997. They have spent many years carefully restoring it. Their amazing work has been shown on TV shows like BBC's "Discovering Welsh Houses" and "Wales Today." It was also featured on ITV's "Wales Tonight" and on S4C.
For several years, the house was open for public tours. Visitors could explore its beautiful rooms and learn about its history. However, the house permanently closed to visitors in 2020. This decision was made because of the Covid pandemic. The gardens of the hall are also very special. They are listed as Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
See also
- Cwmhir Abbey
- Abbeycwmhir
- List of gardens in Wales
