Margam Castle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Margam Castle
Type	House
Location	Margam, Neath Port Talbot
Built	1830-1840
Architect	Thomas Hopper
Architectural style(s)	Tudor Revival
Owner	Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Margam Castle
Designated	24 February 1975
Reference no.	14170
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name: Service buildings including courtyard walls at Margam Castle
Designated	24 February 1975
Reference no.	23275
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name: Terrace walls and screen at Margam Castle
Designated	24 February 1975
Reference no.	14163
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Stone steps in terraced garden
Designated	25 April 2000
Reference no.	23266
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Margam Castle is a beautiful country house located in Margam, Port Talbot, Wales. It was built for a man named Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot during the Victorian era. The castle looks like an old Tudor building, even though it was built much later, between 1830 and 1840. This style is called Tudor Revival. People have lived on this land for about 4,000 years! Today, Margam Castle is a very important historic building. It is looked after by the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council.

History of Margam Castle

Early Days at Margam

The land where Margam Castle stands has a very long history. People lived here as far back as the Iron Age. You can still see the remains of an old hill fort from that time, called Mynydd-y-Castell, just north of the castle.

Later, after the Normans came to Wales, a monastery was built here. It was a Cistercian monastery called Margam Abbey. This happened after Robert, the first Earl of Gloucester, gave the land to Clairvaux Abbey.

The Mansel Family and New Homes

When monasteries were closed down in the 1500s (this was called the Dissolution of the Monasteries), the Margam estate was bought by Sir Rice Mansel. His family built a large Tudor mansion in the park.

In the 1700s, this mansion was taken down. The family moved back to an older home called Penrice Castle. Thomas Mansel Talbot, who lived from 1747 to 1813, hired an architect named Anthony Keck. Keck built a new mansion next to the old castle ruins. He also helped turn Margam into a beautiful pleasure garden. He even designed a huge orangery there.

Building the "New" Margam Castle

Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot became the owner of Margam in 1813 when he was only ten years old. As he grew up, he became very wealthy because of the growth of Port Talbot. After traveling around Europe, he decided to make Margam his main home again.

Starting in 1830, a brand new house was designed. This house became Margam Castle. It was built in a Tudor Gothic style. The main architect was Thomas Hopper. Another architect, Edward Haycock Snr, helped supervise the building. He also designed parts of the inside and outside of the house, along with the stables and terraces.

Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot was very involved in the building project. He encouraged his architects to get ideas from other famous houses. These included Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, which was an ancestral home of his family. He also looked at Melbury House in Dorset, which belonged to his mother's family.

Margam and Photography

Margam Castle has a cool connection to early photography. William Henry Fox Talbot, who was Christopher's cousin, visited Margam often. He was a pioneer in photography, and he took some of his first photos of the castle!

Margam is also where the earliest known photograph taken in Wales was made. It was a type of photo called a daguerreotype. Reverend Calvert Richard Jones took this picture of the castle on March 9, 1841.

Later Years and Restoration

After Christopher's daughter, Emily Charlotte Talbot, passed away, the castle went to her nephew. The Talbot family continued to use it until 1941, when it was sold.

The new owner, David Evans-Bevan, found the castle too big to live in. No public group wanted to take it on, so it started to fall apart. For many years, the local government owned it, but it wasn't open to visitors.

In 1977, a fire caused a lot of damage to the castle. After this, a big project began to restore and fix it up. Today, Margam Castle is cared for by the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council.

Architecture of Margam Castle

Margam Castle is considered a very important building in Wales. It is a Grade I listed building. This means it has special historical or architectural importance.

Other parts of the estate are also listed:

• The service courtyard is listed as Grade II*.
• The terrace walls and screen are also listed as Grade II*.
• The stone steps in the terraced garden are listed as Grade II.