Abercamlais is a country house at

Trallong Trallong () is a village and community in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire. Description The community of Trallong is made up of the villages of Trallong, the hamlets of Soar, Aberbran and Llanfihangel Nant Bran, Abercaml ...

in the

Usk valley Usk () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks the ancient cro ...

between

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

and

Sennybridge Sennybridge () is a village in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire, situated some from Cardiff and from Swansea. It lies west of Brecon on the A40 trunk road to Llandovery, at the point where the Afon Senni flows into th ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Possibly dating back to the Middle Ages, it underwent various alterations and additions during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries accounting for all or most of what may be seen today. It is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

building.

History and description

The Abercamlais estate has been in the possession of the Williams family since Elizabethan times. In the early 18th century, the existing mansion was rebuilt as a three-storey block in a Neoclassical style. In the 19th century, a

Tudorbethan Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

porch was added, Sir

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

being suggested as the architect. In the early 20th century, further additions were made by W. D. Caröe. Robert Scourfield and Richard Haslam, in their ''Powys'' volume in the Buildings of Wales series, note that the interior contains examples of architectural salvage, gathered by the house's occupants from demolished buildings elsewhere and re-fitted at Abercamlais. Examples include a fireplace from Fonthill Splendens and

wood panelling Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to ...

from Brecon Priory. Also of note is an early eighteenth century octagonal

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

which has a Grade II* listing. The base of the pigeon house forms a bridge over a stream, and was fitted out as a

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...

, a device Scourfield and Haslam consider, "simplicity itself, with useful and ornamental qualities into the bargain". The gardens attached to the house extend on both sides of the Usk and are connected by a grade II*-listed

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

three arch stone bridge, and a Grade II-listed

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

, constructed by

Crawshay Bailey Crawshay Bailey (1789 – 9 January 1872) was an English industrialist who became one of the great iron-masters of Wales. Early life Bailey was born in 1789 in Great Wenham, Suffolk, the son of John Bailey, of Wakefield and his wife Susannah ...

in the middle of the nineteenth century. A third bridge over the Camlais Brook is also listed. A

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

north of the brook, the

stables A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

, and a lodge at the head of the drive are all listed at Grade II. Less than half a mile downstream is Penpont Manor House with which comparisons are made, the two houses having some shared history. Abercamlais remains a private home but is occasionally open for visitors.

References

Sources

* {{Cite book , last1 = Scourfield, first1 = Robert , last2 = Haslam, first2 = Richard , series=The Buildings of Wales , title=Powys: Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire , url=http://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300185089&nat=false&sort=%24rank&sf1=keyword&st1=Powys&m=1&dc=1 , year=2013 , location = New Haven, US and London , publisher=

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, isbn=978-0-300-18508-9 Country houses in Powys Grade I listed buildings in Powys Grade I listed houses