Castell Malgwyn (alternatively Castle Malgwyn or Hammet House) is a grade II listed

Georgian-style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

country house standing in a landscaped estate in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Manordeifi Manordeifi () is a parish and community (Wales), community in the hundred of Cilgerran Hundred, Cilgerran, in the northeast corner of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The population of the community in 2001 was 478. It has an elected community council and ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, lying on the south bank of the

river Teifi The River Teifi ( ; , ), formerly anglicised as Tivy, forms the boundary for most of its length between the Welsh counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final of its total length of , the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembr ...

opposite the village of

Llechryd Llechryd () is a Rural area, rural village on the A484 road approximately from Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. Situated on the north Bank (geography), bank of the Tide, tidal River Teifi, Llechryd is the first point upstream of Cardigan where cross ...

. The gardens are listed at Grade II* on the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

. The house is now an upmarket B&B.

History

The present house was constructed c.1795 for Sir Benjamin Hammet, a wealthy entrepreneur from

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, who bought the estate in 1791. It is built in three storeys of local Cilgerran stone with a hipped slate roof, a five-bay frontage and a two-storey wing. It replaced a previous house and was originally named Castle Malgwyn. Hammet, who founded and co-owned the bank of Esdaile, Hammet & Co. was elected MP for his home town of

in 1782. He had originally bought the estate to acquire the associated tinplate works at nearby Penygored. He was given permission to close the public road from

Cilgerran Cilgerran (previously Kilgerran or Cil-Garon) is both a village, a parish, and also a community, situated on the south bank of the River Teifi in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formerly an incorporated market town. Among Cilgerran's attractions ...

which ran through the estate and to reroute it further south to skirt the estate. This entailed building the Castell Malgwyn bridge over the "canal", a conduit which fed water to the tinworks, and Hammet Bridge over the Morgenau brook. The grounds were landscaped by local landscaper, Charles Price. They are listed at Grade II* on the

After Hammet's death in 1802 the estate passed to his son, John. By 1806 the works were demolished and on John's early death in 1811 the house contents were sold. When Sir Benjamin's wife Lady Louisa died in 1824 the estate was sold to Abel Anthony Gower of Glandovan, who let the property. On Gower's death in 1837 his nephew, Abel Lewes Gower, inherited and moved in, investing a large amount of money on improving the property, commissioning Ambrose Poynter to build the lodge, grand entrance and stable court. When he also died young in 1849 his widow remained in residence until her own death in 1886, when it passed to Abel Lewes's brother, Robert Frederick Gower, who had also inherited Glandovan from their father. Castell Malgwyn passed down in the Gower family until it was sold in 1948, and became a hotel in 1962. The house was renamed Hammet House in 2012.

References

{{coord, 52.0606, -4.6069, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Pembrokeshire Grade II listed buildings in Pembrokeshire Registered historic parks and gardens in Pembrokeshire Hotels in Pembrokeshire