Brogyntyn
Brogyntyn,orPorkington,is amansionin the parish of Selatyn to the north-west ofOswestryinShropshire,England.Brogyntyn Hall was the home of the Ormsby-Gore family from 1815, and had previously been the estate of their ancestors the Maurices and Owens since the sixteenth century. It was abandoned and uninhabited from around 1985.[1][2]
History
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It was a residence of members of the princely dynasty of the WelshKingdom of Powys,belonging to theHouse of Mathrafal,and one of thetaî'r uchelwyr(houses of thegentry) in latemedievalWales.[3]It subsequently came into the possession of theOrmsby-Gorefamily (Lord Harlech). Its English correspondent is sometimes given as Porkington.[4]A manuscript known to have been in the possession of Brogyntyn in 1574 was a copy of the Hanes Gruf(f)udd ab Cynan.
The house itself is of brick dating from circa 1730 refaced and much added to between 1813–20 by the architectBenjamin Gummow.[5]It is noted for a portico of four giant unfluted Ionic columns with scrolls and pediment. Outside can be seen an arch with 2 pairs of unfluted Ionic columns. In the entrance hall survives an elaborately carved fireplace dated 1617.
Brogyntyn Hall and its 1,445-acre estate, was sold bythe 6th Baron Harlechin 2001 for less than £5 million to a local developer, who divided up the estate, and investigated the potential for a retirement community development in and around the Hall.[6][7]However, the Hall and 234 acres went up for sale for £5 million in December 2013.[8]
Brogyntyn Library
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It is known that Sir Robert Owen of Brogyntyn (d. 1698) was a bibliophile who continued the family's traditional patronage of poets and a collection of printed English literature was developed by his grandfatherLewis Anwyl of Park.Nevertheless, the early history of the library at Brogyntyn is obscure. Some of the family had collected early printed books during the nineteenth century, but this does not account for the fine collection of manuscripts that the library held.
There is some evidence contained within the manuscripts which suggests that the collection was formed circa 1700 from other manuscripts collections in the surrounding area.[1]The thirty Welsh language manuscripts that thethird Lord Harlechdeposited in theNational Library of Walesin 1934 was, at the time, the largest collection of manuscripts in Welsh that was still privately owned.
Thefourth Lord Harlechdeposited a further fifty-nine manuscripts in the National Library in 1938 and subsequently donated most of the deposits in 1945. The remaining items were purchased from thesixth Lord Harlech,the incumbent in 1993.[2][9]
The manuscripts from the Brogyntyn Library include a medieval psalter and a version ofGeoffrey of Monmouth'sHistoria Regum Britanniae,both from the thirteenth century, a fifteenth-century miscellany inMiddle English,a volume of the Welsh laws ofHywel Dda,and pedigrees, genealogy and heraldry of families in Wales.[1][2][9]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^abc"Brogyntyn Manuscripts".archiveswales.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved26 November2015.
- ^abcPeters, Hilary (2006).Brogyntyn: Part 2 of Schedule.National Library of Wales.
- ^Portrait Of Lewis Anwyl, 18th Century,Collection Of Lord Harlech Of Glyn Cywarch, Wales
- ^"Brogyntyn, Oswestry".historicengland.org.uk.
- ^Colvin H.,A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840,Yale University Press, 3rd edition London, 1995, p 436,ISBN9780300072075
- ^The Daily Telegraph,"Fall of the house of Harlech"by Angela Pertusini and Hugh Davies, 22 Jun 2000
- ^Gaunt Francis Architects proposalsArchivedDecember 27, 2013, at theWayback Machine
- ^Knight Frank reference CHO090108
- ^abJones, E. D. (1939)."The Brogyntyn library".National Library of Wales Journal.1(1).Retrieved26 November2015.
References
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- The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales,Volume II Prose, London 1801, p. 605.
- N. Pevsner,Shropshire (The Buildings of England),Penguin 1958.
External links
[edit]- Brogyntyn Hall photoson ukurbex.co.uk
- Photos of Brogyntyn and surrounding areaon geograph.org.uk