 Tretower Court
Standing against the splendid backdrop of the Black Mountains, this remarkable
medieval country house is one of the rare and glorious survivals that
Wales has to offer. When Roger Picard arrived in the valley at the
end of the 11th century with the Norman invaders, he built a
simple motte and bailey castle at Tretower, which the next six generations
of the family enlarged and strengthened. By the early 14th
century more comfortable domestic accommodation was required, so the
building of Tretower Court began and was continued over the next 350
years. With an architectural history almost as complex as the family
succession, this charming fortified manor house offers the visitor
an evocative glimpse of the lifestyle enjoyed by the more affluent members
of society during the Middle Ages.
Among the early owners of
Tretower Court are listed Lord Berkeley and the Earl of Pembroke, but probably
the most noted link with the house is that of Henry Vaughan, the 'Silurist'.
Henry was a nephew to the owner of Tretower and never actually lived
at the house, but history records that he had an intimate association
with the property, inspired by the tranquillity of its surrounding
environment. As a great poet and distinguished writer, whose works
are highly acclaimed among the literature of 17th century England,
Henry's love of the gentle Usk valley and the hauntingly beautiful
Black Mountains was captured for eternity by his words.
Up until 1783 Tretower Court was
owned by descendants of Picard, although the family name changed several
times as a result of the convoluted circumstances of inheritance. By
the middle of the 15th century the family name of Vaughan was firmly
established, and it was Sir Roger Vaughan, an extremely wealthy commoner,
who really made his mark on the new building, doubling the size and
embellishing it with quality dressed stonework and ornate woodwork.
Additions and alterations
were subsequently made, especially after it passed out of the family
in the late 18th century to become a farm, but the core
of the house remains essentially 14th/15th century
in origin. Developed to form an irregular four-sided, two-storey building
with a central courtyard, the house looks intriguingly different from
every angle. There is a first floor timber gallery running the length
of one range, there are battlemented wall walks along a further two
ranges, and there is a most amazing combination of various window styles
and doorways throughout the entire building.
Even though Tretower Court
is devoid of furniture, this in no way detracts from the wonderful atmosphere
of the individual rooms and, if anything, serves only to enhance the medieval
beauty of the building. With no priceless works of art to admire, the
eyes are able to focus on some of the surviving details of skilled craftsmanship,
and appreciate how much intensive labour this work must have taken with
their simple set of medieval tools. In comparison to the crude, cold comforts
afforded by the old stone castle, the relative luxury of this once grand
and imposing 'modern' house must have seemed strangely disconcerting at
first for the Vaughan family. |
