Aberglasney's origins are obscure, but was praised by the bard Lewis Glyn Cothi in the 1470's as having nine green gardens, orchards and fine young oaks"
The estate was sold to the Bishop of St David's around 1600. Bishop Anthony Rudd and his son Sir Rice improved the property,and probably built the entrance court (the gatehouse still stands).
In 1710 a Robert Dyer began a building campaign that brought the north facade of the house into line with the Queen Anne fashion. The Dyer family fell into debt, and in 1803 sold the house to a local surgeon, Thomas Philipps. His nephew John Walters Philipps set about the last major building campaign which included adding the Ionic portico to the front entrance in 1830.
In 1900 Aberglasney was inherited by Walter Philipps's grand-daughter Marianne. When her husband died in in 1907 she left for London, and the house became vacant, except for wartime requisitioning. After World War II and the death of the heir the estate was broken up and suffered from vandalism. Then in 1995 the property was purchased by the Aberglasney Restoration Trust, which has made Aberglasney one of the most exciting garden restoration projects in the U.K. |
