Family Holiday Cottages

History of House and Garden

 

 

The original Ty Poeth farm can be seen in the above picture when entering the drive on the left hand side, tucked into the hillside which dates back four hundred years. Two sons in the family had a falling out and one of them moved to the current site of Ty Poeth and built a farmhouse, which is still part of the present day Ty Poeth. (This can be seen at the center of the group of cottages). The Barn was the only building existing before the farmhouse.

 

 

He started his own family and in time built on to the house a barn, now known as the Gallery.

The passageway of which, used to go from the bottom of the staircase in the Farmhouse and came up into the Gallery where the bathroom is today. The conservatory on the Gallery was an opening for a horse and cart to drive in and unload hay into the loft which is now the bedroom.

 

 

The Pool and Grove cottages were used as servant’s quarters; the new owner, Mr. Humphries and his family needed more help in running the now large house. Pool cottage, also had an opening in the sitting room for a horse and carriage. The servants lived upstairs, while the livestock lived downstairs with the luxury of a fire to keep them warm. They would also have housed coal and other household supplies for the rest of the house.

 

 

 

Mr. Humphries, a wealthy man, bought the house and land over a hundred years ago, created the garden that we know today. His business took him all over the world and while doing so brought back many plants from South Africa, America and Europe. You will see these varieties of plants and flowering bushes in the garden, some are rare and the only ones in the whole area. For example, the large scented rhododendron tree by the Grove Cottage has wonderful large trumpet like pink flowers in summer and the aroma permeates the whole garden. It is the only scented one of it kind in this part of the country.

The largest tree in the garden is the Wellingtonia, brought back from Canada, is situated on the bottom lawn by the Pool and Grove cottages. Standing at over 100 feet, it stretches high above the two cottages. In the 1980’s, unbeknown to us, it was struck by lightening and the top section for the tree died, losing all its pine needles. We thought the tree was dying, until two years later, growth started once again around the damaged part. If you look closely you can still see the dead section at the top.

 

The Garden was literally cut out of the side of the mountain and terraced with miles of walls. There was not a stone to be found on the ground or in the earth,  so all the  granite stone had to be brought up to the site by hand from miles around. One hundred horse drawn carts of stone, made the journey up to Ty Poeth to finish off this amazing feat of engineering. You can see this clearly on the Fern Terrace. The entrance to the terrace is by the Ivy Tree, at Pool Cottage.

 

 

The Edwardian house was built on by Mr. Humphries for his family. His sister had The Hall built, before the Second World War (this is flat roofed section in the front of the main house). It started off as a single floor apartment and then later, another flat was built above to make it a double story building. The small bedroom upstairs used to be the kitchen for the flat, with a metal staircase on the outside wall as an entrance, coming in through where the window is now.

 

 

When we arrived in the early 80’s, it was all one house with six staircases, twelve bedrooms, and miles of corridors. My father, Mr. R. A. Gwatkin created the layout of the house as it is today.

I hope this brief history of the House and Gardens help you to understand and enjoy your experience more, here at Ty Poeth.

 

We hope you enjoy your holiday we us in Mid-Wales.