Last Autumn we were lucky to spend a week exploring the Gower and Carmarthen in Wales. This area was the home of a few branched of the Mansel family so we spent some happy hours exploring the area and buildings of interest.
Penrice Castle Estate
The Gower peninsula is very beautiful and we were able to walk through the grounds of the Penrice Castle Estate.
The Penrice Castle Estate is on an amazing site and consists of a ruined castle and later Georgian house along with a Home Farm and lots of land. Originally owned by the de Penrice family, the last de Penrice married a Mansel in 1410 and the castle and its lands passed to the Mansel family. The Mansels later moved to Margam Abbey, which we were also able to visit.
The mansion built in the 1770s by the neo-classical architect Anthony Keck for Thomas Mansel Talbot (1747–1813) of Margam and Penrice, was built to house the collection of antiquities and works of art he had collected on his Grand Tour. Interestingly, Keck also designed Iscoed House for William Mansel and built in 1772, as well as the Orangery at Margam Park which was completed in 1793.
The house is privately owned but a public footpath runs through the estate grounds. This meant we were able to walk past the ruined castle and the Georgian house.
The castle was slightly on a hill with the later house built below it. Both had the most amazing views down towards the coast.
It was the most amazing experience to walk past a house connected to your ancestors. I’m not sure Thomas Mansel would ever have visited this branch of his family, but who knows?
