I found an intriguing mention of my Mansel relation in a book called Welsh Murders Volume 1: 1770-1918. Written by Peter Fuller and Brian Knapp, published 1986.

There is a chapter called Glanareth – The Glanareth Conspiracy which took place between 1769/1770.  A murder took place in Glanareth, Bethlehem , Carmarthenshire.

The story mentions Sir William Mansel my 4x great grandfather. I want to find a copy of the book, or this story, so I can see more. I know that it mentions Sir William as a gentleman/member of the ‘Blue Coat Hunt’.

For extracts from a contemporary pamphlet account of the trial see this blog post: http://sharonhoward.org/waleslaw/glanareth.htm

A few days ago I was wondering where my branch of the Mansel family had lived before they had Iscoed House built for them. I was able to find a tiny nugget of information in an online leaflet for a walk around Ferryside, where we stayed last year.

According to the trail:

“The walk passes three places with the name Iscoed. A farm track leads to Iscoed Uchaf, a working farm, and Iscoed Home Farm, a historic house inhabited by medieval Welsh uchelwyr or gentry families. Sir William Mansel began to build a new mansion, also called Iscoed in 1772. This is the striking brick-built ruin to be seen from lower down the walk. In 1804 both mansions were sold to General Sir Thomas Picton, who died a hero’s death at the battle of Waterloo in 1815.”

So it seems that the family lived at Iscoed Home Farm prior to their new house being finished. I have not yet been able to find out anything about Iscoed Home Farm, except for this photo :

Ffarm Iscoed Home Farm
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Alan Richards – geograph.org.uk/p/4288573

Link to leafet: https://www.discovercarmarthenshire.com/media/2481/ferryside.pdf

Iscoed House was built for my 4xGreat Grandfather, Sir William Mansel, 9th Baronet.

Iscoed House, Ferryside

Sir William married Mary Phillips on the 26th August 1765 at the local church, St Ishmael.

According to Wikipedia, the house was “Constructed for Sir William Mansel in 1772, it was purchased by the Napoleonic general Sir Thomas Picton as an incomplete shell in 1812. The house remained the property of the Picton family until the end of the First World War. Used subsequently as council housing, it has been empty since the 1950s, and is now a derelict shell. The house is Grade II listed.”

If the house was built in 1772 I wonder where Sir William and Lady Mary lived from the time of their marriage in 1765? If the house was not finished when they sold it in 1812, then did they live in part of the house and what parts remained unfinished?

They had at least 7 children so would have needed a large property and I’m not aware of any other large houses in Iscoed at this time.

Also according to Wikipedia, “Pevsner considers Iscoed “one of the most important Georgian mansions of the county.” Of three storeys and five bays, the main house is cuboid, with wings extending to each side.

..According to a page on the National Library of Wales, “Iscoed was inherited by his grandfather Richard Mansel, son of Sir Francis Mansel, 1st Bart., through his marriage to Catherine Morgan, daughter of Rees Morgan of Iscoed. The family continued to live at Iscoed until Sir John Bell William Mansel (1806-1883), 11th Bart., sold the mansion of Iscoed, Iscoed (Old), and two other farms to General Sir Thomas Picton for £30,000.” Since Sir Thomas Picton died in 1815 there must be an error with the dates. [source https://archivesearch.library.wales/view/eea314ed-eeb8-3f0c-ae76-bf004e470b9d?query=iscoed]

It seems that there had been a connection with Iscoed for some time, Sir Richard Mansel 5th Baronet; Sir Richard Mansel 6th Baronet; Sir William Mansel 7th Baronet; Sir Richard Mansel 8th Baronet and Sir William Mansel 9th Baronet all had lived at Iscoed so there must have been a previous house, perhaps on the same site. Sir Richard Mansel 8th Baronet and Sir William Mansel 9th Baronet also kept a house at Woodstone in Cork, Ireland which it seems Sir William Mansel 10th Baronet left for after he sold Iscoed.

I have been unable to find out anything about Woodstone in County Cork, Ireland so this is something I will keep researching.

Other places to explore relating to the Mansel family:

Penrice Castle Estate

Oxwich Castle

St Ishmael, Ferryside

Oxwich Castle is another building related to the Mansel family. Oxwich Castle is a Grade I listed castle which overlooks Oxwich Bay on the Gower Peninsula. It is a grand Tudor fortified manor house built in courtyard style, rather than a proper castle.

Today it is managed by CADW and has limited opening hours. Unfortunately it was closed when we visited and we weren’t really able to see anything from the car park, just the top of a tall tower.

Oxwich was originally built by Sir Rice Mansel who also owned land at Penrice and Margam Abbey.

Hopefully we will be able to go back another day.

Other places to explore relating to the Mansel family:

Penrice Castle Estate