LLANGENNECH PARK HOUSE, Carmarthenshire 2020
Notes on LLANGENNECH PARK HOUSE, Carmarthenshire 2020
I had only been to Llangennech Park House the once before, back in 2005. I have however driven along the A4138 which bypasses the village of Llangennech and drives a field or so away from the ruins of the mansion. You cannot actually view the mansion from the road but you do get to view the rear end of the stables and farm buildings which are all ruinous. The house itself is lost within the foliage. I parked the car by a school on a wet Tuesday afternoon and walked over a couple of fields to the ruins of the farm buildings.
The last time I came here this area was littered with old vehicles, cars, lorries, vans, caravans and boats including a fire engine - all this has now been cleared and although there is still one caravan and two small boats the area is mostly cleared - if you exclude other rubbish of which there is plenty. All the buildings are ruinous and in a terrible state of disrepair and I would say not in use.
Just a little beyond the farm buildings are the stables and I presume service quarters. Everything is ruinous and much larger than I remembered. Two large stable doors hang loose from their hinges. There's mess everywhere, hard and soft plastics mostly. The house is beside the stables across a narrow track. I was somewhat surprised by its size - it was at least twice the size as I remembered from 2005.
At the front of the house is a large neat lawn and in full view of the owners house. I did not venture out but weaved in and out the ruins, doorways and windows. Some trees and bushes had been cleared and much to my surprise I was standing exactly where I stood fifteen years ago and very, very little had changed. I had, fifteen years ago, visited in the summer but I still would have expected more saplings, the trees to be larger, the bramble to cover house and grounds. Previous viewpoints opened up again and although I did not necessarily capture the house as well as I'd hoped that first visit, I was not tempted to re-take the same images to show the passage of time.
Other parts of the house that I hadn't captured last time revealed itself to me; arched windows, curved walls, passageways. A few fragments of architectural detail; a few other fragments of man-made litter; white plastic chair, sheets of corrugated iron, metal drums, piles of rubble, trees stretching up three-storey to the sky. The rear of the house is also very impressive and shows it's true size, a long high wall and a passage along side, stone pillars, steps leading down. Old maps show gardens near to the stables. I'd love to see some images of the house after it was deserted after World War Two - I'm sure plenty exist. Judging by the large amount of large windows and by old paintings it would seem Park House was very light with each room having a number of windows.
The photographs I took were not so carefully composed and somewhat hurried. I was overwhelmed with how much there was to document. This isn't my over-lasting memory of my previous visit.
Last time I wonder I was restricted of view due to the summer greenery. Maybe I was short of time, short of film. Today I had about twenty sheets of film and if I had the strength to carry it I could have taken another twenty images without having to look too hard. It does feel that the house will stand for many decades yet and who knows what could be done with it if the present owner ever wishes to sell. There are some wonderful painting of the house in Carmarthen Museum - easily found on the internet - and it is quite easy to recognize the castellated facade and even the scale of the property. It seems a shame that this part of Carmarthenshire's heritage is hidden away completely from view.
Built circa 1800 and house was in private ownership until the Second World War and laid bare to the elements thereafter.
I had only been to Llangennech Park House the once before, back in 2005. I have however driven along the A4138 which bypasses the village of Llangennech and drives a field or so away from the ruins of the mansion. You cannot actually view the mansion from the road but you do get to view the rear end of the stables and farm buildings which are all ruinous. The house itself is lost within the foliage. I parked the car by a school on a wet Tuesday afternoon and walked over a couple of fields to the ruins of the farm buildings.
The last time I came here this area was littered with old vehicles, cars, lorries, vans, caravans and boats including a fire engine - all this has now been cleared and although there is still one caravan and two small boats the area is mostly cleared - if you exclude other rubbish of which there is plenty. All the buildings are ruinous and in a terrible state of disrepair and I would say not in use.
Just a little beyond the farm buildings are the stables and I presume service quarters. Everything is ruinous and much larger than I remembered. Two large stable doors hang loose from their hinges. There's mess everywhere, hard and soft plastics mostly. The house is beside the stables across a narrow track. I was somewhat surprised by its size - it was at least twice the size as I remembered from 2005.
At the front of the house is a large neat lawn and in full view of the owners house. I did not venture out but weaved in and out the ruins, doorways and windows. Some trees and bushes had been cleared and much to my surprise I was standing exactly where I stood fifteen years ago and very, very little had changed. I had, fifteen years ago, visited in the summer but I still would have expected more saplings, the trees to be larger, the bramble to cover house and grounds. Previous viewpoints opened up again and although I did not necessarily capture the house as well as I'd hoped that first visit, I was not tempted to re-take the same images to show the passage of time.
Other parts of the house that I hadn't captured last time revealed itself to me; arched windows, curved walls, passageways. A few fragments of architectural detail; a few other fragments of man-made litter; white plastic chair, sheets of corrugated iron, metal drums, piles of rubble, trees stretching up three-storey to the sky. The rear of the house is also very impressive and shows it's true size, a long high wall and a passage along side, stone pillars, steps leading down. Old maps show gardens near to the stables. I'd love to see some images of the house after it was deserted after World War Two - I'm sure plenty exist. Judging by the large amount of large windows and by old paintings it would seem Park House was very light with each room having a number of windows.
The photographs I took were not so carefully composed and somewhat hurried. I was overwhelmed with how much there was to document. This isn't my over-lasting memory of my previous visit.
Last time I wonder I was restricted of view due to the summer greenery. Maybe I was short of time, short of film. Today I had about twenty sheets of film and if I had the strength to carry it I could have taken another twenty images without having to look too hard. It does feel that the house will stand for many decades yet and who knows what could be done with it if the present owner ever wishes to sell. There are some wonderful painting of the house in Carmarthen Museum - easily found on the internet - and it is quite easy to recognize the castellated facade and even the scale of the property. It seems a shame that this part of Carmarthenshire's heritage is hidden away completely from view.
Built circa 1800 and house was in private ownership until the Second World War and laid bare to the elements thereafter.
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