Throughout Wales there are countless derelict buildings that
require a determined owner to come to
their rescue. I have visited many of
these buildings over the years, but none
so magical and evocative as the ruined mansion of Edwinsford in
Carmarthenshire.
I had made my first to Edwinsford when I was just 14. It was
summer and the mansion had just been put on the market. To my astonishment I
had persuaded my parents to take me to have a look at it. The mansion sits in a
valley, with the river Cothi running alongside the main gardens. Crossing over
the river is a single arched bridge that once linked the
main house with the stables, home farm and kitchen garden that were on the
other side of the river. I can vividly remember
climbing over the piles of fallen masonry by the house; at this point the front
doors were still in situ and the main hall way resembled a forest full of young
trees and brambles, what an exciting
place to explore for a 14 year old. I left Edwinsford that day with a massive grin across my face as I was
so sure that I would be able to convince my parents to buy it for me! Alas for
all my efforts at persuasion, it did not happen.
It would be over ten years before I next returned there, this time, in the depth of winter, by now the
new owner had made an effort to clear the saplings that had ten years
previously surrounded the mansion and he had removed the fallen piles of stones
to uncover a cellar and the boiler room,
but all the clearance work could not hide the fact that the structure of the building looked in a
perilous state. This was confirmed when I discovered a freshly collapsed wall, which looked as if it could have fallen moments
before my arrival. Other walls also looked
so weak, that the next gale would see them tumbling down. Although the state of
the house was a sad sight it still
retained the magical feeling that I could so vividly remember from when I was
14. Edwinsford began as a square
building built into the side of a hill. Over time the house was
continually enlarged resulting in a somewhat rambling building that we have
today. The house included three very fine plaster ceilings, a large oak
staircase and many panelled rooms.
Edwinsford was not to
escape the effect that WW2 had on our country houses. It was taken over and
used to house Polish refugees, who grew mushrooms under the floor boards. Later it was used as a school. Long gone were
the days when Edwinsford was used as a rather lavish summer residence by Sir
William Drummond and his ancestors.
One story I recall hearing
when standing in front of the mansion on a bitterly cold early January morning speaking to a farmer who had grown up living on the estate, was that of
when Sir William Drummond drove down from the
family seat of Hawthornden Castle
in Midlothian In the 1960’s to inspect
the house. When he arrived he was so horrified by the state that
Edwinsford had been reduce to that
he turned the car around and left
without even stepping out the car.
Later on a rift in
the family saw the mansion being willed to the former butler, who subsequently left
it empty and so Edwinsfords future began to look bleak.
Poor old Edwinsford,
I wonder what will become of this
most magical of buildings?
-Written by Tim James
