Hengwrt ( Welsh for 'old court') was a mansion near Dolgellau in Meirionnydd , Gwynedd . It lay in the parish of Llanelltyd near the confluence of the River Mawddach and River Wnion , near Cymer Abbey . With medieval origins, it was rebuilt or remodelled on several occasions before being demolished in 1962. It is remembered as the original home of the important collection of the Peniarth Manuscripts , now in the National Library of Wales .
14-574: Hengwrt was recorded as a grange of Cymer Abbey , and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries passed with the rest of the abbey properties to Sergeant at Arms John Powys. It was eventually bought by Hywel Vaughan of Gwengraig, after which it remained in the Vaughan family for many years. A new house was built in 1750–54 on the site of the earlier building; it was substantially remodelled in 1830, when it
28-436: A granary. The granges might be located at some distance. They could farm livestock or produce crops. Specialist crops might include apples, hops or grapes to make beverages. Some granges had fish-ponds to supply Friday meals to the monastery. The produce could sustain the monks or be sold for profit. While under monastic control, granges might be run by a steward and worked by local farm labourers or perhaps lay brothers . At
42-540: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , all monastic land was seized by Henry VIII . The lands were sold or given to Henry's followers. Granges often retained their names and many can still be found in the British landscape today. Tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes . Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to
56-687: The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth . The collection was originally assembled by the collector and antiquarian Robert Vaughan , who lived at Hengwrt during the 17th century. They included treasures such as the White Book of Rhydderch , Black Book of Carmarthen , Book of Taliesin and the Book of Aneirin , along with the Brut y Tywysogion . The collection includes an important early copy of Chaucer also known as
70-401: The established church . Tithe barns were usually associated with the village church or rectory, and independent farmers took their tithes there. The village priests did not have to pay tithes—the purpose of the tithe being their support. Some operated their own farms anyway. The former church property has sometimes been converted to village greens . Many were monastic barns, originally used by
84-474: The manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians , and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely agricultural providing food for the monastic community. A grange might be established adjacent to the monastery, but others were established wherever it held lands, some at a considerable distance. Some granges were worked by lay-brothers belonging to
98-555: The " Hengwrt Chaucer " or, misleadingly, the "Hengwrt Manuscript". These manuscripts remained in the Hengwrt library for 300 years, although several others in the collection (including the Hendregadredd Manuscript and the lost Hengwrt 33 or Hanesyn Hên ) disappeared in the late 18th century. Edward Lhuyd is recorded as having seen the antiquarian books there in 1696. A number of 18th- and early 19th-century antiquarians visited
112-720: The Middle Ages is less well understood than might be expected, and the subject abounds with myths (for example, not one of England's surviving architecturally impressive barns was a tithe barn, although such barns existed)". There are surviving examples of medieval barns in England, some of them known as "tithe barns". English Heritage established criteria to determine if barns were used as tithe barns. The total number of surviving medieval barns (dated up to 1550) in Britain may be estimated about 200. There are many extant barns that date from after
126-707: The National Library in which some of the manuscripts are displayed is named "Hengwrt", after the mansion. In the 18th century Hengwrt was the home of the diarist Elizabeth Baker , who was employed as a secretary to Hugh Vaughan, Robert Vaughan's great-great grandson. In the late 19th century it was the home of sculptor Mary Lloyd and her partner, the journalist and social reformer Frances Power Cobbe . 52°45′07″N 3°53′59″W / 52.752039°N 003.899727°W / 52.752039; -003.899727 Monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of
140-580: The main line at Tywyn ; he owned the railway and quarry until 1910. Hengwrt mansion was demolished in 1962 following a fire, though some of its outbuildings survive. Hengwrt is famous in Welsh literary history as the former home of one of the most important collections of Welsh manuscripts, the Hengwrt–Peniarth Manuscripts (often known more simply as the Peniarth Manuscripts ), now held in
154-503: The mansion to see and copy manuscripts, including Evan Evans , William Owen Pughe and Iolo Morganwg . The collection was inherited by William Watkin Edward Wynne of Peniarth Mansion in 1859, to where it was removed. In 1904 Sir John Williams purchased the collection from the Wynne family, subsequently donating it to the new National Library when it was established in 1907. The room in
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#1732851685695168-487: The monastery itself or by a monastic grange . The word 'grange' is (indirectly) derived from Latin granarium (' granary '). Identical barns were found on royal domains and country estates. The medieval aisled barn was developed in the 12th and 13th centuries, following the examples of royal halls , hospitals and market halls. Its predecessors included Roman horrea and Neolithic long houses . According to English Heritage , "exactly how barns in general were used in
182-493: The order, others by paid labourers. Granges could be of six known types: agrarian; sheep runs; cattle ranges and holdings; horse studs; fisheries; industrial complexes. Industrial granges were significant in the development of medieval industries, particularly iron working. Granges were landed estates used for food production, centred on a farm and out-buildings and possibly a mill or a tithe barn . The word grange comes through French graunge from Latin granica meaning
196-741: Was refaced in stone. Hengwrt was purchased by William McConnel in 1859. McConnell was the owner the Sedgwick cotton mill in Manchester , one of the largest mills in operation in the United Kingdom. In January 1864, he formed the Aberdovey Slate Company which leased the Bryn Eglwys slate quarry near Abergynolwyn . He built and opened the Talyllyn Railway to transport slate from his quarry to
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