Opening for the Victorian workhouse Masters House after restoration
The completion of the first stage of a major restoration project of an historic workhouse will be celebration later this month.
The Master's House at Llanfyllin's Y Dolydd building now had a weatherproof roof, masonry, the impressive cupola that sits atop the building has been restoraed and the octagon room on the top floor, is now ready to host functions and conferences.
The building - part of the much larger Victorian Workhouse will be officially opened on August 14.
After the official opening by Dr Paul Carter of The National Archives, a leading expert on Poor Law history the house will be open to the public.
There will be displays, harp music, a talk on Punishments in the Workhouse, open studios, lunches and a wide-ranging exhibition by artists and craftspeople based on the site. A special feature will be print-making, using copper salvaged from the roof during the restoration, to make etchings. The printing press has been created by artist Liz Neal from an old mangle and visitors can watch the process and try their hand at the craft.
Work on the Master’s House has been in progress for nearly two years under the direction of architect Richard Payne and contractor Richard Stephenson, both of Llanrhaeadr, for the Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust. Ecological constraints meant that craftsmen had to battle through the winter weather to repair the complex roof.
Steering Group Chair John Hainsworth said: ‘We’re deeply grateful to all the people who supported us with donations and by sponsoring 3,810 slates for the roof. We’d also like to thank Lottery players and the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a major contribution to the cost of repairs and of activities as well as the Pilgrim Trust, who supported us most generously and defrayed extra costs when the weather held us up. The Garfield Weston Foundation, the Foyle Foundation and Cadw helped us too, and local support came from Powys’s Community Regeneration Capital Fund and the Gwendoline and Margaret Davies Charity. "
Many activities on the day will be out of doors and the organisers will follow Welsh Government guidelines in force at the time.
As part of the Master’s House project volunteers have been investigating the lives of the men and women who lived there. The result is a new book: ‘Masters and Matrons of the Llanfyllin Union Workhouse’, to be launched at the celebration, for sale at £9.50.
Mr Hainsworth said: "This is ground-breaking research: no comparable study of workhouse officers has been carried out elsewhere. It has revealed some remarkable characters: Richard Edwards who absconded to Liverpool after losing £200 and met his end at a brewery on Christmas Eve: Joseph Jones who found cheese and beef evaporating before his eyes and Captain Tom Astley, who had a pet monkey and a dodgy sense of humour. The book shows how a country workhouse slowly evolved over 140 years and suggests that, even in Victorian times, its masters and matrons weren’t always the monsters or harridans they’re made out to be."
