| Castell-y-mynach | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The north and west frontages | |
| Type | Manor house |
| Location | Creigiau,Cardiff,Glamorgan |
| Coordinates | 51°31′16″N3°19′28″W / 51.521°N 3.3244°W /51.521; -3.3244 |
| Built | 15th century |
| Architectural style | Vernacular |
| Owner | Privately owned |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Castell-y-mynach |
| Designated | 14 February 1952 |
| Reference no. | 13517 |
  Location of Castell-y-mynach in Cardiff | |
Castell-y-mynach (the castle of the monks), is a 15th centurymanor house inCreigiau, Cardiff, Wales. One of the largest late-medieval houses inGlamorgan, it is aGrade II* listed building.
The house was originally the home of the Mathews family,[1] reputedly built by a Robert Mathews in the 15th century.[2] At the time of construction, it was among the largest late-medieval houses inGlamorgan.[3] A later owner was Thomas Mathew,High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1614. Known as the "bullying squire",[2] tradition suggests that his death was brought about by a disgruntled tenant who inserted anawl into the cushion of Mathews' favourite chair at Castell-y-mynach, causing his demise.[4] The Mathews family line ended in 1720[2] and the house passed into the possession of theLords Dynevor.[5] By the mid-19th century, when the site was visited and described bySamuel Lewis in hisA Topographical Dictionary of Wales, it had descended to the status of a farmhouse.[6] The name of Castell-y-mynach, suggesting a fortifiedmonastic grange, has been challenged in the 20th century, and it is thought more probable that the name reflected a late-medieval wish to attribute antiquity to the site.[7] The house is now entirely surrounded by a 20th-century housing estate.[8]
The house is built ofrubble stone, which was originallylime washed.[2] The present building consists of two long, two-storey, ranges to anL-plan.John Newman, in his 1995Glamorgan volume in theBuildings of Wales series, suggests that these form the two remaining sections of an original courtyard house.[3] The quality of thestonemasonry is high.[3] The interior contains some notablewall paintings,[8][a] whichPeter Smith, in his study,Houses of the Welsh Countryside, records as "unusually well-preserved".[9] The staircase wall is decorated with red and blacklozenge patterns andgrotesques with a date of 1602, while the upper hall has a "still more impressive fragment" depicting two male nudes bearing a cartoon of ships in a storm.[3] Newman considers the murals as "worthy ofcourt art of the period".[3]
Castell-y-mynach is aGrade II* listed building.[2]