{"id":12517,"date":"2022-06-30T09:30:48","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T07:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=31174"},"modified":"2022-06-30T09:46:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T07:46:11","slug":"a-medieval-welsh-hall-house","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-medieval-welsh-hall-house\/","title":{"rendered":"A medieval Welsh hall house"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Christianne Raymer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 30 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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\u2018Antiques have always played a big part in my life,\u2019 says former antiques restorer Annie McKay, explaining that as a child she enjoyed mooching about antiques warehouses and fairs, and she bought her first \u2018antique<\/a>\u2019 \u2013 an early 1960s Scottie Wilson Royal Worcester slipware pottery plate \u2013 when she was just 10 years old.<\/p>\n

This passion prompted her to train as a gilder, which is how she met her partner, John Marchant, a furniture restorer<\/a>. Over the years the couple have developed a particular interest in 17th and 18th-century oak furniture.<\/p>\n

\u2018I used to admire the early oak furniture displayed in the window of Christie\u2019s auction house, which was close to where I worked,\u2019 says Annie, adding that it wasn\u2019t until they moved to their 15th-century Welsh hall house that they really started to collect in earnest.<\/p>\n

Their move to the Welsh borders was pure chance says Annie. \u2018We discovered the area while on a trip to visit a Land Rover dealer. We were a bit early, so we drove west and ended up here!\u2019 They loved the area so much that they kept returning until finally making the move in 1998.<\/p>\n

Set in an idyllic spot overlooking the Wye Valley, within reach of Builth Wells, Brecon and Hay-on-Wye, the house was a rare find and, although they knew it was special, the couple had no idea of its age and history. \u2018It\u2019s a medieval hall house, built in 1402 and officially the oldest house in Wales,\u2019 says Annie.<\/p>\n

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According to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, it was possibly built for Henry IV as a hunting lodge. Clues to its high status can be seen in one of the bedrooms, which has a \u2018cruck frame\u2019, and the huge bressumer beam in the living room fireplace \u2013 the vast piece of oak would have been beyond the means of all but the wealthiest landowners.<\/p>\n

The house has a Grade II*-listing, which restricted any architectural alterations, so Annie and John focused their efforts on undoing the previous owners\u2019 \u2018so-called improvements\u2019. Keen to reveal the structure of the house, they pulled down the false ceilings to expose the ancient beams and scraped layers of newspaper from the walls to reveal the original \u2018raddle\u2019, a \u2018paint\u2019 made from pigs\u2019 blood and used by farmers to mark their sheep.<\/p>\n

When it came to furnishing the house, the couple were fortunate to find they had excellent antiques shops<\/a>, auction houses and fairs on their doorstep in Hay-on-Wye, a favourite local haunt.<\/p>\n

Builth Wells holds a fair twice a year, which is always a good source of Welsh furniture, and it has allowed Annie and John to incorporate traditional Welsh folk art<\/a> into the mix.<\/p>\n

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Today, their home, which they also run as a B&B, is not only filled with the beautiful 17th and 18th-century oak furniture they have been collecting for many years, but also fine examples of 18th and 19th-century samplers, tapestries and quilts.<\/p>\n

Annie\u2019s love of textiles extends to more contemporary designs which she enjoys using in combination with their antique counterparts, layering 20th-century needlepoint rugs with quirkier 21st-century designs.<\/p>\n