Houses of the Welsh Countryside 2nd Edition

Houses of the Welsh Countryside
2nd Edition
Cover: Burfa (Evenjobb, Radnorshire)

In its first century, the Royal Commission has produced more than 55 major publications. These have already made an enormous contribution to the understanding of the archaeological, built and maritime heritage of Wales, and many more books are in the pipeline. All of the publications are available in public and institutional libraries throughout Wales as well as in the Commission’s library and archive search room in Aberystwyth. Books still available for sale are listed in the Bookshop. 

Houses of the Welsh Countryside Ed. II
By Peter Smith
ISBN: 011300012X
Published 1988 - Out of Print

Review of Contents

This outstanding popular reference work describes the development of Welsh domestic architecture from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. All house types - the medieval first-floor halls and hall-houses, the sub-medieval house of the late Tudor and Stuart periods, the gentry houses of the Renaissance and the cottages of quarrtmen and smallholders - are described in terms of both their plan and construction and their historical and geographical significance. Houses of the Welsh Countryside was first published to celebrate European Architectural Heritage Year 1975, and was awarded the Alice Davis Hitchock Medallion by the Society of Architectural Historians for the best work on architectural history published in that year. Now updated to include recent discoveries, as well as revised interpretations of old sites, the comprehensive illustration of the first edition is further enhanced with new drawings, maps and colour photographs.

Contents
Chairman's Preface to Fist Edition
Chairman's Preface to Second Edition
Acknowledgements (First Edition)
List of Commissioners (First Edition)
List of Commissioners (Second Edition)
Author's Preface to Second Edition
Section I Historical development
Part I: Introductory
I Introduction
    I The study of regional architecture
    II The study of vernacular architecture in Wales
II The Architectural Personality of Wales
    I The position of Wales in the British Isles
    II The architectural geography of Wales
Part II: From the Norman and Angevin Invasion to the Accession of Elizabeth Tudor
III Medieval south-west Wales
    I Introduction
    II The houses of the peasantry
    A Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire
    B Pembrokeshire
    III The first-floor halls of the upper classes
    IV The origins of the south-western masonry style
IV North and east Wales, the plan and design of the Hall-house
    I Introduction
    II Social and geographical distribution of the hall-house
    III The hall-house layout
    IV The bay system
    V The development of the hall-house plan
    A From the single cell to the multicellular house
    B The three-unit hall-house
    VI The hall-house siting - the downhill-sited platform house
    VII Halls with fireplaces
V Building Construction
    I Introduction
    II Clay wall and wickerwork
    III Masonry
    IV Capentry
    A The black-and-white house
    i Distribution
    ii Construction and design
    B Timber-framed partitions
    C Wall-frames
    D Roofs
VI Aisle-truss and Hammer-beam Houses
    I Aisle-truss halls
    II Hammer-beam halls
    III The origins of the north Welsh carpentry style
VII Houses and features in northern and eastern Wales in the first-floor Hall and Tower traditions
Part III: From the Accession of Elizabeth Tudor to the Industrial Revolution
VIII Introduction
    I Political and social
    II Agricultural
    A Pastoral farming
    i Transhumance
    ii The house-and-byre homestead
    iii The byre
    iv Hay barns
    B Arable farming
    i The corn barn
    ii The granary
    C Farm layouts
    III The great rebuilding
IX Sub-medieval regional houses
    I Introduction
    II House type A (end-chimney)
    III House type A (lateral chimney)
    IV House type B (chimney backing on the entry)
    V House type C (lobby entry)
    VI  House type D (lobby entry)
    VII House type H (end entry)
    VIII Social analysis of the sub-medieval house
    IX Large regional houses with wings
    X The regional house and the unit system
    XI Conclusion
X The renaissance and the development of the centralised plan
    I introduction
    II Houses of the court gentry
    III Principal changes in plan introduced during the Renaissance
    A The change in the main axis of the house and its consequences
    i The prestige front
    ii Siting across the slope replaces downhill siting
    iii Dramatisation of the front - the storeyed porch and gatehouse
    iv The rear stair turret
    v The rear kitchen
    vi The emergence of the cruciform plan
    vii The central service-room
    viii The central chimney
    B The double-pile plan
    C The central stair-passage and stair-hall plan
    D Privacy - the ultimate achievement of the Renaissance
XI Construction and Decoration (Ca. 1560-1750)
    I Introduction
    II Structural developments
    A Walling materials
    B Windows
    C Fireplaces
    D Floors and ceilings
    E Roofs and frames
    F Stairs
    G Wainscotting
    III Decoration
    A Ornate chimneys
    B Stepped gables
    C Shaped doorheads
    D heraldry
    E Date-inscriptions
    F Wall-paintings
    IV Building regions
    A The north-eastern borderland
    B The north-west
    C The south-eastern borderland
    D The Vale of Glamorgan
    E The western promontories - Pembrokeshire and Gower
    F Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire
    G Conclusion
XII Cottages
    I Introduction
    II Types of cottages
XIII The 19th Century
Epilogue: The problem of preservation
Appendix I: THe problem of the kitchen
Appendix II: A 17th Century building contract
Section II Maps
Section III Photographs
Glossary
General Index
Index of houses mentioned in text
Index of houses illustrated by line drawings
Index of houses illustrated by photographs
General Index of Map Listed
Section IV New Material
Corrigenda Revisions of sites previously mentioned or illustrated
Addenda I New Sites Illustrated
Addenda II Date-inscriptions analysed
Addenda III Maps and lists of additional domestic features
Addenda IV Maps and lists of features of Ecclesiastical architecture
Indexes of Houses Illustrated by line drawings
Indexes of houses noted on map lists
Indexes of Churches noted on map lists
End

Introducing Houses of the Welsh Countryside - Bilingual Publication
This stunningly illustrated book provides a wonderful opportunity for a better understanding of our precious architectural history – from the early Medieval House and the Longhouse to Houses of the Welsh Border, through to the Modern House and the Cottage. For the first time it features spectacular CGI images which provide unique perspective views of the Welsh house.

Related Publication Links:
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