Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales – serie

Glamorgan's long and varied history has left layer upon layer of visible remains. Castles range from remarkable earthworks to magnificent structures such as Cardiff and Caerphilly. Impressive remains of three little known abbeys, at Ewenny, Margam and Neath, together with Llandaff Cathedral, testify to the wealth of the church in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The landscaped setting of Penrice Castle preserves a complete Georgian arcadia while Cardiff Castle is the supreme example of an exotic Victorian fantasy. Other major country houses, such as Ruperra and Wenvoe are now evocative ruins. In dramatic contrast are the chapels and workmen's institutes of the Valleys settlements and the landscape of heavy industry. Pride of place is given to Swansea, once a Regency resort, and Cardiff, coal metropolis. Their many fine public buildings are covered, as are their array of churches, chapels, arcades and solid suburban streets. A comprehensive gazetteer of places, in which buildings are described with lively and informed comment, is complemented by a detailed introduction which explains the broader context and builds a complete picture of the area's architectural identity. Glamorgan is the third volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series. Each work is illustrated with numerous maps, plans and photographs, and concludes with Welsh language and architectural glossaries and indexes of artists and places.

This sixth volume of the Buildings of Wales series covers two counties, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion (formerly Cardiganshire) in the South-west of Wales. Like the same authors' Pembrokeshire, the volume covers an architecture still little known, but encompassing a sweep from prehistoric chambered tombs to the high technology of the world's largest single-span glasshouse. The two counties have deeply rural hinterlands shading into wild and empty upland, bare of settlements but rich in the relics of lost industry. The isolated churches and nonconformist chapels are given knowledgeable attention in the comprehensive gazetteer, which gives full coverage to the magnificent castles of Carmarthenshire. There are detailed accounts of the varied small towns of the two counties, from formal late-Georgian Aberaeron to the quiet charm of Laugharne, winding down to its estuary. Aberystwyth with its promenade, university and National Library, joins industrial Llanelli and county-town Carmarthen in the wealth and variety of its late Victorian chapels. An introduction with valuable specialist contributions sets the buildings in context.

No area of Wales is more rewarding to the architectural traveler than Gwynedd—the historic counties of Anglesey, Caernarfon and Merioneth, which are the setting for many of Wales’s greatest buildings. This book examines the buildings of the region, from Beaumaris, Caernafon, Conwy, and Harlech castles and atmospheric medieval churches to Nonconformist chapels and houses in distinctive vernacular traditions.

The historic counties of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, and Breconshire are described in this final volume of the Buildings of Wales series, expanded and revised from the first edition of 1979. Prehistoric hill-forts and standing stones, Roman encampments, Early Christian monuments, ruined castles and the enigmatic remains of early industry enhance the landscapes of this wild and beautiful region. Atmospheric medieval churches survive in quantity, together with diverse Nonconformist chapels. Vernacular traditions are represented by robust medieval cruck-framed houses, and by the manor houses and farmhouses of the Tudors and Stuarts. Other highlights include Montgomery, with its beguiling Georgian heritage, the Victorian spa at Llandrindod Wells, and Powis Castle, with its Baroque interiors and terraced gardens.

Clwyd, covering the former counties of Denbighshire and Flintshire, is exceptionally rewarding in architecture. the medieval period has left a fine legacy, including castles of the time of Edward I as sophisticated as any in Europe, the monastic ruins of Basingwerk and Valle Crucis, and the distinctive local 'double-nave' type of Perpendicular church. Country houses range in size and ambition from Erddig, Kinmel and Chirk Castle to a host of lesser buildings, humbler but still of quality. Towns such as Denbigh and Ruthin, village groups and Victorian seaside resorts all add to the pattern of styles and materials, a pattern further enriched by relics of the Industrial revolution and the striking diversity of vernacular styles.