Dr Adam Coward, ‘Plas and Town: The Vane-Tempests Family’s Impact in Machynlleth’ (11th July 2024)

All are invited to Y Plas in Machynlleth, on Thursday the 11^th of July, as Dr Adam Coward will be delivering a paper exploring the history of Machynlleth during the Victorian period, and the lasting influence of one particular family on the face of the town.

Titled ‘Plas and Town: The Vane-Tempests Family’s Impact in Machynlleth’, Adam will be looking at the story of George Henry Vane-Tempest, the 5^th Marquess of Londonderry, his wife Mary Cornelia, and the significant effect their family had on Machynlleth and its built environment in the modern era.

There are two photos. On the left is a statue bust of a woman, in a park with trees in the background, on the right is the famous town clock, in the middle of Machynlleth.

Dr Adam N. Coward is an independent historian who has published widely on the history of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Wales, and works for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW). Moreover, he is a long-time friend of the Institute for the Study of Welsh Estates (ISWE), having worked closely with many of our members on a number of projects, while also collaborating extensively with the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates (CSHIHE) at the University of Maynooth, thus providing an invaluable link between the two Institutes. Most recently Adam has undertaken two fascinating and vitally important scoping exercises for ISWE, CHSHIHE and other partners, which has uncovered significant historical links that exist between Welsh and Irish Landed Estates. Indeed, this work is part of a long-term project conceived by Adam highlighting these crucial relationships through its various landed families, in which the Londonderry estate is only one example of a plethora of significant economic, political, and cultural connections between the two nations’ aristocracy.

Adam’s talk forms a part of Machynlleth Town Council’s event celebrating the 150-year anniversary of the erection of the famous Clock Tower, undoubtedly the Vane-Tempests family’s most enduring visual contribution to the town’s landscape. Accordingly, the talk will focus on the great impact the family’s estate had in Montgomeryshire and Meirionnydd, and, particularly, on the community of Machynlleth, examining the influence on the town, and the lasting legacies they left in the form of buildings, institutions, and place names, including, interestingly one of the only public statues of a named Welsh woman in Wales.

The celebrations start at 3pm, with Adam speaking at 3.30 pm. Tickets are available from the reception in Y Plas, and are priced at £7.50, which includes masses of sandwiches, cakes and an endless supply of hot drinks! Those wishing to attend are advised to hurry, however, as there are limited spaces available for this event, in what promises to be a fascinating exploration of the hitherto unknown story of the Londonderry Estate’s impact on one of the crucial towns of the Welsh heartlands.

Y Plas (8am-4pm)

Pentrerhedyn Street,

Machynlleth,

SY20 8ER

Telephone: 01654 702571