Glandyfi Castle

The Jeffreys were originally from Shrewsbury and had moved to Ceredigion (then Cardiganshire) in the mid-18th century to develop lead smelting mills. Edward Jeffreys bought the Ynyshir estate, which included the site of the present castle, in 1792. He died in 1801, his son Robert died in 1802, and his other son, another Edward, was killed in the Peninsular War in 1812. The estate therefore passed to his brother, George, a lawyer, who began to build the castle immediately on his inheritance. In 1819, Jeffreys was made High Sheriff of Cardiganshire and the following year his close friend, Thomas Love Peacock, married Jane Griffith, an event celebrated by their reception at the castle.…

The Agrarian and Industrial revolutions of the mid-18th century saw the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture, which began to challenge the dominance of the Baroque. This saw a rapid increase in castle-building; notable examples within Wales were Penrhyn in the north and Cyfartha in the south. Glandyfi is on a much smaller scale, but stands in comparison with Stanage Park at Knighton, just over the border in Powys. Stanage was designed by John Hiram Haycock and the connections are such that Pevsner suggests Haycock as the architect for Glandyfi, although Cadw notes the lack of documentary evidence to support this. The castle consists of a two-storey central block, with a three-storey…