Europe · United Kingdom · the Vale of Glamorgan
St Donat's Castle
The story
History of St Donat's Castle
St Donat's Castle (Welsh: Castell Sain Dunwyd), St Donats, Wales, is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 16 miles (26 km) to the west of Cardiff, and about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to the west of Llantwit Major.
United Kingdom · the Vale of Glamorgan
- Built
- 12th century
- Era
- Medieval
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Region
- the Vale of Glamorgan
- UNESCO
- —
- Coordinates
- 51.402, -3.532
In depth
The fuller history
Under the Tyrwhitts, the castle entered a long decline that lasted over one hundred years. J. M. W. Turner sketched the partly-ruinous castle in 1798. John Wesley is reputed to have preached to a crowd of five thousand people on the terraced lawns in 1777. Partial restoration was started by Dr John Whitlock Nicholl Carne, who claimed to be descended from the Stradlings, and bought the castle from the Tyrwhitt-Drake family in 1862.
St Donat's Arts Centre is housed in a tithe barn of medieval origin but predominantly 16th-century in construction. The barn has been converted to a professionally equipped theatre which runs a programme of cinema, exhibitions and festivals. The Glass House is a modern addition and has been described as "aggressively detailed" but offering "spectacular" views. John Newman considered that the other developments undertaken by the college, although to designs of "uncompromising modernity", neither "detract from the historic castle (nor) impinge on its setting".
Key dates
- 1142Built in 1142, by the 20th century the priory was in poor repair.
- 1852In 1852, it was purchased by John Whitlock Nicholl Carne, who claimed descent from the Stradlings but whose efforts at reconstruction were not well regarded.
- 1918Originally from a Staffordshire manor house, the panelling was sold to a dealer by the Earl of Lichfield in 1918 and subsequently acquired by Hearst.
- 1922In 1922, it was bought, along with 123 acres (50 ha) of land, by Richard Pennoyer, an American diplomat married to the Dowager Countess of Shrewsbury.
- 1944In 1944, it was used by the US 2nd Infantry Division as a command post, and Allied soldiers injured in the Normandy landings were treated and housed there.
- 1978Between 1978 and 1981 Atlantic College rebuilt them in the original 17th-century style to serve as student accommodation.
Historical summary drawn from Wikipedia. Read the full article.
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