Boverton Place, Llantwit Major

Has been described as a Questionable Fortified Manor House

There are no visible remains

NameBoverton Place, Llantwit Major
Alternative NamesBertown
Historic CountryGlamorgan
Modern AuthorityVale of Glamorgan
1974 AuthoritySouth Glamorgan
CommunityLlantwit Major

King writes 'A possible castle site' presumably he means Boverton Place, scheduled as a Medieval Domestic House, which is a late C16 house possibly on the site of an earlier building claimed as site of castle in C16. Spurgeon gives a convincing rejection of this as a site of a castle although the earlier building was 'variously termed a court (1295, 1307), a messuage (1314, 1349) or a manor house (1492)'

On the south side of Boverton village centre.

c1587, a mansion built to the order of Roger Seys (Attorney General for Wales in 1592; died c1599, aged 60). The family moved out to Boverton House (qv) in the later C17 and Boverton Place fell into disuse and decay in the C18.

Some stone fireplaces and doorways with chamfered arched heads survive internally. Interior not inspected at resurvey.

In ruins and completely unroofed, but no longer overgrown with ivy. Built of local limestone rubble with most of the dressed stone robbed, some can be seen in surrounding buildings, some of the high up windows survive. Seven bay wide north-west elevation with projecting tower with square staircase turret with single-light windows at north-east and south-east elevation with three gables, clustered chimney stacks and higher gabled tower wing. Once mullioned window openings, with all the mullions missing apart from one in the stair tower. The north wall to the former probably ancillary buildings, now demolished, adjoins the north-west angle of the mansion. The wall extending north-east from the north-east angle of the mansion has stone arched beeboles in its south-east elevation (not seen at resurvey). (Listed Building Report)

The monument consists of the remains of a mansion house built c. 1587. Built of local limestone rubble with most of the dressed stone robbed, some can be seen in surrounding buildings. Some of the high up windows survive

There is a seven bay wide north-west elevation with projecting tower with square staircase turret with single-light windows at the north-east and the south-east elevations with three gables, clustered chimney stacks and higher gabled tower wing. Once mullioned window openings, all the mullions are now missing apart from one in the stair tower. The north wall to the former probably ancillary buildings, now demolished, adjoins the north-west angle of the mansion. The wall extending north-east from the north-east angle of the mansion has stone arched beeboles in its south-east elevation. Some stone fireplaces and doorways with chamfered arched heads survive internally. (Scheduling Report)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law

Historic Wales CADW listed database record number
The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSS982683
Latitude51.4047698974609
Longitude-3.46448993682861
Eastings298250
Northings168330
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image
Copyright Dave Barlow of Abaroths World All Rights ReservedView full Sized Image

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.

Calculate Print

Books

  • Newman, J., 1995, Buildings of Wales: Glamorgan (Yale University Press) p. 411
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 173
  • Davis, Paul R., 1983, Castles of Glamorgan (Alun Books) p. 47
  • RCAHMW, 1981, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan Vol. 4 Part 1: The Greater Houses (London: HMSO) no. 7 p. 126-33 (later house only)
  • Hague, D.B., 1971, in Pugh, T.B. (ed), Glamorgan County History Vol. 3 The Middle Ages (Cardiff) p. 438 (as Tudor house)
  • Evans, C.J.O., 1943 (2edn), Glamorgan, Its History and Topography (Cardiff)
  • Corbett, J.S., 1925, Glamorgan: Papaers and Notes on the Lordship and its Members (Cardiff) p. 184-213
  • Matthews, J.H. (ed), 1898-1911, Cardiff Records, Materials for a History of the County Borough Vol. 3 p. 276

Antiquarian

  • Lhuyd, E., 1909, R.H. Morris (ed.), 'Parochialia, being a summary of answers to ‘Parochial Queries,’ in Archaeologia Cambrensis Supplement Vol. 1 (information collected by Lhuyd circa 1699) p. 129
  • Merrick, R. (James, B.L. (ed)), 1983, Morganiae Archaiographia: A Book of the Antiquites of Glamorgan (Barry Island) p. 76, 99 (originally published 1578)

Journals

  • Spurgeon, C.J. with Roberts, D.J. and Thomas, H.J., 1999, 'Supposed Castles in Glamorgan; A review' Archaeology in Wales Vol. 39 27-40

Other

  • Morganwg, I, 13089 E, 188 and 13129 A, 531(Iolo Morganwg papers, National Library of Wales)