PLACE
The Hymns dates from 1540, and is set in the heart of the Radnor Valley. This is where, in 2,700 BC, a giant enclosure was built -- the largest timber construction in Europe, thousands of oak posts creating an enclosure 8 times larger than the Millennium Stadium. As the historian & BBC presenter Huw Edwards said of the Radnor Basin in his series The Story of Wales: “It dominates the Stone Age landscape … Here are people who have organised themselves on an epic scale. The enclosure isn't a defensive wall, and a space this big isn't for penning animals. Experts believe it's used for feasts and celebrations”.
Our county, rural Powys, spans 2,000 square miles and is Wales’ largest county. It is also its most sparsely populated, with inhabitants spread out over its many small and beautiful towns & villages. The county motto is: Powys – the paradise of Wales (Welsh: Powys Paradwys Cymru).
Wordsworth regularly stayed (c. 1812) nearby in Hindwell which was owned by Mary Wordsworth's brother, Thomas Hutchinson. Mary and William Wordsworth visited at separate times - and the chance discovery of their correspondence, thirty one letters that passed between them during their separation, shed a new light on their relationship.
Coleridge met, via William Wordsworth, and fell in love with Sara Hutchinson, sister of Thomas Hutchinson (above) of Hindwell. To her he wrote the poem 'To Asra', referring to her by an anagram of her name.
Shelley travelled along the road that cuts through the valley (c.1812), stopping in New Radnor before journeying to Rhayader and the Elan Valley.
Byron stayed in nearby Kinnerton and Eywood (c. 1812), where he fell in love with Lady Charlotte, daughter of the Earl of Oxford. To Charlotte Byron gave a beautiful ring that he had received from his former mistress, Lady Caroline Lamb. When Lady Charlotte travelled to Australia, she did so in a coach belonging to the poet, and emblazoned with his coat of arms and motto Credo Byron. On 4th November 1812 … bewitched by the 'autumnal charms' of Elizabeth Harley, Byron rented Kinsham Court from her husband the 5th Earl of Oxford. "This country is very much to my taste", he wrote, "and I have taken a seat of Oxford's (Kinsham Court ... In a delightful situation)”. On 11th January 1813 he wrote “I have been looking over my Kinsham premises which are close to a church and churchyard full of the most facetious Epitaphs I ever read - 'Adue'! (A new orthography taken from one of them)”. Byron's name is scratched on an upper window of the Court.
John Evelyn, The 17th Century diarist, in 1824, bought Kinsham Court, and it was there that, some time later, the infant Florence Nightingale lived for a while when her father rented it.
John Arkwright, great-great grandson of the cotton-spinning industrialist Sir Richard Arkwright who subsequently lived there, wrote, during the First World War, the hymn of remembrance : 'The Supreme Sacrifice' : O Valiant Hearts, who to your glory came...'
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was (allegedly) inspired for his Hound of the Baskervilles by his stay in Clyro and Hergest nearby (1890's). A family friend of the descendants of Thomas Mynors Baskerville, who lived near Clyro, he was told by them of a local legend. The legend was that of the huge hound of 'Black Vaughan', a Lord who had died in the 15th Century. Black Vaughan and his dog were said to haunt nearby Hergest Ridge, which forms part of the Wales-England border. Conan Doyle, some sources say, was related both to the Vaughans and the Baskervilles by marriage.
Iris Murdoch stayed in nearby Cascob (c. 1980's).
Mike Oldfield devised his 'Hergest Ridge' when he lived nearby after the success of his 'Tubular Bells' (early 1970's).
Alfred Watkins furthered his thoughts of 'leylines' in his book The Old Straight Track whilst visiting Old Radnor (c. 1921). Leylines are what Watkins described as old straight tracks laid down in the neolithic era, probably, he surmised, for traders. The Hymns is almost on one of his earliest 'found' leylines, being that which stretches north from Old Radnor. It's a fun place from which to start your 'ley hunting'.
Sir Wilfred Thesiger once made his home in nearby Knighton (c. 1940's?) (you can dine in his home, Milebrook House Hotel which was also visited by Emperor Haile Selassie).
Sir Roderick Murcheson devised his geological Silurian System of rock, allegedly named after Siluria, a nearby farm on the estate on which he stayed (c. 1830's), and originally named after the ancient hill peoples.
Sir Winston Churchill visited nearby Huntington Park, Mahollam, which at the time was owned by his wife's family.
*****
Context : Radnorshire was the area of the Picturesque, the great fashion of the 18th century which fed into the Romantic Period. The two main figures in Herefordshire and the Borders being Uvedale Price (from Foxley near Mansell Lacey) and the Knight family of Downton (near Ludlow). Picturesque, being the opposite of Capability Brown and his landscapes - a reflection of the rugged foothills of Wales, the Silurian system (the rock formations named by Sir Roderick Impey Murchison 1792-1871, the most politically powerful geologist of the 19th century). Murchison visited Radnorshire, staying at nearby Harpton Court, the estate of which The Hymns was once a farm (he met the Banks in Kington). Another farm on the Harpton Estate being called Siluria. Siluria being the area of the iron age hill tribes of that name (Brecon area), and after which the rock formation was named by Murchison.
The Hymns. (Sources of info : oral history, county archives at Llandrindod for census data and tithe maps, national library for Wales at Aberystwyth for Harpton Estate history) It rests in the Radnor Basin under great open skies where flocks of birds gather and swoop. A startling story of hard graft old welsh farming, a poster on one of the bedroom doors 'Bind us together Lord'.
The farm was originally one of 40 or 50 farms owned by the Harpton Estate and the Cornwall-Lewis's. Old maps date it back to 1814, and estate references date back to 1750, although it's difficult to establish whether the property referred to is actually The Hymns (variously spelled Hims, Hyms, Himms etc) or another. Prior to the Baptists gathering to sing there (1800's) it had a different name, we don’t yet know what. It consisted of around 300 acres set just north of The Four Stones (standing stones) and close to the lay-line that Alfred Watkins observed as he formed the concept whilst visiting the Harp in Old Radnor, author of 'The Old Straight Track'). Now 13.5 acres, it retains its old field names, tho a field named 'Hymns Field' was two fields north and east of the farm itself (no longer owned by the farm).
The farm was sold off by the Estate in around 1950 and it's possible that it was then that the many ancient trees, whose stumps you can still see now, were taken down and sold to repay the debt incurred in buying the farm. This happened commonly in the wide-spread economic difficulties of the period.
Set on a clay seam that runs west-east, in the summers the well would run dry and cattle would be walked to Kinnerton, a mile to the north, for water. This despite 4 or 5 pools being within a field's radius of the farm in the cooler months.
The evolution of the nearby wonderful Landmark Trust building (Stockwell Farm) is interesting in considering the evolution of the Hymns too.
Huw Edwards : “In the Walton Basin - the largest timber construction anywhere in Europe 1,000's of trees are cut down in order to build it, and it tells us that these are people with complex needs, people who want to make their mark on the world. The Hindwell enclosure is long gone, but from the postholes left behind in the soil, we can imagine how it dominates the Stone Age landscape (2,700 BC). It covers almost the whole valley floor. You could fit the Millennium stadium inside 8 times over, the wooden posts, more than 1400 of them, stand 6 metres tall. And it's all built with stone and wood tools. There are other signs of stoneage settlement all over the walton basin, but it's the enclosure which sends a message far and wide. Here are people who have organised themselves on an epic scale. The enclosure isn't a defensive wall, and a space this big isn't for penning animals. Experts believe it's used for feasts and celebrations. A hundred generations later, you can still see the curved footprint of it's perimeter determining the path of this country road as it crosses the basin.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mlrqc
Our county, rural Powys, spans 2,000 square miles and is Wales’ largest county. It is also its most sparsely populated, with inhabitants spread out over its many small and beautiful towns & villages. The county motto is: Powys – the paradise of Wales (Welsh: Powys Paradwys Cymru).
Wordsworth regularly stayed (c. 1812) nearby in Hindwell which was owned by Mary Wordsworth's brother, Thomas Hutchinson. Mary and William Wordsworth visited at separate times - and the chance discovery of their correspondence, thirty one letters that passed between them during their separation, shed a new light on their relationship.
Coleridge met, via William Wordsworth, and fell in love with Sara Hutchinson, sister of Thomas Hutchinson (above) of Hindwell. To her he wrote the poem 'To Asra', referring to her by an anagram of her name.
Shelley travelled along the road that cuts through the valley (c.1812), stopping in New Radnor before journeying to Rhayader and the Elan Valley.
Byron stayed in nearby Kinnerton and Eywood (c. 1812), where he fell in love with Lady Charlotte, daughter of the Earl of Oxford. To Charlotte Byron gave a beautiful ring that he had received from his former mistress, Lady Caroline Lamb. When Lady Charlotte travelled to Australia, she did so in a coach belonging to the poet, and emblazoned with his coat of arms and motto Credo Byron. On 4th November 1812 … bewitched by the 'autumnal charms' of Elizabeth Harley, Byron rented Kinsham Court from her husband the 5th Earl of Oxford. "This country is very much to my taste", he wrote, "and I have taken a seat of Oxford's (Kinsham Court ... In a delightful situation)”. On 11th January 1813 he wrote “I have been looking over my Kinsham premises which are close to a church and churchyard full of the most facetious Epitaphs I ever read - 'Adue'! (A new orthography taken from one of them)”. Byron's name is scratched on an upper window of the Court.
John Evelyn, The 17th Century diarist, in 1824, bought Kinsham Court, and it was there that, some time later, the infant Florence Nightingale lived for a while when her father rented it.
John Arkwright, great-great grandson of the cotton-spinning industrialist Sir Richard Arkwright who subsequently lived there, wrote, during the First World War, the hymn of remembrance : 'The Supreme Sacrifice' : O Valiant Hearts, who to your glory came...'
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was (allegedly) inspired for his Hound of the Baskervilles by his stay in Clyro and Hergest nearby (1890's). A family friend of the descendants of Thomas Mynors Baskerville, who lived near Clyro, he was told by them of a local legend. The legend was that of the huge hound of 'Black Vaughan', a Lord who had died in the 15th Century. Black Vaughan and his dog were said to haunt nearby Hergest Ridge, which forms part of the Wales-England border. Conan Doyle, some sources say, was related both to the Vaughans and the Baskervilles by marriage.
Iris Murdoch stayed in nearby Cascob (c. 1980's).
Mike Oldfield devised his 'Hergest Ridge' when he lived nearby after the success of his 'Tubular Bells' (early 1970's).
Alfred Watkins furthered his thoughts of 'leylines' in his book The Old Straight Track whilst visiting Old Radnor (c. 1921). Leylines are what Watkins described as old straight tracks laid down in the neolithic era, probably, he surmised, for traders. The Hymns is almost on one of his earliest 'found' leylines, being that which stretches north from Old Radnor. It's a fun place from which to start your 'ley hunting'.
Sir Wilfred Thesiger once made his home in nearby Knighton (c. 1940's?) (you can dine in his home, Milebrook House Hotel which was also visited by Emperor Haile Selassie).
Sir Roderick Murcheson devised his geological Silurian System of rock, allegedly named after Siluria, a nearby farm on the estate on which he stayed (c. 1830's), and originally named after the ancient hill peoples.
Sir Winston Churchill visited nearby Huntington Park, Mahollam, which at the time was owned by his wife's family.
*****
Context : Radnorshire was the area of the Picturesque, the great fashion of the 18th century which fed into the Romantic Period. The two main figures in Herefordshire and the Borders being Uvedale Price (from Foxley near Mansell Lacey) and the Knight family of Downton (near Ludlow). Picturesque, being the opposite of Capability Brown and his landscapes - a reflection of the rugged foothills of Wales, the Silurian system (the rock formations named by Sir Roderick Impey Murchison 1792-1871, the most politically powerful geologist of the 19th century). Murchison visited Radnorshire, staying at nearby Harpton Court, the estate of which The Hymns was once a farm (he met the Banks in Kington). Another farm on the Harpton Estate being called Siluria. Siluria being the area of the iron age hill tribes of that name (Brecon area), and after which the rock formation was named by Murchison.
The Hymns. (Sources of info : oral history, county archives at Llandrindod for census data and tithe maps, national library for Wales at Aberystwyth for Harpton Estate history) It rests in the Radnor Basin under great open skies where flocks of birds gather and swoop. A startling story of hard graft old welsh farming, a poster on one of the bedroom doors 'Bind us together Lord'.
The farm was originally one of 40 or 50 farms owned by the Harpton Estate and the Cornwall-Lewis's. Old maps date it back to 1814, and estate references date back to 1750, although it's difficult to establish whether the property referred to is actually The Hymns (variously spelled Hims, Hyms, Himms etc) or another. Prior to the Baptists gathering to sing there (1800's) it had a different name, we don’t yet know what. It consisted of around 300 acres set just north of The Four Stones (standing stones) and close to the lay-line that Alfred Watkins observed as he formed the concept whilst visiting the Harp in Old Radnor, author of 'The Old Straight Track'). Now 13.5 acres, it retains its old field names, tho a field named 'Hymns Field' was two fields north and east of the farm itself (no longer owned by the farm).
The farm was sold off by the Estate in around 1950 and it's possible that it was then that the many ancient trees, whose stumps you can still see now, were taken down and sold to repay the debt incurred in buying the farm. This happened commonly in the wide-spread economic difficulties of the period.
Set on a clay seam that runs west-east, in the summers the well would run dry and cattle would be walked to Kinnerton, a mile to the north, for water. This despite 4 or 5 pools being within a field's radius of the farm in the cooler months.
The evolution of the nearby wonderful Landmark Trust building (Stockwell Farm) is interesting in considering the evolution of the Hymns too.
Huw Edwards : “In the Walton Basin - the largest timber construction anywhere in Europe 1,000's of trees are cut down in order to build it, and it tells us that these are people with complex needs, people who want to make their mark on the world. The Hindwell enclosure is long gone, but from the postholes left behind in the soil, we can imagine how it dominates the Stone Age landscape (2,700 BC). It covers almost the whole valley floor. You could fit the Millennium stadium inside 8 times over, the wooden posts, more than 1400 of them, stand 6 metres tall. And it's all built with stone and wood tools. There are other signs of stoneage settlement all over the walton basin, but it's the enclosure which sends a message far and wide. Here are people who have organised themselves on an epic scale. The enclosure isn't a defensive wall, and a space this big isn't for penning animals. Experts believe it's used for feasts and celebrations. A hundred generations later, you can still see the curved footprint of it's perimeter determining the path of this country road as it crosses the basin.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00mlrqc
