Talygarn House

Behind the imposing gates to Talygarn House lies what is left of the Talygarn estate of George Clark. This estate lies to the south of Brynsadler just off the road to Cowbridge. Much of the estate was bought by G T Clark from land owned by a Rev Doctor William Berkin Lisle in the mid 19th Century.

It included a large country house in free Gothic style. The estate includes many listed buildings (or parts of buildings)

Built mainly in the period 1879-82, by George Thomas Clark, a distinguished scholar, engineer and ironmaster, it has snecked rock-faced stone with lighter stone dressings and slate roofs. (Snecked masonry has a mixture of roughly squared stones of different sizes. It is laid in horizontal courses with rising stones projecting through the courses of smaller stones. Yet smaller fillers called snecks also occur in the courses. The mixture of stone sizes produces a strong bond and an attractive finish.)

The interior is mainly in early Renaissance style – venetian craftsmen were brought in to decorate the interior of the house, and the carved panelling, ornate staircases and painted ceilings still remain today.

Clark, Initially concentrated on improving the farm buildings and land, but from 1870 to his death in 1898 he focussed his efforts upon improving and extending the house and gardens.

In 1923, his grandson, Wyndham Damar Clark, sold the house and grounds to the South Wales Miners’ Welfare Committee, when Talygarn became a miners’ convalescent home and later a rehabilitation centre for mineworkers.

During this time it was supported by Paul Robeson a famous american singer who not only contributed to its running costs, but performed for the miners who were here.

More information about Talygarn house can be found here

For more information about the history of the community of Pontyclun please visit our online museum