Hello Kate
Thanks for the interesting story on William Morris of Coomb - we've just
checked this place out and it is standing today - think it's a residential
home, so if the weather is fine today we'll pop along and take a photo to
put on the webb pages for you to look at.
Anyone who has anything of interest which they think will enhance our webb
pages, let us know and we'll try and photograph it for you......
regards
Pauline
-----Original Message-----
From: Kate Brookfield [mailto:kbrookfi@sympatico.ca]
Sent: 27 November 1999 22:49
To: CARMARTHENSHIRE-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: William MORRIS of Coomb
Here is another part of the article on William Morris of Coomb that
describes the house he had built.
After the death of his cousin David Morris, M.P., half of whose fortune had
fallen to him, William moved to Coomb or Cwrn in the parish of Llangynog and
within easy reach of his paternal acres around Llanste'ffan. The ancient
family mansion of Cwm. had been accquired by Thomas Morris, senior, of
Llansteffan Cottage together with lands and manorial rights over Penrhyn
following the downfall of the original owners. The mansion of Cwm. as its
name suggests is in a picturesque dingle. Its name was anglicised to Coomb
and it was here that Mr. Morris built a large and commodious mansion to
replace the original house. The latter and its contents have been described
in a recent article." Judging from its rather marked architectural style 'it
wouldappear' that the new house was designed by R. Kyrke Penson. He lived
for a time at Robert's Rest, Ferryside and was much in demand in West Wales
as an erector of churches, builder of schools and mansions e.g. Dynevor
Castle, Westfa near Llanelli for Mr. C. W. Nevill, and Bronwydd in
Cardiganshire for Thomas Davies Lloyd (whose niece married Tom Morris of
Coomb).
Coomb is an attempt to recreate a Tudor manor house. The general effect
is plain and the architect has avoided such scenic and extravagant
embellishments as may be seen at Bronwydd and Dynevor. The house is built of
local stone with freestone dressings. It is gabled and dormered, and at
right angles to the entrance and terrace elevations stands the chef d'oeuvre
of the whole exercise, a lofty tower with mock machicolations forming a
corbel course supporting a short spire. While the designer inclines towards
the odd and pseudo-baronial in some details, -the incongruous tower, a
Romanesque arch with a cinque foil window above the front door, an octagon
billiard room surmounted by a clerestory and tiled dome-the redeeming
features of the house are its broad surface of wall for the eye to rest on
and elevations generally free from meaningless and profuse ornament. The
garden front is broken at terrace level by a central bay window, with a
balcony above it punctuated by quatrefoil openings.
The philosophy behind this type of house was to convey an air of
dignified repose, jovial hospitality, lordly splendour and (so they thought)
a more artistic creation than the cold, formal mansions of the Georgian era.
The Morrises enjoyed country life and wanted a house which would remind them
of ancient times when there was feasting in the hall, tilting in the
courtyard, when the yule log crackled on the hearth and mummers beguiled the
dulness of a winter's evening. The lord of the manor felt proud of his broad
acres and imagined his bowling green filled with lusty youths, while gentle
dames sat spinning in their boudoirs, and in the deep window recesses family
groups watched as gallant cavaliers rode out a-hawking.
Morris and his wife thus lived in a very opulent style which caused some
qualms of anxiety to Thomas Charles Morris his elder brother and partner at
the bank. William possessed a more hearty and jolly nature than Thomas
Charles, and was physically more sturdy. Although forthright and blunt in
expressing his views, nevertheless he was genial and lighthearted.
Kate
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