Plas Machen Manor House

Today's blip foto is of Plas Machen Manor House, Lower Machen, which is about two minutes drive from my house. My friend, Brian sold it last year and now lives in the old cottage from where he continues to farm the centuries old land.

I met the new owner, Aiden, who kindly gave me a tour around with workmen doing repairs on this lovely listed Elizabethan Manor built about 1490.

Fred Hando writes of it in the rare 1944 book 'The Pleasant land of Gwent'..

'Plas Machen, one of the homes of the Morgans of Tredegar, is among our most interesting ancient houses. Standing in a glorious position overlooking the valley of The Rhymney, it was by that "Morgan of Machen" who as Bosworth Field in 1485 led the men of Gwent to victory - a victory which ended the Wars of the Roses. The house is only a portion of the original mansion, for many of it's glories were demolished in the last century' (19c).