Post by UKarchaeology on Aug 18, 2015 12:05:58 GMT
(2015) A group hoping to restore a 15th Century manor house has received a £2.5m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help fund the £4m work.
Llwyn Celyn, near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, has been covered in scaffolding since the 1990s with its fate "hanging in the balance".
Historic building charity the Landmark Trust has already raised £1.3m for the restoration project.
But a further £385,000 is needed so work can begin next year.
The HLF grant will help the group to restore the main house, a medieval hall, for self-catering holiday accommodation which could be available by 2018.
Outbuildings will be converted into education and interpretation centres for the local community.
And it has changed little since a floor was put into its open hall in the 17th Century.
Features include decorated door heads and a fixed bench in the central hall.
Today, the building's floors have been braced with metal props and there are concerns about damp and decay in its timber structure as well as the leaking roof.
"Such remarkable historic buildings are irreplaceable," said Dr Anna Keay from the Landmark Trust.
"If no one intervenes then these rare buildings not only disappear forever from our landscape, but so do the stories that these sites tell us about the lives of our ancestors."
Landmark Trust acquired the site from its private owners in 2012 with grants from Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service, and the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
(pics, video & source at: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-33693834 )
Another article on the matter: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-33709938