Castell Malgwyn Hotel

For those who wish to explore the neighbourhood further, Castle Malgwyn Farm, which used to belong to the estate until the 1940s, still has buildings dating back to the 18th century. There is a public footpath that leads across the farm and passes close to the old Walled Gardens, which were built near the beginning of the 19th century. This path begins just outside the Main Gates of the Hotel, just across the old canal bridge.

Also on the farm are an old 'formal' farmyard that is dated to the 1790s and a Gardener’s Cottage from later on in the 19th century. Castle Malgwyn Farm, however, does not belong to the hotel, so it would be courteous to ask the owner for permission if you wished to look around.

There is also a lot to see in the surrounding countryside. This part of West Wales is 'Castle Country' and within a ten-mile stretch of the River Teifi, there are no less than three sites of ruined castles. As well as Cilgerran Castle, just downstream, there are stone ruins at Cardigan to the west, and Newcastle Emlyn to the east. Between these are the earthworks of other castles dating from the Norman times, at Cenarth and Llandygwydd, a mile or so upstream from the hotel, and even Castle Malgwyn, itself, is said to have taken its name from an old Norman castle built inside an ancient British earthwork on the site of today’s Castle Malgwyn Farm.

All these upper rooms have now been converted to en-suite bedrooms, complete with baths or showers, and colour televisions. Each room looks out over the river or the grounds, which stretch upwards from the house into the woods beyond and provide hours of walks along river and stream. Below the house, the river is reached via the south lawn or through a gap in the hedge in front of the stables, and the old tow-path (now a public footpath) leads westwards for a mile or two to the village of Cilgerran, with its impressive 13th century castle high on a crag over the river. There is game fishing for guests on this beautiful stretch of river, that has been designated a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest'. Once away from the house, the river leads you into rural tranquillity. Apart from the ripple of the waters and the occasional song of a bird, there is hardly a sound to be heard.

A few hundred yards down-stream, you pass the remains of the Cefn Slate Quarry, which was rescued by an owner of Castle Malgwyn in the 19th century. Ruins of slate buildings line the bank and the bare crags of the quarry itself stand majestically above the river. Starting from the front of the hotel, the continuation of the drive around the croquet lawn that was laid for Lily Gower, Lady Champion of England in 1899-1901, brings you to a track that leads off to the right into the trees. This is the course of the 'carriage-drive' that was built by Mrs Elizabeth Gower in the 1860s as a short-cut to Cilgerran Church. It winds up the slope away from the stream, where it has been cut into the rock, passing impressive craggy out-crops of slate.

Halfway up, it passes a 'tunnel' that was probably constructed in the last decade of the 18th century as the entrance to the Pleasure Grounds in the days when the high road from Llechryd to Cilgerran passed over the top. This tunnel leads to the river side of the ridge, with one track heading back towards the mansion and another continuing downstream along the slope. The 'carriage-drive' joins the original high road just after the 'tunnel' and swings to the right. Today, the track crosses the fields of the Bryn Siriol Farm, before entering the village, but the original road kept to the crest of the slope and followed the bends of the river.

Another path branches off from the 'Old Road' on the top of the plateau. This leads to the left along the crest of the 'Dingle', the valley of the Morgenau stream. It is some 100 feet above the waters for some way, but gradually descends until it emerges onto the Garnon’s Mill Road, where the Hammet Bridge crosses the stream. Sir Benjamin Hammet, the first owner of the mansion constructed this bridge in 1800, when he paid for the old road to be re-routed around his estate.

The wide staircase at the end of the hall, with its 18th century cast-iron banisters is lit by a large window on the central landing that looks out over the lawn and the woods to the south, before sweeping up to the “Airy Sleeping and Dressing Rooms” on the first floor. A smaller stairway in the front of the building leads up to the second floor, where the children of the family and their nannies would have slept.

The Mansion itself was built about 1795 as a significant extension of the manager’s house which faced the river and tin works and, apart from the necessary alterations to convert it into a comfortable hotel, little has changed since the 1824 ‘Particulars of Sale’, which described it as "A Capital Mansion House". As you enter the “Handsome Entrance Hall”, the old Dining and Drawing Rooms on either side greet you with the warmth of a family home. Converted into the Drawing Room and Lounge Bar they are both heated by log fires - the one in the Bar roaring in the original Adams-style hearth.

"A Capital Mansion House"

Castell Malgwyn Hotel is a late 18th century mansion tucked away in the quietness and tranquillity of the West Wales countryside. At the end of a long drive that runs along the river, it is set on the northernmost tip of a long triangle of wooded land between the River Teifi and the Morgenau stream. The wooded slopes that line the south bank of the river and both sides of the stream, and the 'Pleasure Grounds' that were moulded into the woodlands at the back of the house are now privately owned. The entrance to the estate is just to the south of Llechryd Bridge, through the gates and passed the lodge that was built in the early 1840s. The drive follows the course of a long-disused canal that was used to power the tin works that stood on the river bank behind the stables, which still stand below the hotel.