Llancaiach Fawr Manor has been awarded a £900,000 grant, which will see the former servants' quarters in a hidden attic opened up to the public for the first time.
The Grade One listed Tudor mansion in Nelson, near Caerphilly, is restored and furnished as it would have been in the seventeeth century, as Hannah Thomas reports.
Llancaiach Fawr employees say a £943,200 grant awarded to the manor will be used to help tell 'a complete story of the all the people who lived and worked there' and make the site accessible for all visitors.
– Diane Walker, General Manager of Llancaiach Fawr ManorWith the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, not only will we will be able to show the difference between the living conditions of the servants, as well as the gentry owners, for the first time, but we will also be able to open up the vast majority of the building to visitors with mobility difficulties who have formerly only been able to access the ground floor.
Llancaiach Fawr, which was built in 1550 by the Prichard family, is considered to be one of the most important Gentry houses to have survived from the 16th and 17th century period.
Its £943,200 Heritage Lottery Fund grant will help fund:
It will also help:
Llancaiach Fawr says it hopes to attract 80,000 annual visitors by 2020 as a result of the improvements.
Llancaiach Fawr Manor has been awarded a £943,200 grant, which will see its hidden attic - a former servants' quarters - opened up to the public for the very first time.
The Grade I listed Tudor mansion in Nelson, near Caerphilly, is restored and furnished as it would have been in 1645. The money will be used to improve and conserve the attraction, and also provide better access for wheelchair users.
Cllr Ken James at Caerphilly County Borough Council said the Heritage Lottery funding 'would help transform the way the past is presented to a modern audience'.
Plans to redevelop Pontypridd's Lido can now go ahead after a £2.3 million donation from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
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A rare Welsh manuscript will go on display in Aberystwyth today - its first time on Welsh soil for more than two centuries.
The National Library of Wales bought the copy of the 'Laws of Hywel Dda' at auction for half a million pounds after it ended up in America.
It was auctioned by Sotheby's on behalf of the Massachusetts Historical Society, who were likely to have been given the manuscript as a gift from Welsh emigrants in the early 19th century.
The pocket-sized book, written in medieval Welsh and featuring coloured decoration, is a very early example of a key text in the history of Welsh law.
Support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Welsh Government and the Friends of the National Libraries helped to return the fragile manuscript home.
It will be available for public viewing until August 10th, before being taken into the care of the Library's conservators to be rebound and digitised.
