Maesmawr Hall

Maesmawr Hall is a historic timber-framed house, situated to the southeast of Caersws, in the historic county of Montgomeryshire, which now forms part of Powys in Wales. It is currently run as a hotel. A long avenue approaches the front of the property from the south.

History
The area around Maesmawr was occupied during Roman times. Due to its location near the banks of the River Severn, the Romans built a road through the area. A Welsh Long House was once located in the grounds.

The hall has the date 1535 painted at the top of the gable over the porch, but this date is likely to be a fairly recent overpainting of the date, which was previously 1717. While the date of construction of Maes Mawr is uncertain, on stylistic grounds it is likely to be either late 17th century or early 18th century. In the early 19th century, it became a notable sporting estate for shooting game. In the 1870s, it was known to have been owned by John Pryce Davies and was owned for many years by his family, and by the Davies sisters in the 1900s. In August 2008, the hall was purchased by John Garner and Nigel Humphryson.

Hotel
Today the hall is used as a hotel with 20 bedrooms and is often hired for wedding receptions, proms and social evenings. The original rooms from the 1535 building have the original beams and uneven floors. In the Victorian period, a wing was added to the hall; those rooms are larger and brighter.

Reputed haunting
The hall has featured in the TV series Most Haunted with reports of paranormal activity.

Literature

 * Pryce T E, Half Timbered Houses of Montgomeryshire, Montgomeryshire Collections XVII. 1884 pp 152–157;
 * Smith P, and Owen, C E . Traditional and Renaissance Elements in some late Stuart and early Georgian Half-Timbered Houses in Arwystli Montgomeryshire Collections LV-LVI. 1957–60, pp 101–124. Plan at Fig. 4;
 * Smith P, Houses of the Welsh Countryside 1975, p 230 and Maps 10, 19, 30, 33, and 39;
 * Scourfield R and Haslam R, (2013) Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire, 2nd edition, Yale University Press pp 92–3.