I’ve been looking into the history of Greenmeadow House recently and I’m working on a detailed piece about the mansion and the Lewis family. In the meantime I thought I’d share these images from a 1910 story in The Cardiff Times and a summary of its history.
The article from 19th February 1910 describes the history of the great house, its owners, contents and local stories.
Thanks to the amazing Welsh Newspapers Online service from The National Library of Wales.
Greenmeadow is believed to have been a medieval farmstead and later, a Jacobean farmhouse. The property came into the possession of Wyndham Lewis MP (1779 – 1838) in 1817.
He renamed it Pantgwynlais Castle and had a grand new facade constructed. This name was still used in 1872 so perhaps the whole estate retained its original name or they used both.
Henry Lewis I (1774 – 1838) inherited the estate as Wyndham Lewis MP didn’t have any children. Henry Lewis II (1815 – 1881) took over the property in the late 1830s.
At the time of the article, the house was occupied by Colonel Henry Lewis (1848 – 1925) and Rose Mabel Lewis (1852 – 1928).
This image from 1837 shows a detailed plan of the main house and wider estate. I posted this online recently and a reader asked where exactly it was in the village. The map below to show its location on the current Greenmeadow Drive.
This is the only image I’ve seen of the interior of Greenmeadow House. The newspaper article describes the contents of the house in some detail. Col. Lewis and Mrs Lewis travelled extensively, filling their home with many artefacts and treasures. Col. Lewis collected Toby jugs and Mrs Lewis painted watercolours.
“There are several large cabinets in this room which are filled with rare curiosities, brought by Col. and Mrs Lewis from the ends of the earth.”
The Cardiff Times, 1910
The Lewis’ eldest son, Captain Harry Lewis (1880 – 1956) took over an estate in severe financial trouble. It was eventually sold in 1927.
The house was left to ruin and eventually demolished in 1945. Greenmeadow Estate was later constructed on the land.
Hello, I grew up green meadows drive until I moved away in 1997 and know the woods are area very There are remains of the mansion out housing (I believe stables) which on the 1837 map correspond to the larger pink buildings between points 87 and 88. The trail that led to a farm still remains. Being inquisitive kids we’d often dig around or come across very old coins or buried tins and metals, wouldn’t think anything of it at the time. In front of the house the orchard still remains.
Captain Henry Wyndham Lewis was my great grandfather and his son ( who had the same name but was always known as Wyndham) was my grandfather he was born in 1914. My grandfather had two children the oldest Mary (who is my mother) and Henry ( my uncle who is deceased). My grandfather married Eve Phillips from Pentyrch.
I grew up in Tongwynlais. We lived in Pantgwynlais with my Grandfather and Grandmother during the war, and played in the ruins of the big house and the stables nearby.
They are still there, if you know where to look but overgrown. I went there 2 years ago but the trail (porkchop hill?) is completely overgrown now. The rain has washed away and revealed a number of heavy chains and iron links on the path though which id never seen before. My Mum and Dad lived Greenmeadow at 44, Barbara and Ray Evans