Corus 100yr brochure.indd - Tata Steel

Mathern Palace
In the seventh century, the Bishops of Llandaff acquired lands in Mathern
Parish from Meurig ap Tewdric, son of Tewdric King of Glamorgan. Tewdric
was killed in battle and buried in the nearby church, which bears his name.
‘Mathern’ is from the Welsh elements ‘Ma’ and ‘Teyrn’, meaning ‘the place
of a king’.
Mathern Palace was the official home of the Bishops of
Llandaff from 1333 until 1709. In 1794 the Palace and
lands were let for farming, firstly by the incumbent Bishop
and later by the ecclesiastical commissioners.
The building passed into private ownership in 1894 and
was restored and improved by H.A. Tipping, an historian,
who was also responsible for the layout of the delightful
gardens.
In 1957 the Palace was purchased by Richard Thomas &
Baldwins Limited as a guesthouse, becoming the property
of the British Steel Corporation when the steel industry
was nationalised, then British Steel plc upon privatisation,
and now Corus.
Surrounded by H. A. Tipping’s gardens, Mathern Palace
is approached through the remains of an early 15th
century gateway.
The central block of the building, which faces northeast,
consists of a tower of three storeys containing the main
entrance and a block of two storeys containing the long
parlour; an east wing projects forward of the central
block, and a west wing projects to the rear. A third wing
projecting east in line with the central block was added
after 1894.
The niche over the porch probably contained a statue of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, a figure that could not have been
displayed after the death of Henry VIII in 1547, which
confirms a pre-Reformation date for this part of
the building.
The inner tower, which includes the entrance hall and
rooms above, could date from the 13th or 14th century,
as could the central two-light window in the west wing
(most likely the original chapel).
The dining room and its doorway, and the long parlour,
are 16th century, as is the fireplace in the second
bedroom above the parlour.
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