August Bank Holiday
25th, 26th, 27th August 2007
Plas Mawr, Conwy, North Wales is regarded as the finest surviving Elizabethan town house in all Britain: it is particularly famous for its fine plasterwork and little-altered interiors. This striking 'Flemish-style' mansion was begun by Robert Wynne before 1580, and has now been comprehensively restored by the present owners, Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments). |
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Its many rooms have been recreated as they might have appeared in the mid-17th century, complete with replica hangings and textiles and startlingly re-coloured plasterwork. |
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The Seventeenth Century Society was invited by Cadw to recreate life at Plas Mawr in 1647, just after the fall of Royalist-held Conwy town and castle to Parliament. Since tradition holds that Plas Mawr was the Parliamentarian headquarters during the siege of the castle, we decided to 'move out' the royalist owner, Robert Wynne junior, and move in the household of the Parliamentarian Governor Colonel John Carter, an Englishman from Buckinghamshire. |
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This 'imported' household attempted to keep life going in as normal a way as possible, given the disturbed conditions: regular formal meals had to be served to the gentry and their visitors in the Great Chamber, with the servants dining less ceremoniously in the Hall afterwards. The formal meals, served by liveried servants, were accompanied by a commentary from the Cook, and each authentic dish was displayed to the public before being offered to the diners. |
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The housekeeper bustled about ensuring that plenty of clean linen was available; and in the courtyard the laundry was kept continuously busy. |
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But alas, harmony did not reign throughout the weekend. A smouldering quarrel between Colonel Carter's overbearing sister and his new young wife kept flaring up, with accusations and counter-accusations from the rival parties. A local Puritan prophetess meanwhile loudly and frequently demanded that the 'salacious' plasterwork be hacked away, on the grounds that it was demonstrably corrupting the morals of younger servants. |
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Amidst all this, Colonel Carter and his Adjutant presided over regular 'interactive courts', at which the visiting public were invited to decide the verdicts in a wide variety of disputes. These ranged from an embezzled family inheritance to the identity of the man who had seduced a young maid: and from the fines due from Royalist 'delinquents' to the poor relief payable to an allegedly destitute lad--whose 'mother' turned out to have 'borrowed' him from another woman to get the money. |
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