Appeal to preserve landmark
Llanfyllin’s Mayor, Cllr Simon Baynes, launched the appeal campaign by the Llanfyllin Dolydd Preservation Trust to ‘Sponsor a Slate’ for the Master’s House.
An incredible 325 slates have already been sponsored, including 100 by the Bodfach Trust (https://www.bodfachtrust.org.uk/).
The roof of the impressive building, which stands at the heart of the old Llanfyllin Union Workhouse, is in poor condition, threatening the whole complex and the enterprises it houses.
Phase One of the project will comprise thorough repairs as well as the reinstatement of the fine classical cupola which once crowned the House and was clearly visible from the town.
It will also include replacement of the missing floorboards of the top storey, stolen long ago, and the floor above the Meadows Gallery which had to be dismantled owing to dry rot.
The complex roof is covered by around 10,000 Welsh slates in graduated sizes, and the Trust aims to raise £10,000 towards the cost of repairs through the Sponsor a Slate appeal.
This is on top of over £6,000 raised to date: a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund has helped to cover the cost of designs, schedules and consents as well as a bat survey, and a leaning chimney has been rebuilt.
The total cost of the scheme is calculated at £80,000 and applications are in progress to various heritage bodies and trusts.
The roof is thought so important that the Welsh National Roofing Centre, based at Caerphilly, will use it to offer training to its Level 3 students in Heritage Roofing from all over Wales.
On behalf of Llanfyllin Town Council, Cllr Baynes said they had been pleased to support the restoration of Y Dolydd over the years and were delighted by the progress it had made.
Trust Chair Iris Gordijn said that the Trust was proud of its achievements and its contribution to conserving Llanfyllin’s heritage.
Anyone can sponsor slates by clicking here, or by sending a cheque or by donating direct to Llanfyllin Dolydd BPT Master’s House Appeal, sort code 40-30-13, Account No 91410598.
Names of sponsors will be recorded unless they prefer to remain anonymous, and Supersponsors who sponsor 50 slates or more will appear on an honours board when work is completed.
The Trust plans to start work on the roof in late August 2019, once the long-eared bats have completed their breeding cycle.
Later plans include internal improvements and the provision of a new entrance, toilets and a lift to the upper floors.
Y Dolydd already houses Wales’s only workhouse museum, open daily free of charge. The Llanfyllin Union covered a wide area from the Tanat to the Banwy and the Trust hopes the museum can be extended to cover other aspects of local heritage.
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