Nannau, Wales

The Lord of Nannau title was passed on directly through the male line of families for centuries until it ceased in the 16th century with the 12th Lord, Howel Nanney (1470-1580) who was esquire to Henry VIII. The first cadet branch was established by the Nanneys of Cefndeuddwr. The other cadet branches descended from 'Huw Nanney Hên' who would have become the 14th Lord if the title had continued, followed by his fifth son; Edward Nanney (b. 1578), from whom four more houses were descended : the Nanneys of Maesypandy; the Nanneys of Llanfendigaid, Tywyn; the Nanneys of Maes-y-neaudd, Llandecwyn,[27] and the Nanneys of Llwyn.[28]

The establishment of the family's cadet branches marked the end of the Nannau family direct male heir ownership. After almost 600 years, the male line ended with the tenure of Colonel Huw Nanney IV when he married Catherine Vaughan from Corsygedol. They had four daughters. He died in 1701. Then began the transition of Nannau to the Vaughan family and eventually the Vaughan baronets. Huw Nanney IV built a new mansion between 1693, and 1697. The home was sketched by artist Moses Griffith around 1797. Vaughan oversaw the design of another reconstruction of the Nannau mansion which still stands today.[29][30]

Nannau Oak tree.[31]

The famous Nannau oak trees have grown in the estate's gardens since the dawn of time and have a lifespan of over 300-400 years.[32] The most famous Oak on the Nannau estate was aply named 'Derwen Ceubren yr Ellyll' (Welsh: 'the hollow oak of the demon'),[6] this enormous oak tree in question measured a circumference of 27ft and 6 inches.[32][33] The tree was felled by lightening on the 27th July, 1813, that day it was painted by Sir Richard Hoare, 2nd Baronet. The tree was none other than the deathbed of Hywel Sele who was placed there by his cousin Glyndŵr and left unattended for 40 years before being found. The tree was made even more famous with Walter Scott and his 1808 work Marmion; "the spirit's Blasted Tree".[34]

Thomas Pennant in book 'Tours of Wales' visits Nannau in 1784 for his third volume.[35] He describes the Oak as : “How often has not warm fancy seen the fairy tribe revel round its trunk! Or may not the visionary eye have seen the Hamadryad burst from the bark of its coeval tree?”[36]

For a coming of age birthday in 1824 some of the oak was used to make a commemorative set for festivities, including a now famous stirrup cup.[37] This Oak set named 'The Ceubren Cups' were auctioned in 2008 after being listed as contents of Nannau since 1958, as well as a silver mounted oak cup with the Vaughan Welsh language motto inscribed, ASGRE LÂN, DIOGEL EI PHERCHEN (English: A Pure Conscience is a Safeguard to its Possessor).[38]

The Nannau estate merged with Vaughan family of Hengwrt at the beginning of the 18th century. Janet mother of 1st Baronet Vaughan and grand-daughter of Huw Nanney III married Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt in 1719. He was great grandson of the antiquarian Robert Vaughan. After the disastrous tenure of Hugh Vaughan (1st Baronet's brother) who “made a total shipwreck of his fortunes by his ill-regulated life and his utter incapacity for estate management”,[18] the family established themselves as members of parliament, obtained a baronetcy, made considerable improvements to the estate, and built a new house, the current mansion completed in 1808 with surrounding estate and parks completed in 1830.[39][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] The reigns of Robert Hywel Vaughan and of his son, Sir Robert Vaughan, 2nd Baronet in the late 18th and 19th centuries were considered the “golden age of Nannau”.[1] After the death of the childless 3rd Baronet Vaughan in 1859, the estate was bequeathed via inheritance to Thomas Pryce Lloyd, a cousin from Pengwern, Flintshire. Lloyd became a 'life tenant' on the condition the estate was precluded from selling land or property. Nannau property once again changed hands in 1874 to a distant relation, John Vaughan (d. 1900), of Chilton Grove, Shropshire. Vaughan had owned the Rhug estate and was well known to the Nannau baronets, in particular the 2nd Baronet Vaughan, with whom he shared a common ancestor, Robert Vaughan (antiquarian).[44][45]

It was the son of John Vaughan (1830-1900) who welcomed dignitaries on Queen Victoria's 4th tour of Wales. He also welcomed royal couple Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and her husband when Princess Beatrice laid the foundation stone of St John's Church, Barmouth on the 27th of August 1889.[46] Then John's son Major-General John Vaughan who inherited Nannau received another royal couple to the area of the new Nannau estate,[47] Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with their newborn son Charles, Prince of Wales, in April 1949. The royal couple stayed at 'Glyn' with Baron Harlech and visited 'Nannau' for lunch on the 29th of April 1949.[48][49]

It is believed that Vaughan, 2nd Baronet, had shown great interest in antiquities and had brought a bucket covered in inches of peat bog from nearby Arthog, overlooking Mawddach estuary in 1826.[50][51] The bucket turned out to be an urn from the Bronze Age possibly from East-Central Europe. An identical urn was found in Hungary. The bucket was left unattended for 60 years near the Hywel Sele lodge before it was discovered by John Vaughan's girls in 1881 and then used as a cigar ashtray and a paper waste bin until 1951 when Major-General Vaughan revealed the urn to guests. The urn was later identified as being approximately 2,700 years old by Professor Christopher Hawkes, and sent to the British Museum the following year.[52]

Palstave from the Middle Bronze Age Acton Park II period c. 1500-1400 BC, part of an example of the Arthog hoard

Another similar discovery named the Dowris Hoard was found in the 1820's in Dowris, County Offaly, Ireland. A late bronze age cauldron was discovered with a hoard of weapons, the discovery was from the same period as the Nannau bucket at Arthog, some of the items buried in the Snowdonia bog were later found to be from 1,100BC.[50][53][54]

The estate was sold in the mid-20th century and subsequently had a succession of short-term owners. During this period, most of the land and some of the estate buildings were sold off, as well as the fishing rights, which were given to the Hengwrt estate.[55] In 1935, Hilary Vaughan Pritchard, son of a 3rd cousin of 2nd generation Nannau owner Major-General John Vaughan, was married to Mary, the daughter of Charles Stanley Monck. Vaughan and Vaughan Pritchard were both descendants of Vaughan, the antiquarian from Hengwrt, b.1592.[56]

Vaughan Pritchard had acquired ownership of the Nannau estate following the Major's death in 1956. Nannau Hall became the venue for another lavish wedding when Vaughan Pritchard's daughter Susan married David Muirhead on 14th December 1957. In 1958 a schedule of contents was made of all the possessions in the Hall which was a sign of the selling off of the whole estate.[57] The estate's running costs would have been high. Repairs alone would have cost £8,000 (equivalent to £200,000 in 2020). Following centuries of the 'Vaughan' family ownership of the Nannau Hall, it was put up for sale with 10 acres of land and sold for the price of £8k (which included the cost of refurbishment) in 1965 to Mr. Edward Morrison who was in the Royal Air Force. The remainder of the surrounding Nannau estate and Dol'Rhyd (also owned by Vaughan), a total of 3,578 acres, was sold in 1975 after 900 years of occupation, to Vaughan Gaskell from Warrington.[58]

Attempts to operate the house as a hotel were unsuccessful. The 18th-century flanking pavilions were demolished and the building's fabric deteriorated. By 2020, the theft of lead from the roof saw the house "deteriorating rapidly".[7] Efforts to address the condition of the building are being undertaken by the Snowdonia National Park Authority supported by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.[59] The house remains a private family home and is not open to the public.[60]