GHF-E090-N03 — “‘Open day’ to save ancient Welsh house” (Daily Telegraph, 16 April 1974)

Wiki catalogue reference: GHF-E090-N03 · Custodian / source URL: Wayback image

Evidence preview

Catalogue UID: GHF-E090-N03 · Custodian/source copy: open source object. Preview and provenance status as at 10-10-2026.

Description

4. Provenance and where to check it

DOCUMENTED (press report). Catalogue no. GHF-E090-N03 (also recorded in the wiki as item GHF-E090-A67). Sections 1 to 4 record what the cutting is and says. Section 5 is the Wiki’s reading and is open to challenge. A press report is evidence of what a newspaper reported, not proof that its statements are true. Jump to: Evidence · Transcript · Description · Provenance · Interpretation.

• What it is: a newspaper report in the Daily Telegraph, by Godfrey Francis, annotated by hand “D. Telegraph 16 April 74”. The copy carries an RCAHMW National Monuments Record stamp.
• People named: Mrs Mary Williams, aged 60, described as a widow; her son, daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons (unnamed).
• Statements attributed to Mrs Williams: that she opened the house to show what the nation is losing; that planning permission for about 13 houses had been given to B P Petroleum Pension Trust by the former Glamorgan County Council; that she would refuse to move; that ownership had been in dispute for 25 years; that her solicitors told her she had a valid claim; that her family had lived there more than 400 years.
• Statements by the reporter: hundreds of visitors; a ten-roomed house with oak beams; about 1,000 signatures on a protest petition; a belief that the house was once a monks’ dormitory; a theory of a former coaching house, supported by a find of a soldier’s remains, horse, lance and shield beneath the dining-room floor in about 1870.
• Cut off: the end of the article and a cross-heading beginning “…3,000 PAID”.

• Image files: 2026-02-16_consortium-newspaper_bpvsbuckler__en_v0-0-1.jpg (shown above) and 2026-02-04_consortium-evidence_bpvsbuckler__en_v0-0-1_002.jpg in the datro repository; also a Google Drive file named 1546141_10201438100374529…jpg. The family archive also contains a directly readable duplicate: 2026-02-04_image_bpvsbuckler_evidence_en_v0.0.0.10_002.jpg. That archive copy was inspected on 4 October 2026 and its text agrees in substance with this transcript, with minor wording/OCR differences. Transcribed on the Press Archive page (N03).
• Independent record: RCAHMW’s record of a Daily Telegraph article of 16 April 1974 (NMR 6048944) matches the annotation, as recorded on the Press Archive page. No external link for that record is given here because none has been verified.
• Where to look for the original: the Daily Telegraph issue of 16 April 1974. No archive link has been verified for this title and date, so none is given. Locating one is an open task.

Transcription

Open transcription

2. Verbatim transcript

By Godfrey Francis. Square brackets are editorial notes.

HUNDREDS of people yesterday flocked to see an 800-year-old house, containing centuries-old furniture and china, which is in danger of being demolished by developers. The ten-roomed house, with magnificent oak beams and glorious views, at Llandough near Cardiff, was opened to the public by Mrs Mary Williams, 60, “to show what the nation is losing.” Mrs Williams, a widow whose family first acquired Ty Mawr (Great House) in about 1667, lives there with her son, daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons. Mrs Williams said: “Planning permission to develop the land and build about 13 houses was given to B P Petroleum Pension Trust by the former Glamorgan County Council. But I will refuse to move because not only is this my home it is part of the nation’s heritage.”

[Ownership dispute] “The ownership of the house has been in dispute for 25 years but my family has lived here for more than 400 years and my solicitors tell me I have a valid claim to it.” Plans to develop the land and demolish the house have angered local historical societies and about 1,000 people have signed a petition of protest. Ty Mawr is believed to have once been the dormitory home of 12 monks from a Celtic monastery nearby. Its history has never been adequately chronicled but a theory that it was originally a coaching house near a castle was supported by the discovery beneath the dining room floor in about 1870 of the remains of a soldier in armour, his horse, a lance and shield. [The cutting ends here; a cross-heading beginning “…3,000 PAID” is cut off.]

Interpretation and wider context

RECONSTRUCTION. Dating. The annotation, the stated age of 60 and the RCAHMW record point to a report of 16 April 1974 on an open day held on 15 April 1974. This corrects the earlier assumption that the open day was in November 1977 (recorded in the correction at the top of the Press Archive page). The stated age is consistent with the birth date of 10 August 1913 recorded on the Mary Williams page, and “widow” is consistent with Frederick Buckler’s death in 1967 (Frederick Buckler).

What it adds. It records Mary Williams’s public position about six months before BP’s letters of 31 October 1974 (The 1974 Licence Letters): that she claimed the house, would not move, and said the ownership had been disputed for 25 years. The Court of Appeal later treated the licence letters as decisive against the family (BP Properties Ltd v Buckler). This cutting is relevant to how the occupier presented her claim before those letters were sent. It is her own statement and is not evidence of title.

Cautions. The family’s date of acquisition (“about 1667”) and the legend of the soldier’s remains are reported statements and legends. The cutting offers no document for either. The petition figure here (about 1,000) is the reporter’s figure.

• Obtain a dated archive page of the Daily Telegraph, 16 April 1974.
• Confirm that the second repository file (…_002.jpg) is the same cutting.

Related: Press Articles Index · Press Archive transcripts · The 1974 Licence Letters · Restoration Campaign · Evidence Library.

Archive verification note (4 October 2026): The family’s Wayback image was inspected directly. It independently confirms that this archive copy contains the same core report. It does not turn the reported family-history claims into documentary proof.

Interpretive assessment date: 10-10-2026.