Amgueddfa Cymru — Museum Wales — Email Correspondence Catalogue

From: Sion Buckler
To: Cardiff Council FOI (cc Cardiff Castle, Welsh Government FOI, Arts Council England FOI, DCMS FOI, Amgueddfa Cymru FOI, National Library of Wales)
Date: 2 July 2026, 19:51 UTC
Subject: Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture

Freedom of Information Act 2000 Request

Sir/Madam,

I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I seek all recorded information held concerning furniture, furnishings, antiques, fixtures, heirlooms and other movable property originating from Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough, including any and all items we received from Bute Estate, Cardiff Castle, Cardiff Council. Weather it be museums, archives or any other public body. I know museums have artifacts from our land in Llandough.

Specifically, I request copies of all:

1. Inventories, catalogues and asset registers.
2. Acquisition, disposal, loan and transfer records.
3. Provenance files and ownership records.
4. Photographs of items identified as originating from Great House Farm.
5. Correspondence concerning the identification, recovery, ownership or location of such items.
6. Internal reports, legal advice and memoranda relating to Great House Farm furniture or household effects.
7. Correspondence mentioning the Buckler or Williams families in connection with these items.
8. Records concerning any efforts by Cardiff Council or Cardiff Castle to trace, recover or secure items believed to have originated from Great House Farm.
9. Correspondence with the Bute Estate, museums, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA), Arts Council England or any other public authority regarding objects from Great House Farm.

For context, I am allegeing that my family was unlawfully dispossessed of Great House Farm through fraud, and that furniture and other historic possessions belonging to the family were consequently dispersed. It’s possible the bailiffs from BP were also SAS soldiers. We are still gathering actionable intelligence.

I appreciate that the Freedom of Information Act does not require the authority to determine the merits of that allegation. However, it is directly relevant to understanding why I seek the recorded information.

I am currently developing a full-scale replica of Great House Farm in Patagonia, Argentina as a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the house, its occupants and its contents. Should records identify surviving items from the farm, whether held by Cardiff Council, Cardiff Castle, museums or other public institutions, I intend to pursue their lawful return or transfer so they may ultimately be reunited with the reconstructed Great House Farm museum. This statement is provided solely as context for my request and does not seek a determination under the Freedom of Information Act.

If any information is withheld, please identify each exemption relied upon and explain why it applies, including the outcome of any public interest test where required.

If another public authority is more likely to hold the requested information, I would be grateful if you would transfer the request or advise me accordingly.

I look forward to your response within the statutory time limit.

Yours faithfully,

Sion Buckler (Ret’d Sergeant)

Note: Original request recovered from the quoted text of the Museum’s 13 July reply.

From: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
To: Sion Buckler
Date: 13 July 2026, 11:06 UTC
Subject: RE: Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture

Dear Sion

We note that your request was addressed to Cardiff Council, with Amgueddfa Cymru copied into the correspondence. Please confirm whether you intended this request to be made to Amgueddfa Cymru as well.

Cofion cynnes,

FOI Team
Amgueddfa Cymru

From: Sion Buckler
To: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
Date: 13 July 2026, 17:57 UTC
Subject: Re: Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture

Yes please.

I am trying to gather all information.
Mine and my families claim to ownership of the land was never extinguished, as confirmed by the land registry recently. This land is my birthplace and I am the heir and successor to the claim. I was in the home when we were dispossessed of it and when it was demolished in front of us in 1988.

So this is not just an enquiry from a member of the public. This concerns my interest in the land and my personal story and data.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Regards,

Sion Buckler (Ret’d Sergenant)
Royal Signals Cyber & Electronic Warfare Professional & Life Member
[phone number withheld]

From: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
To: Sion Buckler
Date: 3 August 2026, 13:39 UTC
Subject: FOI 2026-020 – Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture

Dear Sion

Thank you for your request for information received on 2nd July 2026, concerning furniture, furnishings, antiques, fixtures, heirlooms and other movable property originating from Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough.

Following searches of the Museum’s collections management systems and associated records, Amgueddfa Cymru has not identified any furniture, furnishings, antiques, fixtures, heirlooms or other movable property recorded as originating from Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough.

Accordingly, Amgueddfa Cymru does not hold recorded information falling within the scope of items 1 to 9 of your request relating to such objects.
For clarity:

– We have not identified any objects of the type described in your request as originating from Great House Farm.
– We have not identified inventories, catalogues, acquisition records, disposal records, loan records, provenance files, ownership records, photographs, correspondence, reports, memoranda or related records concerning such objects within the scope of your request.
– We have not identified any records relating to the identification, recovery, ownership or location of furniture or household effects from Great House Farm.

We note your references to archaeological material from land associated with Great House Farm. However, archaeological finds are outside the scope of this response because they do not fall within your request for furniture, furnishings, antiques, fixtures, heirlooms and other movable property. We understand that archaeological material is the subject of a separate information request and will be dealt with separately.

Under section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, our response is therefore that Amgueddfa Cymru does not hold the requested information.

Cofion cynnes,

FOI Team
Amgueddfa Cymru

From: Sion Buckler
To: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
Date: 3 August 2026, 16:29 UTC
Subject: Re: FOI 2026-020 – Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture

Dear FOI Team,

Thank you for your response.

I note your position that Amgueddfa Cymru does not hold recorded information within the scope of my request.

However, I would be grateful if you could clarify the searches undertaken to reach that conclusion.

In particular, please confirm:

– Which collections management systems, databases and “associated records” were searched.
– Whether searches extended beyond accessioned objects to include acquisition files, provenance files, curator correspondence, donor files, temporary custody records, unaccessioned material, photographs and administrative records.
– The search terms used (for example: “Great House Farm”, “Ty Mawr”, “Llandough”, “Williams”, “Buckler”, “Bute Estate” and any other relevant variants).
– Whether any potentially relevant records have been transferred to another institution or destroyed in accordance with a retention policy.

My original request was not limited to identifying surviving objects. It also sought records relating to their provenance, acquisition, transfer, ownership, photographs and correspondence. This reflects the fact that the contents of Great House Farm may have been dispersed following the property’s demolition, meaning relevant records could exist even if no objects were ultimately accessioned by the Museum.

If, following those searches, Amgueddfa Cymru remains satisfied that no recorded information is held, I would be grateful for confirmation of that position.

Finally, if you are aware of another public authority that is more likely to hold records falling within the scope of my request, I would appreciate your advice in accordance with your duty to provide advice and assistance.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Sion Buckler

From: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
To: Sion Buckler
Date: 14 August 2026, 08:43 UTC
Subject: RE: FOI 2026-020 – Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture

Dear Sion

Thank you for your email.

Following receipt of your query, Amgueddfa Cymru undertook further enquiries to satisfy itself that no information had been overlooked when responding to your request.

These enquiries included a review of records held across the Museum’s collections and a review of archived electronic systems and records by the Museum’s Information Technology team. The review considered all collections management systems used by the Museum, including those most likely to contain information falling within the scope of your request.

For the History collections, searches were undertaken of the Collections Management System (CMS), accession files, donor indexes, location indexes and associated collection documentation. Searches were carried out using terms including “Great House Farm”, “Ty Mawr”, “Llandough”, “Buckler” and “Bute”. Additional consideration was given to acquisition records, provenance information and associated administrative records.

For the Art collections, searches were undertaken within the collections management system across description, comments, acquisition notes and place fields using the terms “Ty Mawr”, “Great House Farm”, “Great House”, “Williams”, “Buckler”, “Llandough” and combinations of those terms. No additional paper archives relating to Great House Farm, Ty Mawr, Great House or Buckler were identified.

The Museum’s Information Technology team also reviewed archived electronic systems and records retained by the Museum.

These enquiries identified some information relating generally to Great House Farm and the surrounding area. However, no information was identified concerning furniture, furnishings, antiques, fixtures, heirlooms or other movable property originating from Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. We did not identify any inventories, catalogues, acquisition records, disposal records, loan records, provenance files, ownership records, photographs, correspondence or other records falling within categories 1 to 9 of your request.

We are also not aware of any relevant collection records relating to such material having been transferred to another institution or destroyed.

Accordingly, having completed these additional enquiries, Amgueddfa Cymru remains satisfied that it does not hold recorded information within the scope of your request and our response under section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 remains unchanged.
In relation to your request for advice and assistance, Cardiff Council and Cardiff Castle would appear to be the organisations most likely to hold records relating to furniture, furnishings or other movable property associated with Great House Farm.

If you remain dissatisfied with this response, you may request an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this email.

Cofion cynnes,

FOI Team
Amgueddfa Cymru

From: Sion Buckler
To: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
Date: 14 August 2026, 17:40 UTC
Subject: Re: FOI 2026-020 – Great House Farm, Llandough | Cardiff Castle Furniture — internal review request

FOI Team,

Thank you for your detailed response and for undertaking the additional enquiries.

I appreciate the further information you have provided concerning the searches undertaken. However, I would like to request an internal review under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

My concern is not simply that no objects have been identified. It is whether the searches undertaken have fully addressed the scope of my original request, particularly the documentary evidence concerning the provenance, acquisition, transfer, ownership, identification and dispersal of material originating from Great House Farm (Ty Mawr).

I would be grateful if the internal review could consider the following points.

1. Information identified concerning Great House Farm

Your response states that the additional enquiries identified “some information relating generally to Great House Farm and the surrounding area”.

Please could you identify what categories of information this refers to and, where it is not exempt, provide the relevant recorded information or explain where it can be accessed?

This appears potentially relevant to the original request even if it does not itself identify furniture or household objects.

2. Scope of the archived electronic search

You state that the Information Technology team reviewed “archived electronic systems and records retained by the Museum”.

Please could the review clarify:

– which archived systems were searched;
– the approximate date ranges covered;
– whether historical email or correspondence archives were searched;
– whether legacy collections-management databases were searched;
– whether databases or systems preceding the current CMS were searched; and
– whether any archived systems were unavailable, incomplete or incapable of being searched.

3. Correspondence and administrative records

My original request expressly sought correspondence concerning the identification, recovery, ownership or location of objects, as well as correspondence with the Bute Estate, Cardiff Council, Cardiff Castle and other public authorities.

Your response refers generally to “associated collection documentation” and “administrative records”, but does not make clear whether historical correspondence files were specifically searched.

Please could the internal review establish whether searches were made of:

– curator correspondence;
– departmental correspondence files;
– donor correspondence;
– acquisition correspondence;
– disposal correspondence;
– loan correspondence;
– provenance correspondence;
– correspondence with Cardiff Council;
– correspondence with Cardiff Castle;
– correspondence with the Bute Estate;
– correspondence with other museums or public authorities; and
– any relevant institutional or external correspondence indexes.

4. Search terms

Thank you for identifying many of the search terms used.

Please could the internal review confirm whether the search also included combinations and variants involving: “Bute Estate”, “Bute”, “Cardiff Castle”, “Cardiff Council”, “Great House Farm”, “Ty Mawr”, “Great House”, “Llandough”, “Buckler”, “Williams”, “Mary Williams”, “Mary Doreen Williams”, “household effects”, “contents”, “furniture”, “furnishings”, “heirlooms”, “fixtures”, “estate”, “dispersal”, “recovery”, “provenance”, “ownership”, “transfer”, “demolition”.

I appreciate that historical records may not have been consistently indexed, which is why I would be grateful for confirmation of the methodology used.

5. Transfer, disposal and destruction

Your response states:

“We are also not aware of any relevant collection records relating to such material having been transferred to another institution or destroyed.”

Please could the internal review clarify whether this conclusion is based upon:

a. a search of transfer/accession-out records;
b. a review of retention and disposal records;
c. enquiries with relevant collections staff;
d. review of archival transfer documentation; or
e. institutional knowledge rather than a documentary search.

I am particularly interested in distinguishing between “no record exists” and “no record was identified in the systems searched”.

6. The original request concerning external institutions

The original request was deliberately framed broadly because the question concerns possible dispersal of the contents of a demolished historic property.

It expressly included records concerning Cardiff Council, Cardiff Castle, the Bute Estate, museums, Arts Council England, DCMS, RCEWA and other public authorities.

I would therefore be grateful if the review could confirm whether records of communications or transactions involving those bodies were searched within Amgueddfa Cymru’s records, rather than simply searching the Museum’s object catalogue for Great House Farm objects.

7. Advice and assistance

You have stated that Cardiff Council and Cardiff Castle “would appear to be the organisations most likely to hold records relating to furniture, furnishings or other movable property associated with Great House Farm”.

I appreciate that you cannot transfer another authority’s records to me. However, could you please provide any further information available to the Museum as to which particular department, collection, archive or record series at Cardiff Council or Cardiff Castle is most likely to contain such material?

That would materially assist me in directing subsequent FOI and archival enquiries.

I am grateful for the additional work already undertaken. I am requesting the internal review because I would like the record to be clear as to precisely what was searched, what information was identified, and what the negative result does and does not establish.

I am not asking Amgueddfa Cymru to determine any allegation concerning the historical ownership of Great House Farm. The purpose of the review is simply to ensure that the documentary search corresponds fully with the scope of the original FOI request.

Please treat this email as my formal request for an internal review of FOI 2026-020.

Regards,

Sion Buckler (Ret’d Sergeant)
Royal Signals Cyber and Electronic Warfare Professional and Life Member
Williams / Buckler Family Estate

From: Sion Buckler
To: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
Date: 27 July 2026, 01:21 UTC
Subject: FOI – Great House Farm, Llandough
Attachments: 1 image (1000006308.jpg) — the published local-history page cited

Dear Freedom of Information Team,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and, where applicable, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

A published local history account states that, during works to replace the stone floor of the dining room at Great House Farm (also known as Ty Mawr), Llandough, Cardiff, the remains of a soldier and his horse were discovered beneath the floor.

The remains were subsequently re-buried in the churchyard, and the soldier’s visor and lance were given to the National Museum of Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru).

I therefore request the following recorded information held by Amgueddfa Cymru:

Any records relating to the acquisition, accession, donation, transfer or deposit of a medieval visor, lance, helmet, or other items of armour associated with Great House Farm / Ty Mawr / Llandough.

The accession number(s), date of acquisition or transfer, name of the donor or transferring body, and any provenance or discovery notes linked to these objects.

Any catalogue entries, object records, or internal correspondence concerning the above items.

Any records of associated human or animal remains from the same discovery, including notes on reburial.

Any related excavation, watching-brief, or discovery reports held by the Museum.

If any of the requested information is already publicly available (for example via the Museum’s online collections database), I would be grateful if you could simply provide the relevant accession numbers or catalogue links.

Please treat this as a request for recorded information only. I am not seeking advice or opinion.

I look forward to your response within the statutory timescale.

Yours faithfully,

Sion Buckler (Ret’d Sergeant)

From: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
To: Sion Buckler
Date: 27 July 2026, 14:58 UTC
Subject: Ref 2026/024 – FOI – Great House Farm, Llandough

Dear Sion

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, received on 27th July.

We are processing your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The statutory deadline for responding is 20 working days from the date of receipt. We therefore aim to provide a response by 24th August 2026.

If we require any clarification in order to process your request, we will contact you.

Cofion cynnes,

FOI Team
Amgueddfa Cymru

From: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
To: Sion Buckler
Date: 25 August 2026, 07:25 UTC
Subject: FOI – 2026-024 – Great House Farm, Llandough

Dear Mr Buckler,

Thank you for your request for information received on 27 July 2026 concerning records relating to a reported discovery at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough, including a soldier, horse remains and items described as a visor and lance.

Amgueddfa Cymru has undertaken searches of its collections management systems, accession records and associated documentation.

We have not identified any records relating to the acquisition, accession, donation, transfer or deposit of a medieval visor, lance, helmet or other item of armour associated with Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. We have also not identified records relating to the specific discovery described in your request, including records of associated human or animal remains, reburial records, excavation reports, watching briefs or discovery reports.

Accordingly, under section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, our response is that Amgueddfa Cymru does not hold the requested information.

For completeness, our searches identified records relating to other archaeological finds from Church Farm, Llandough and to other archaeological discoveries recorded at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. These records do not relate to, nor are they otherwise associated with, the discovery described in your request. We have therefore not considered them to fall within the scope of this request.

If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may request an internal review by writing to FOI.Requests@museumwales.ac.uk within 40 working days of the date of this letter.

Cofion cynnes,

FOI Team
Amgueddfa Cymru

From: Sion Buckler
To: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
Date: 26 August 2026, 06:24 UTC
Subject: Re: FOI – 2026-024 – Great House Farm, Llandough — internal review request

Dear FOI Team,

Thank you for your response.

I am requesting an internal review of the handling of my request. I do not consider the response sufficient because it appears that the searches were conducted too narrowly around the later description of a “medieval visor, lance, helmet or other item of armour”, rather than around the underlying historical discovery at Great House Farm itself.

The issue I am investigating is a reported nineteenth-century discovery at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. My understanding from contemporary or near-contemporary newspaper and historical accounts is that the discovery was described as involving the remains of a Roman soldier, with associated remains and objects. The dating and description of the individual objects as “medieval” may therefore itself be inaccurate, or may represent a later conflation or retelling of the original discovery.

Your response is particularly significant because it states:

“Our searches identified records relating to … other archaeological discoveries recorded at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough. These records do not relate to, nor are they otherwise associated with, the discovery described in your request. We have therefore not considered them to fall within the scope of this request.”

I respectfully challenge that approach.

The central question is precisely whether the discovery described in later historical accounts can be identified, corroborated, corrected or explained through the Museum’s records concerning archaeological discoveries at Great House Farm. If the Museum has identified records relating to other discoveries at the same historically significant site, it is not sufficient simply to conclude internally that they are unrelated without disclosing what those discoveries are, when they were recorded, and the basis upon which that conclusion was reached.

I therefore request that the internal review reconsider the scope of my request and undertake searches using, at minimum, the following terms and concepts: Great House Farm; Ty Mawr; Llandough; Llandough, Cardiff; Roman soldier; Roman burial; Roman grave; Roman remains; human remains; skeleton; horse remains; equine remains; soldier and horse; cavalry burial; military burial; grave goods; Roman military equipment; visor; helmet; lance; spear; armour; archaeological discovery; nineteenth-century discovery; 1870 and adjacent years.

Please also search for relevant records under alternative historical place-name indexing, donor names, findspot descriptions, parish names and catalogue terminology where the precise modern name “Great House Farm” may not have been used.

Most importantly, I ask that you disclose sufficient information about the “other archaeological discoveries” which your searches identified at Great House Farm to enable me to understand and assess the Museum’s conclusion that they are unrelated. This should include, so far as held:

1. A description or title of each relevant discovery or record.
2. The approximate date of the discovery or record.
3. The nature of the material or remains involved.
4. Any accession number, catalogue number or archival reference.
5. The recorded provenance or findspot.
6. Any dating attributed to the discovery.
7. The basis upon which Amgueddfa Cymru concluded that each record was unrelated to the nineteenth-century discovery described in my request.

I am not asking the Museum to create new archaeological opinions or undertake speculative research. I am asking for recorded information which has already been identified during the searches and which directly concerns archaeological discoveries at the specific site named in my request.

If the Museum maintains that any of those records fall outside the original scope, then please treat this email additionally as a refined request for the recorded information identified above.

I would also ask the reviewer to consider whether the original response gave insufficient weight to the possibility that the historical account may have inaccurately dated or described the find. A search which excludes Roman, nineteenth-century, burial and equine terminology risks missing the very records capable of establishing what was actually discovered beneath Great House Farm.

Given that your searches have already identified records concerning archaeological discoveries at Great House Farm itself, I would be grateful for a full reconsideration and disclosure of the recorded information requested above.

Yours faithfully,

Sion Buckler (Ret’d Sergeant)
Royal Signals Cyber and Electronic Warfare Professional and Life Member

From: Amgueddfa Cymru FOI Team
To: Sion Buckler
Date: 26 August 2026, 09:56 UTC
Subject: RE: FOI – 2026-024 – Great House Farm, Llandough — internal review accepted; new request FOI 2026-032 registered

Dear Mr Buckler

Thank you for your email requesting an internal review of our response to FOI 2026-024.

Internal Review
We have accepted your request for an internal review of FOI 2026-024.

The purpose of an internal review is to consider whether Amgueddfa Cymru handled the original request appropriately, including whether:

– the request was interpreted correctly;
– reasonable and proportionate searches were undertaken;
– relevant information held by the Museum was identified and considered; and
– the response complied with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The internal review process is not ordinarily intended to redefine or broaden the scope of the original request, nor to conduct new searches solely on the basis of additional search terms or lines of enquiry proposed after the original response has been issued.
Nevertheless, the reviewer will consider the points raised in your correspondence when assessing whether the original request was interpreted appropriately and whether the searches undertaken were reasonable in the circumstances.

We aim to provide the outcome of the internal review within 20 working days of receipt of your request. If, exceptionally, we are unable to conclude the review within that period, we will write to you again explaining the position.

Additional Information Request
Your email also requests information concerning other archaeological discoveries recorded at Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough, including details of those discoveries and the records identified during our searches. We consider this element of your correspondence to be a new request for recorded information, distinct from FOI 2026-024.

We have therefore registered this as a separate Freedom of Information request, ref FOI 2026-32.

Under section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we will respond to that request within 20 working days of receipt. Based on the date your correspondence was received, we aim to respond to the new request by 23 September 2026.

The internal review and the new request will be considered separately and may result in separate responses.

Cofion cynnes,

FOI Team
Amgueddfa Cymru