Welsh Journals

and 'stop press' announcements suggest that of these, only two may be reprieved. Indeed, since this 'sad survey' deals only with houses demolished since 1900, and even admits to overlooking some buildings which have disappeared since that date, the extent of the problem may, in fact, be worse than the appalling picture here portrayed. This is a poor reflection on a country which claims to have a concern for its heritage. This state of neglect is not, of course, unique to Wales. In England, Scotland, and Ireland the list of lost houses is a grim one. However, in those parts of the United Kingdom, the gravity of the situation was recognized earlier and some steps have been taken to tackle the problem. Organizations such as SAVE Britain's Heritage, the National Trust, and some local authorities have been in the forefront in this respect, but there still remains an enormous amount of work to be done. It is hoped that this book will draw wider attention to the plight of the country house in Wales, a situation of which, to date, only a few people have been aware. This book has three professed aims: to make a permanent record of lost buildings; to demonstrate that Wales has a history of country-house building of greater merit than is generally perceived; and to encourage a greater public awareness of the need for more active commitment towards the conservation of the surviving houses. In the first two categories, the book is a demonstrable success. The range of photographs, with their accompanying descriptions, forms a solid corpus of reference. The subject matter is arranged according to the present Welsh counties, but the author has then subdivided these into the traditional, pre-1974 shires which constitute them. He feels, perhaps rightly, that the new names still mystify many people, and not just those who live outside Wales. More significantly, he found it essential to arrange his catalogue under the traditional county names because building patterns and the pattern of loss could not be adequately explained outside the original, smaller boundaries within which the houses were created. The precise location of each house is then given by reference to the parish or town in which it is situated. Each county section begins with a general description of building patterns within it, followed by photographs and accounts of the houses themselves. The survey does not claim to be comprehensive, nor could it be, with such a vast field to cover. Yet, its scope is impressive: the author has cast his net wide, and most of the important houses are treated. Inevitably, there are some inaccuracies: for example, dates of demolition are often only approximate, but, as the author ruefully states, such negative events are rarely remembered. Indeed, in many cases, houses simply took years literally to fall down after their abandonment. The second aim is mainly dealt with in the extensive introduction. This begins by giving a very detailed account of the development of the country house in Wales. One sees, for instance, how the houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries reflected imported English tastes rather than a native tradition, in contrast to the case of many houses in Scotland and Ireland. There is a careful examination of the reasons why, on the whole, Welsh country houses were smaller than their counterparts in England, but the author shows that, in spite of this, Welsh houses did not necessarily lack quality. Indeed, the work of several notable English architects is represented in Welsh