History

The slate pillar fence at Bisham (Windsor and Maidenhead). Approximately 150m (164 yards) of this fence survives, although local residents remember it as once being significantly longer. The pillars of Bisham's fence typically extend about 180cm (5.9 feet) above ground level and must have a further 40cm (1.3 feet) or so below the ground. Each pillar is some 20cm (7.9 inches) in width and 3.5cm (1.4 inches) thick.

How did a slate pillar fence come to be built in the Thames Valley, 300km away from the slate quarries of north-west Wales?

Slate pillar fences became common in north-west Wales from the middle of the 19th century. In 1861, the Penryhn Quarry at Bethesda, Gwynedd - one of the largest slate quarries in the world at that time - produced around 9,000 individual pillars. These pillars consisted of poor quality blue slate, typically about 150cm (4.9 feet) tall.

They were used to mark fields, gardens, railways lines and roads, with their simple construction being particularly well-suited to the harsh weather experienced by upland areas.

Despite their use around Wales's slate quarries, slate pillar fences are rarely found further a field. The discovery of a slate pillar fence at Temple House (now demolished) at Bisham, Maidenhead, is therefore extremely unusual. The bluish-purple colouring of the slate makes it certain that it was quarried in north-west Wales, probably at Penrhyn Quarry.

This raises the question of how a slate pillar fence came to be built almost 300km (186 miles) away from the source of the stone?

Temple House was built around 1790 for Thomas Williams, who owned the nearby Temple Mill copper works. Thomas Williams (1737-1802) was from north Wales originally and became the leading figure of the British copper industry. Williams employed the architect, Samuel Wyatt, to develop the Temple Mill copper works, and it is likely that Samuel also built Temple House.

Samuel Wyatt had very close links with the owners of the Penrhyn slate quarry. In 1782 he refurbished a building for Richard Pennant (later Lord Penrhyn), and in 1786 his brother became the general manager of the Penrhyn estate. This relationship ensured Samuel a regular supply of slates for his own business activities. In return, Samuel promoted the use of slate in the London area, using it for shelves, cisterns, lavatory-seats, window-sills and as a wall covering, as well as for roofing.

If the Temple House slate pillars had been supplied by Samuel Wyatt, their transport to Bisham could have been relatively simple. Even before the construction of a tramway from Penrhyn Quarry to the coast in 1801, there existed an efficient network of roads linking the quarry to the sea at Port Penrhyn.

From Port Penrhyn a fleet of vessels carried slate around the coast of the British Isles. The Wyatt family had an owning interest in many of these vessels. From London the cargo could be navigated up the Thames by barge.

There is therefore a great deal of circumstantial evidence linking the Bisham slate pillar fence with Samuel Wyatt and Penrhyn Quarry, and dating its construction to around 1790. But one aspect of the pillars' manufacture raises doubts about this. Some of the larger support pillars were clearly cut with circular saws - a technique which was not certainly used before 1805 and only became common from 1840.

One suggestion which unites these two strands of evidence is the possibility that the original fence was erected about 1790, but it had suffered from subsidence in the soft soil around Bisham. The result might have been a second order for Welsh slate around 1840 to rectify the problem.

The fence at Temple House may show evidence of the links between two of Wales's great industrialists, the copper magnate Thomas Williams and Richard Pennant of Penrhyn slate quarry, through the architect Samuel Wyatt. Both shared a common heritage, so what would have been more natural than for Thomas Williams and his architect to display the potential of Welsh slate beside his copper works at Temple Mill?

Background Reading

The Wyatts: an architectural dynasty by John Martin Robinson. Published by Oxford University Press (1979).

'Copper and Slate: Thomas Williams' Slate Pillar Fence at Bisham', by Dafydd Roberts. In The Marlow Historian, vol. 3, p16-21 (2003).

Tredegar House and Park. The house and grounds are now in the ownership of Newport County Council. Many rooms have been restored and are open to the public. Image © Steve Burrow.

Silver embroidered blue damask court mantua (an open fronted gown with an elaborate train), made between about 1730-40.

This is a very grand robe which would have been worn for presentation at court.

This coat was probably worn by Sir William Morgan. It is of yellow lace pattern silk, dated to about 1725, and is of either English or French origin.

For glitz and glamour, look no further than the Tredegar Collection. This impressive collection of 18^th century costume was presented to the Museum in 1923 by Courtenay Morgan, also known as Lord Tredegar. The items belonged to his rich ancestors who wanted to flaunt their wealth and power. Each garment was designed to dazzle.

Although the Morgans owned Tredegar House near Newport, they spent most of their time in London. For the gentry, the capital was the place to be. Pleasure gardens, operas and assemblies - their lives revolved around socializing.

A royal debut

The Tredegar costumes were probably made in London, using the finest woven damasks and brocaded silks you could buy. The most elegant dress in the collection dates from around mid-1720s. The grandness of this open fronted blue gown - often called a mantua - suggests that it was made for a young lady's royal debut. The detailing is elaborate and elegant, both on the front and the back.The gown was much longer originally, but a large section was cut off during the 1800s, supposedly for a fancy dress party.

Whalebone corsets

Gowns like this one were very awkward to wear. To achieve the exaggerated look, women wore wide hoop petticoats to increase the width of their skirts. They also wore tight corsets stiffened with whalebone under their dresses. Corsets encouraged good posture by squeezing the upper body into shape. Style was more important than comfort.

This yellow brocaded frockcoat was made in the early 1720s. The floral design is typical of the period, so is the bright yellow colour.

Further reading:

M. R. Apted, 'Social Conditions at Tredegar House, Newport, in the 17^th and 18^th Centuries', The Monmouthshire Antiquary 3:2 (1972-3), pp. 124-54.

Janet Arnold, 'A Court Mantua of c. 1740', Costume: Journal of the Costume Society 6 (1972), pp. 48-52.

Avril Hart & Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17^th and 18^th Centuries (London: V & A Publications, 1998).

When a miners' hospital closed in 2001, a working coalface that was used to exercise the patients for work again was dismantled and moved to the collections of Amgueddfa Cymru.

Talygarn House

Talygarn House: a view along the full-size model coalface

Talygarn House, Pontyclun, south Wales, was a large stone mansion that became a hospital in 1880. The interior is decorated with wood panelling and painted ceilings. The house is surrounded by extensive parklands on which were grown, according to legend, specimens of every tree that can be cultivated in Britain.

Talygarn as a Convalescent Home

In October 1923, Talygarn House was opened as a miners' convalescent home, and in 15 years of its opening it had more than 41,000 patients.

In 1943, the Miners' Welfare Commission was asked to organise a rehabilitation service for injured mineworkers. Due to a serious shortage of manpower at that time, it was vitally important for injured colliers to return to work as quickly as possible. For this purpose Talygarn House was purchased as a centre for the coalfields of south Wales.

By 1964, 95% of patients treated at Talygarn returned to the mining industry. It continued to serve as a rehabilitation and physiotherapy centre until it was put up for sale in August 2000.

Miner rehabilitation and the 'Model Mine'

Due to the need to harden the men up to return to the collieries, a carpentry shop was provided where patients cut wood and sawed logs. Miniature stairs and static bicycles were available to exercise unused muscles.

Talygarn House was also equipped with a grand 'Model Mine' in which patients could get used to working back in a mining environment. The structure was a long concrete tunnel supported by arch girders. The roadway was equipped with rails and the metal framework known as 'horseheads', which prevented falls of stone on a real coalface.

Relocating the mine

In 2001, the contents of the 'Model Mine' were donated to Amgueddfa Cymru as a 'permanent reminder to visitors of the work of the Talygarn rehabilitation centre'.

The coalfaces were dismantled as if they were the real thing. Despite working in only four feet of height, the thirty-foot-long chain conveyor was successfully disassembled and removed.

All the items were safely transported to the Collections Centre at Nantgarw. The Talygarn donation is a unique survival of a complete thirty-foot section of a typical semi-mechanised coalface of the early 1960s.