Catle Green House, Grade II listed Georgian Mansion inside the walls of Cardigan Castle, Cardigan, Wales, UK
Barbara Wood became the owner of the 12th Century castle in May 1940, and moved into Castle Green House, a Georgian mansion in the grounds. Some of the town's older residents recall civil court proceedings in the early 1940s over payment for sale of the castle. The action was understood to have been brought against Miss Wood by the widow of previous owner and local auctioneer John Evans, who died in 1939. It is understood that the plaintiff died soon afterwards, and no further action was forthcoming. Early in 2002, the District Land Registry for Wales confirmed the castle was not registered under the Land Registration Acts and Rules. When Castle Green House deteriorated to an uninhabitable condition more than 30 years ago, Miss Wood moved into a caravan in the grounds surrounded by her many cats. She had lived at Brondesbury Lodge for the best part of a decade. A familiar figure in the town, she was an avid follower of National Hunt racing — her favourite horse was steeplechaser Desert Orchid. There were many ups and downs during her occupation of the castle. In 1988, when she was a patient at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, thieves struck at Castle Green House and made off with a painting by French painter Eugene Louis Boudin worth thousands of pounds. And when a year later a second burglary resulted in the loss of a valuable 60-year-old leopard-skin rug, the contents of the house were put into storage. Miss Wood was fully supportive of Cardigan Castle Volunteers, a group formed in April 1985, comprising mainly schoolchildren who cleared undergrowth and gave guided tours. The castle was in such a poor state of repair that at one stage the council served a Dangerous Structure Notice on Miss Wood after a section of the outer wall at the Strand collapsed. Over the years, numerous attempts were made to make the castle the subject of a Compulsory Purchase Order, but they never came to fruition and Miss Wood moved out of her home under her own volition. The coun
Size: 3072px × 2048px
Location: Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Westpix.co.uk / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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