Celebrating the traditional houses of North Wales
About the charityWho we are
Discovering Old Welsh Houses studies and celebrates the traditional houses of North Wales built between the 1400s and the mid 1700s and the lives of the people who lived in them.
We have six active branches that hold meetings and arrange visits on a regular basis. Further information including branch activities can be found under Forthcoming Events
We are a voluntary organisation with both Welsh and English speaking members.
What we do
We hold meetings that encourage members to get together and exchange ideas and information.
We arrange visits to houses and other historic buildings that are not normally open to the public.
We give talks and presentations on a wide range of topics related to old houses, many of them via Zoom. See our Forthcoming Events
We encourage and help members to research all aspects of the history of individual houses and communities, looking at architectural and landscape features as well as documentary evidence (including poetry). Learn more about Our Research.
We also apply for grants to carry out specialist work such as tree-ring dating and building recording.
We produce a quarterly bilingual Newsletter.
Forthcoming Events
Become a Member to attend
our Zoom Lectures and meetings
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Our Research
We encourage and help members research and write up the histories of houses that were built before the mid-1700s. This end date is intentionally inexact because we want to capture houses that pre-date the widespread use of mass-produced materials and where there was still distinctive local variation in plan, form and decoration.
Initially, this involves researching the internet, moving on to local libraries, county archives and national libraries. There is no cut-off date for the house histories, many of which take the story down to the present day.
Membership
Become a member to enjoy all the benefits
Membership is £15 pa for individuals and £20 pa for two individuals living at the same address. Life membership is available for £100. Joint Life Membership for £160. Subscriptions are due 1st April.
Membership benefits are:
- Visits to houses and study tours
- Local talks and Zoom presentations
- Membership of a county branch
- Quarterly newsletters
- Training on how to research house histories and how to draw up plans of houses
- Insight into tree-ring and isotope dating.
