The mansion of Old Place, also known as Old Plas and Llantwit Major Castle, has its origins as a late 15th / early 16th century hall house with parlour and solar block, and was in existence in the 1530s when John Leland travelled Wales for his itinerary.

Edmund Van was in residence at this point. The parlour block of this early house survives, along with an extension of c1598, that forms the right hand end of the E-plan mansion. Substantial elements of the parlour block’s first phase are evident: 2 corbels of the original (lower) floor structure; a fireplace and doorway at first floor (blocked when the floor was raised in the mid-16th century); a lateral chimney and fireplace on the south wall. The west wall, which incorporates the fabric of an early 16th century hall, had a crow stepped gable. This roofline is visible on the interior of the west wall. No original door or window surrounds survive, but evidence elsewhere suggests that they would have had 4-centred and flattened ‘Tudor’ style heads.

The parlour block house that survives today is considered to be the work of Edmund Van – part of a scheme of works to the mansion carried out in the mid-16th century. Van is thought to have enlarged the hall, rebuilding all or part of the rear wall and most of the front wall of both the hall and parlour. This included the insertion of a first floor above the hall to create a great chamber, raising the existing floor level of the solar / parlour block, and adding a new lateral chimney to it. A service wing was also added to the rear.

In the later 16th century the mansion passed to George Van, grandson of Edmund. He moved to the family seat to nearby Marcross, with his son (another) Edmund taking over at Old Place. This Edmund is known to have greatly altered Old Place and created the E-plan mansion by adding wings at either end of the main range, which was altered to accommodate a long gallery. The parlour / solar block was encompassed in a 3 storey wing at the right end of the remodelled hall range, and a stairwell was added. Both wings include large chimney stacks and fireplaces, a sign of status, which is reflected in Hearth Tax records of 1670 where John Avan, in residence by 1645, was taxed for seven hearths.

Dorothy Avan is known to have been resident after 1670 but the house was then unoccupied from the early 18th century and was not shown in a 1729 map of ‘Gentlemen’s Seats’ and ‘Houses of Less Note and Farm Houses’ by Emanuel Bowen, suggesting it had by this time become unoccupied. After this point the mansion became known as Llantwit Castle, stone was robbed for local construction and – after William Vann sold it to the Nicholl family – worked stone of the window and door jambs were taken for reuse at their own Ham House. The interior is recorded has having been fully dismantled by 1834.The building had become derelict and was unoccupied when restoration started in 2012.

Reference: Cadw Listed Building Description.

RCAHMW, 2025.