Napoleon famously commented that the British were a ‘nation of shopkeepers’, but we can guess that he was referring to England, because here in Wales there can be no doubt that for most of the last millennium at least we have been a nation of farmers.

Nobody would doubt that the farms of Wales have had a major impact on the landscape of Wales, shaping the countryside that surrounds them.

That countryside has also shaped the farms themselves, dictating the stone that they are built from, and the way that the buildings are constructed. Utility comes first on the farm, resulting in simple buildings that are unconscious of the beauty that results naturally from the colour and texture of their building materials. Aberdeunant, in rural Carmarthenshire, is a perfectly preserved example of a house that is in tune with its environment.