Prestigne / My Town / Richard Suggett

Investigator, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales, with special responsibility for emergency recording.

  From where does you love of old buildings and architecture stem?

From growing up in Penarth which was – and is – full of historic buildings and interesting sites, including Penarth Docks which was one of our playgrounds.

  What do you like most about your job?

The privilege of making a record for posterity of threatened buildings throughout Wales

  You've written a book about houses in Radnorshire - what is so special about this county architecturally?

Radnorshire is special because there has been a tradition of ‘make do and mend’ which has led to the preservation rather than rebuilding of its medieval farmhouses

  Is there a style of house that is typical to Radnorshire?

Radnorshire houses often combine a later stone-building tradition with an earlier timber-framing tradition.

  What about Presteigne itself? 

Presteigne is a very instructive town because it has a range of townhouses dating from 1430 onwards. Half the town was rebuilt after a great fire in 1681 and medieval houses only survive outside the area of the fire

  Do you have any specific memories or stories whilst doing the research for the book or in the course of your work regarding properties in Presteigne?

Yes, finding an Elizabethan letter in a peghole at The Duke’s Arms where it had been placed for safekeeping over 400 years before. We also found some very faded wallpaintings in the bar which are best contemplated with the aid of a pint of best bitter.

Do you have a favourite Preseteigne house and why?

Whitehall is an almost perfect medieval house with hall and cross-wing fronting Hereford Street which escaped the 1681 fire. Exploring the medieval smoke-blackened roof was a memorable experience. We were able to show from tree-ring dating the roof that it was built from timber felled in Spring 1462 to Summer 1463, a remarkably specific date.’