IF you’ve ever wondered what life was like in Pembrokeshire during the Tudor times, you can visit a house in Tenby which has retained its Tudor style.
Tudor Merchant’s House is now a museum in Tenby, named after its initial use – as the property was built by a merchant during the bustling Tudor times. It is the oldest still-standing house in Tenby.
The plaque on the wall. Picture: Ian S via Geograph, Creative Commons
At the time, Tenby was a busy trading port, and the merchant took advantage of this by building the three-storey house which doubled as both his own home on the first and upper floors and a place to trade from on the ground floor. BritainExpress.com states the merchant most likely traded in cloth, coal, pots, spices and vinegar.
The house was built from rubble stone and has a slate roof. It consists of two floors and an attic with a narrow gabled front. The gable has ashlar two-light window with hoodmould set slightly to the right of the centre and up against a stone square chimney.
The window has arched heads to lights and leaded glazing and both the chimney and window project from the main wall.
Much of the house has been restored, with one of the main changes being the gable’s windows as it used to have 12-pane sash windows.
On the first floor, there is a centre small 20th century two-light timber window with leaded panes. The ground floor has a similar window to the left, with stone voussoirs over and door to right in cambered headed surround of large stones, similar to other medieval doorways in Tenby.
Tudor Merchant's House. Picture: Gareth Davies Photography
The front door is a 20th century plank door up three steps. There is a single curved stone for head and long stone on each side of the doorway, with impost stones between. There is also a rough stone relieving arch over the door.
On the left side, the return wall is corbelled above a small first floor leaded window and the rear wall has a very large chimney breast with square chimney.
Inside the house, the ground floor front room has large beam on corbels, a smaller beam on the front wall. There is a blocked chamfered window on the rear and it retained some of the 18th century wall painting on the rear wall according to BritishListedBuildings.co.uk.
There was a simple plant scroll with stars in black, yellow and red on the south wall and north short stub wall to passage.
There is a large kitchen fireplace on the rear wall and stone voussoirs to cambered arch. The stairs on the south wall are 20th century. On the first floor, there is three-light window on the rear wall and a fireplace on the north wall with stone lintel on corbels, three-light mullion window to the left and latrine chute in the left corner.
To the right of the fireplace is a blocked pointed door which it is presumed went to the old stairs which provided access to the first floor from the outside. There is a window on the east front and a small window in the extreme left corner of the south wall. There are more 20th century stairs to the right and further right over the stairs from the ground floor and there is an oak-framed doorway which leads into Plantagenet House.
The south attic bedchamber has five-bay roof with collar trusses and small windows on the north and south walls, with the main window again on the east front and a fireplace to the right.
Inside the house. Picture: National Trust Images/James Dobson
Today the building is a museum with all the aforementioned features and you can see the shop and kitchen on the ground floor, the main family living area on the first floor and the sleeping quarters on the second floor.
The furniture has been recreated to match the time period and was made locally. There is also a herb garden, and painted cloths akin to what would have been displayed on walls during the time.
The National Trust took over the running of the Tudor Merchant House in the late 1930s who carried out the restoration works with public funding. It was given a Grade I listed building status in 1951 due to it being an ‘exceptional survival of a late medieval town house.’
For more information on the Tudor Merchant House and opening hours and prices, visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/tudor-merchants-house
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