Ffynone Mansion

Ffynone
Ffynnonau
Ffynone Mansion in 2004
General information
Town or city	Boncath
Country	Wales
Coordinates	52°01′03″N 4°33′43″W / 52.0176°N 4.5619°W / 52.0176; -4.5619
Completed	1799
Design and construction
Architect	John Nash

Ffynone (Welsh: Ffynnonau) is a mansion and estate near Boncath, Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the parish of Manordeifi. The original Georgian design was by architect John Nash and later remodelled by Inigo Thomas.

The name predates the mansion and its Welsh name, Ffynnonau reflects the existence of a number of wells in the district.

The Ffynone estate belonged at one time to the Morgan family of Blaenbwlan, from whom it was purchased by Captain Stephen Colby in 1752. The house, completed in 1799, was repaired in 1828 by W Hoare and Son of Lawrenny. In the 1830s the estate extended to 237 acres in Manordeifi parish with further lands in adjacent parishes. The parkland around the house was some 30 acres. There were many additions and improvements over future years to both house and estate.

The property was passed down the Colby family to John Vaughan Colby, whose wife in 1902 commissioned architect and garden designer Inigo Thomas to remodel the house and lay out the terraced gardens, which was completed in 1907.

John Vaughan died in 1919 and, having no sons, left the estate to his daughter Aline Margaret, who had married Captain Cecil John Herbert Spence-Jones, son of the Dean of Gloucester, in 1908; the marriage was a notable occasion, reported in great detail and an occasion for local celebration, despite there being no guests at the wedding and no reception owing to the bride's mother's state of health. Spence took the additional surname of Colby by royal licence in 1920 and subsequently sold the property in 1927 to a Glamorgan businessman.

The house, in 20 acres of woodland, was bought and restored from 1988 onwards by Owen Lloyd George, 3rd Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor and his wife, who are credited with saving the house. After the death of the 3rd Earl in 2010 the house was put up for sale with an asking price of £2.5 million. It remains (2013) in the Lloyd George family.

The estate records (to 1919) are held at the National Library of Wales.