a loving restoration
the historical house
The existing house dates from the late 18th or early 19th century, but was built on the site of an older homestead. The name ‘Glebe’ suggests it was originally designed to supply rental income for the nearby Talbenny Church. Until the 1960s Glebe House was a working farm (indeed it is still called Glebe Farm or Glebe Farm House on many maps). During the early part of the 20th century it had a blacksmith’s forge at its western end and a dairy and milking parlour on the eastern end. There was a connecting door through to the house.
Outside there was a ty bach (privy) and pigsty beyond the milking parlour (the remains of both are still present). There was also at least one well in what is now the ‘wild garden’. Apparently this provided water not only for the farm, but for neighbouring dwellings.
While little more is known about the pre-19th century history of the farm and smithy, in common with many older buildings in the locality, there are persistent rumours of a smuggling connection. One implausible story suggests a tunnel running from the cellar to the base of the nearby cliffs, others that there is gold hidden in the same cellar. This seems unlikely, not least because there is no trace of a cellar today and the relatively high local water table (hence the wells) would make an underground room problematic
The 1960s onwards
More recently, Glebe House was bought in 1965 by Rose Granville from Bridgend in Gwent. The purchase came by chance. Rose and her daughter Francine had been looking for something similar in south east Wales but had moved their search west to prospect around Pembrokeshire (particularly St Davids). One day the family got lost while driving from Milford Haven to St Davids and happened to pass Talbenny. Rose instantly fell in love with Glebe House, drawn in particular to the rose-draped porch. The building was originally limewashed white, but the new owners immediately set about ‘improvements’, replacing the existing sash windows with contemporary wooden frames and adding a pebble dash concrete render.
Rose and Francine lived in the house for the rest of the 1960s and in 1966 obtained planning consent to convert the dairy and milking parlour into a single storey extension – although obviously this was never acted on (see image of two glam ladies, below).
The Granvilles continued to live at Glebe House for most of the ‘70s, before buying and moving to the Fort Hotel above Little Haven. Following a string of break-ins by people looking for the mythical gold in the cellar, Glebe House was let to an American couple who worked on the nearby Dale Airbase until they returned to America in 1985. After this there was a succession of shorter, unsuccessful, lets followed and eventually the house was left empty. In 1997 it had to be re-roofed and the dangerous state of the milking parlour meant this was demolished. The dairy – which was in better condition – remained.
the house today
The current owner, Daniel Butler, fell in love with the area while on holiday in 2012. He stumbled across Glebe House while idly surfing the ‘net in the middle of the night. It had only just been placed on the market, but within six hours he had driven down to inspect the building and two days later his first offer was accepted. The sale was completed in January 2013, but the restoration work was not completed until August 2015.
