Hensol Castle Wedding Photography

Wedding Photography from the South Wales Hensol Castle

Here are some example from my previous Hensol Castle wedding photography assignments. Hensol Castle is part of The Vale Resort in South Wales. A Grade I listed, 400-year former stately home found at the end of a long, tree lined, sweeping driveway, within a generous landscape that includes a 15 acre lake. Architecturally it is a castellated mansion built in a gothic style. The Hensol estate dates back as early as 1419, then probably owned by the Jenkins family, a notable member of which was the famous judge, David Jenkins, who remained loyal to the Royal family during the English Civil War, liberated from incarceration once King Charles II regained the throne. In the 18th Century, through lack of male heir the estate passed to Charles Talbot through marriage. However by the end of the century it was sold to the banker, Samuel Richardson, and later Benjamin Hall in 1815, then William Crawshay the Iron King of Merthyr Tydfil in 1824, followed by fellow iron master Rowland Fothergilll in 1838. Following his death, it passed through the family until Sir Franis Caradoc Rose Price, the grand-nephew of Rowland, put the estate up for sale, quoted in the The Times;

“The old place requires a lot of money to maintain it. Income-tax and supertax have almost trebled since the war, and the cost of upkeep has considerably increased. These heavy burdens make careful consideration of one’s position necessary, and there is a duty to younger children. If I died to-morrow, heavy death duties would make it impossible for them to live here. I can go on, but they could not. By the time one has paid all Imperial and local dues in the way of taxation there is not much left now, and for that reason I have decided to put the estate up for sale”

In 1926 the Glamorgan County Castle bought the estate to use as a mental hospital. By the end of the century, thanks to the dwindling number of patients, which was due to move towards care in the community, it had many uses including conference and educational offices. It finally closed in 2003 and was soon bought by Leekes, a local family run company who had previously built the neighbouring Vale Resort. With the financial assistance of the Welsh governments historic environment service, CADW, it has been refurbished into an exclusive use, wedding and conference venue. If you are planning a wedding at Hensol Castle and looking for a South Wales wedding photographer please do not hesitate to enquire after my availability.

Hensol Castle Wedding Photography