Margam Interiors

The Margam Interiors’ project started with a community history approach, working with local people, historians, and heritage enthusiasts to see just how much we could find out about the lost interiors. Groups such as the Friends of Margam Park, Rich History and the Port Talbot Historical Society helped by supplying photographs, text and ideas about the interiors. The community and volunteer strand of work was led by CFP, a consultancy that have in depth knowledge of the castle.

This phase was followed by a deep-dive into the history of the Castle led by Swansea University, including a systematic study of historical records and archives, including materials held in national collections. The UKSPF funding enabled CHART to appoint a full-time researcher for the duration of the project. Part of this work included the agreements from international museums and art galleries to use digital versions of artworks in the app.

The digital elements were undertaken in two phases.

Greenhatch ltd were commissioned by CHART to capture a digital model of the interior and exterior of the Castle. They flew a drone around the outside of the main castle building taking thousands of photographs and then moved inside with digital cameras doing the same on the ground floor and first floor. The below video shows a quick flyby of the castle from their work.

Zubr were then commissioned by Swansea University to create the app, focusing on reconstructions of the library and dining room.

To use the app on site you will need to download it from the app store / google store using the link below.

Once you get to the Castle there will be posters on site for you to scan within the app and these will launch the experience for you.

Please note mobile signal in and around the Castle is poor so we strongly advise people to download the app before visiting.

Watch this space! More details will follow on how to download the app.

Special thanks to the following individuals and institutions that have contributed to this project:

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales

Bank of England & Bank of England Museum

Birmingham Museums Trust

Bonhams auction house

British Newspaper Archive

CADW

Christie’s auction house

Chrysler Museum of Art

Collections of the Grand Palais and the Louvre

Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park

Damian Maruscha-Owen

Dave Morris & the Morris Family

Factum Foundation

Fondazione Giorgio Cini

Gareth Elms

Getty Provenance Index

Gareth Hughes

Glamorgan Archives

Greenhatch Group

Harlaxton College & Harlaxton Manor

Iwan Williams

Jeffrey-Lewis Jones

John Vivian Hughes

Lacy Scott & Knight auction house

Liechtenstein Museum & Palais Schwarzenberg

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

Megan Kelleher

Merthyr Mawr Estate

Museum Prinsenhof Delft

National Gallery of Ireland

National Trust Collections

National Trust: Dinefwr Park & Newton House

National Trust: Lacock

National Trust: Penrhyn Castle & Garden

Penllergaer Estates & The Llewelyn Family

Penrice Estate & Thomas Methuen-Campbell

Pinacoteca di Brera

Port Talbot Historical Society

Richard Burton Archives

Royal Collection Trust

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)

SCALA Archives

Sotheby’s auction house

Stowell Park Estate

The British Museum

The Friends of Margam Park

The Leiden Collection, New York

The National Gallery

Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum

Victoria and Albert Museum

West Glamorgan Archive Service

Paintings

Update from Researcher Beau Jones at Swansea University:

We now know that the collection was acquired in two eras of Margam’s development. Firstly, Thomas Mansel Talbot spent £11,300 (roughly £2 million in today’s money!) acquiring artwork, furniture and sculpture from a Grand Tour of Europe throughout the 1770s. Thomas Mansel Talbot’s collection was generally classical in nature and often highly religious or mythological, perhaps displaying the Anglo-Catholic tendencies of the Talbot family. These pieces were kept at Penrice or in storage until Margam Castle was built nearly 50 years later.
Secondly, Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot greatly increased the size of the collection throughout the 1830s & 1840s by acquiring artworks at auction houses in London. We know that in one sale in July 1835, CRM Talbot bought up to 20 pieces of art. This second art collection helped decorate and furnish the newly built Margam Castle. CRM Talbot’s acquisitions mainly focused on landscapes, hunting and sailing with preference towards Dutch & Flemish masters.
By the time Margam Castle was sold in 1941, the Talbot art collection was extensive and featured more than 320 pieces.

Since April 2024 we have spent time tracking down paintings from the vast art collection that was once held at Margam Castle and acquiring licenses to use them as part of the project. Through contacting dozens of museums, art galleries and art institutes we now know more about the Margam art collection than ever before. We’ve also consulted with provenance experts, local history societies, and auction houses who occasionally list artwork with links to Margam. The Talbots clearly had a keen and trustworthy eye when it came to gathering their collection as it is still highly sought after today.

So far, we have licenses for 14 pieces of art that were once part of the collection. Many of these pieces are now in institutions around the world such as the National Gallery, the Georigio Cini Foundation, Venice and the Detroit Institute of Art. 

These are listed below:

• Niccolo Dell' Abbate - An extensive view near the coast (The Death of Eurydice)
• Francesco Albani - Dance of the Cupids
• Ludolf Bakhuizen - Shipping in Rough Waters off the Dutch Coast
• Antonio Joli - Westminster from the River
• Pietro Da Cortona - Saint Cecilia
• Artemsia Gentileschi - The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
• Karel Du Jardin - The Conversion of Saint Paul
• Samual Scott - Shipping in anchor in the Thames Estuary, near Wapping
• David Teniers, the Younger -        The Birth of Jupiter
• Carletto Caliari  - Madonna & Child in Glory, and Saints.
• Agostino Ciampelli - Jeremiah (Design for a Lunette)
• Agostino Ciampelli - King David
• Bonaventura Peeters  - Shipwreck off a Rocky Coast with survivors
• Studio of Canaletto - The Grand Canal, Venice, with a Regatta

There are many other pieces of art from the Margam Collection that we’ve been able to track down, however licensing arrangements for these are still to be agreed.
Tracing artworks and licensing are only part of the puzzle. Our next step is to identify where in the Castle artwork was displayed. We have a few photos from the 1880s and 1941s that are helping us work to achieve this goal. A consultation of letters, correspondence and other archival documentation associated with the Talbot family is now required to tell us more.

1. ​Westminster from the River. Attributed to Antonio Joli. © Bank of England.

2. Madonna & Child in Glory, with Saints. Attributed to Carletto Cagliari. Reproduced with kind permission of Venezia, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Istituto di Storia dell'Arte.

3. Shipping in Anchor in the Thames Estuary, near Wapping. Attributed to Samual Scott. © Sotheby’s

4. The Rest on the Flight into Egypt. By Orazio Gentileschi.  Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust, licensed under CC0

5. The Dining Room at Margam Castle. Photo by Thomas Mansel Franklen, July 1891. Glamorgan Archives

Sculptures

The sculptures or marbles as they are often called are more difficult to trace but work has been started by a volunteer to research these and we are slowly tracking them down. The only photographs we have are either from the 1850s or some of the main stairwell in the 1940s presumably around the time of the sale.

Visitors to the Castle and particularly the Orangery will know that the latter has 2 sculptures remaining. We are still tracking down where one of these came from and hope to share more information soon.