Qualla: Island House, Laugharne

Island House, Laugharne: Introduction

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, Public domain. Sometime in 1644, during the parliamentary siege of Laugharne Castle, a cannonball aimed at the castle gatehouse went a little wide and struck Island House next door. Half the house came down. The owner at the time may or may not have been a Royalist sympathiser, but accident or not, a part of his home was demolished by Cromwell's gunners. The ball itself was kept on the premises until 1823 as a kind of souvenir. The half-house was rebuilt - a lintel above the yard door is dated 1658 - and the result is the building you still see slumped on the corner of Wogan Street: walls in places as thick as the castle's, a probable priest hole in the masonry, and a history older than almost any other surviving townhouse in Wales.

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Image: Samuel and Nathaniel Buck | Public domain

Island House, Laugharne: Island Between Two Mouths

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sionk, CC BY-SA 4.0. The name is literal. Island House sat, originally, between the two mouths by which the River Corran enters the Taf estuary - channels known locally as Earth Lake and Mill Orange. In the early Middle Ages those channels formed Gosport Harbour, the working port of Laugharne, deep e...

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Image: Sionk | CC BY-SA 4.0

Island House, Laugharne: The White Family and the First Records

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The earliest documented owner is Elizabeth White, recorded in 1584 - widow of Thomas Rhys ap Rhydderch of Hawksbrook and heiress of Jasper White of Laugharne, whose family had held land in the parish since the 14th century. The Whites may have been the original builders; the earl...

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Image: Public domain

Island House, Laugharne: Chandler's Hill

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Humphrey Bolton, CC BY-SA 2.0. By the mid-18th century Wogan Street was known locally as Chandler's Hill because three generations of the Skyrme family ran a marine chandler's from the property, supplying rope, sailcloth and tar to the ships at Gosport. All three were called William. All three were elected por...

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Image: Humphrey Bolton | CC BY-SA 2.0

Island House, Laugharne: Roman Coins in the Garden

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Stuart Logan, CC BY-SA 2.0. Sometime in the 19th century a Roman bath was found in the grounds of Island House. Then in 2006 a hoard of more than 2,000 Roman coins came out of the same earth. The discoveries fit a broader picture of Laugharne in the Roman period: not a recognised town, not even an officiall...

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Image: Stuart Logan | CC BY-SA 2.0

Island House, Laugharne: Saved, Just

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit J. Laporte, Public domain. Caleb Rees, writer and Deputy Chief Inspector of Schools for Wales, lived at Island House from 1943 until his death in 1970. His widow, Dr Laura Rees, was Medical Officer to the Welsh Board of Health. They opened the gardens for community events. After the last private owner died...

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Image: J. Laporte | Public domain