#15 Hoelion Wyth Cymdeithas // Pillars of Society
#15 Hoelion Wyth Cymdeithas // Pillars of Society is a community project investigating public art in Carmarthen and asking who are our pillars of society?
The project is a response to the national (and international) debate around statues, monuments and colonial history. It provides an opportunity to discuss race, equality, diversity, Welsh identity and language, and the experience of Wales as coloniser and colonised.
The outcomes include a series of public talks available on Oriel Myrddin Gallery’s YouTube channel, new online interpretation of Carmarthen’s statues, monuments and other places of interest (below), a walk with accompanying map and souvenir postcards and an augmented reality app showing alternative public art created by first year sculpture students from Carmarthen School of Art.
The free map and postcards are available at Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Carmarthen Library, St Peters Hall Nott Square and other venues in Carmarthen.
The Ivy Bush Hotel, Spillman Street
The Pillars of Society walk starts at Oriel Myrddin Gallery however the beginning of the story of the project is The Ivy Bush Hotel around the corner on Spillman Street. In 1819 Iolo Morganwg, Welsh antiquarian, poet, forger and collector, threw down a handful of pebbles (the original Gorsedd Stones) and initiated the Gorsedd ceremony. The Gorsedd, a ceremony rooted in peace and honouring the land became the ceremonial heart of the Eisteddfod and is still practiced today. There is a miniature stone circle in the hotel grounds and a blue plaque to commemorate the 1819 event. At this time the hotel was owned by William Nott’s parents and the subject for the awdl, the chair winning poem in 1819 was Sir Thomas Picton who had died at Waterloo in 1815.
In the hotel there is a stained-glass window by John Petts made for the 1974 Eisteddfod with the Gorsedd motto Yn wyneb haul a llygad goleuni (In the face of the sun and the eye of light). John Petts is best known as the artist who created a window for a church in Alabama bombed by Ku Klux Klan members in 1963. Four children were killed. Speaking to the BBC in 1987, Petts recalled: "They had never heard of Wales, they had no idea where it was, but they were very quickly told something of the little country, and how it put great value on independence and freedom”. Money for the window – an image of a black Jesus beneath a rainbow of racial unity - was raised by public donation, a gift from the people of Wales.
Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Church Lane
Oriel Myrddin Gallery is the main publicly funded art and craft gallery for south-west Wales. Located in a listed Victorian building designed by architect George Morgan, it was funded by public subscription and opened as Carmarthen School of Art in 1892. In 1991 it opened as a gallery.
St Peters Church, Church Street
St Peters Church opposite the gallery was founded in the 8th or 9th century on the West Gate of the Roman town, the current 14th century church is the oldest building in Carmarthen. It holds the tomb of Rhys Ap Thomas who allegedly killed Richard III at the battle of Bosworth.
The walk goes from the gallery down King Street to Nott Square. The square was once the heart of Carmarthen, the site of the market and the medieval town cross.
Carmarthen Castle, Castle Hill
In Nott Square you will see Carmarthen Castle. Built in the early 1100s, the castle was captured and destroyed on several occasions before being rebuilt in stone during the 1190s. The castle changed hands many times and was captured by Owain Glyndwr in 1405. During the Wars of the Roses the castle fell to William Herbert with Henry VII’s father dying at the castle in 1456 and, during the Civil War, was captured by Parliamentary forces. It was partially dismantled by order of Oliver Cromwell in the mid-1600s and was used as Carmarthen's gaol until the 1920s.
Opposite Carmarthen Castle’s gate house is a statue of Sir William Nott.
William Nott, Nott Square
William Nott (1782 – 1845) was a British army general born in Neath, his parents became innkeepers in Carmarthen in 1794 and he went to India in 1800. He played a key part in the military offensive in northern India and Afghanistan which allowed the British Empire to take control. Many 1000’s of people died in these battles including 12,000 civilians in the winter of 1842 alone during the so-called retreat from Kabul. The 1849 statue by Edward Davis is made of bronze from guns captured at the battle of Maharajpore (in which 4000 Indian’s lost their lives) and given by the East India Company. An attached tablet commemorates Dr Robert Ferrar (sometimes spelled Farrar), Bishop of St David's, burnt at the stake in the square in 1555. There is a memorial to Ferrar in St Peters Church and Ted Hughes wrote a poem "The Martyrdom of Bishop Farrar" in 1957.
Use the AR app to see artwork by Finn Awen
From Nott Square the walk leads you to Guildhall square. Gwynfor Evans' plaque was attached to the front wall of Carmarthen’s Guildhall in 2016 to mark 50 years since Evans was returned as the first Plaid Cymru MP.
Gwynfor Evans, Guildhall Square
Gwynfor Evans (1912 – 2005) was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. He was President of Plaid Cymru for thirty-six years and was the first MP to represent the party at Westminster, which he did twice, from 1966 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1979. Evans was a pacifist and opposed the British government's support of the Nigerian government in the civil war against Biafra, he also opposed the Vietnam War protesting outside a US air base in Thailand. Both these wars were in large part the result of colonialism and neo-colonialism. Evans is most famous for his campaign to establish Welsh language TV channel S4C which is now based in Carmarthen.
The Guildhall was built during the 1770s and saw many historic trials, such as that of Rebecca Rioters. Inside are paintings of General Sir Thomas Picton by Sir Martin Archer Shee and a portrait of General Sir William Nott by Thomas Brigstocke.
Guildhall Square
Guildhall Square is also the site of a memorial to the 33 men from Carmarthenshire who died in the Boer war (1899 - 1902). This war was fought by the British Empire against the Boers over the discovery of diamonds in Transvaal and the Orange Free State. This was a brutal war with well over 50,000 people dying including 12,000 African’s whose land and resources was being fought over by colonial powers. It also involved the invention of concentration camps by the British and the death of 300,000 horses.
Use the AR app to see artwork by Carole Bodinger.
From the Guildhall the walk follows Lammas street up to the Crimean war memorial. Passing the site of the Franciscan Friary, established in the 13th century and dissolved in 1538. Rhys Ap Thomas was originally buried here. Extensive archaeological excavations have confirmed the presence of a church, a chapter house and a large cloister, with a smaller cloister and infirmary. Over 200 graves were found in the churchyard and 60 around the friars' choir. These now lie under Wilkinsons and the carpark.
The Crimean War Memorial, Lammas Street
The Crimean War memorial erected in 1858 is a stone obelisk enclosed by unusual railings, crossed muskets with bayonets, with panels inscribed with the names of the fallen. A company of the regiment was the first British force to land in Crimea. As well as Florence Nightingale, Welsh nurse Betsi Cadwallader and Mary Seacole who was British Jamaican were also pivotally important nurses during that war, but because they came from different social and cultural backgrounds they are not as well known.
Use the AR app to see artwork by Sarah Arthur.
From Lammas Street the walk goes into the park.
Carmarthen Park, Picton Terrace
Carmarthen Park officially opened in 1900 with its centrepiece - the velodrome. At 405.38 metres long it is believed to be the oldest outdoor concrete velodrome in continuous use in the world.
The Gorsedd Stones in Carmarthen park were erected in 1973 for the 1974 National Eisteddfod of Wales. They form part of the Eisteddfod’s druidic Gorsedd ceremonies and Gorsedd stones can be found throughout Wales, marking a location where a National Eisteddfod was held. Each stone circle consists of twelve stone pillars with a large, flat-topped stone, the Logan Stone, at the centre of the circle is which is used as a platform.
Use the AR app to see artwork by Hannah Moulder.
The walk leaves the park onto Picton Terrace.
Picton's Monument, Picton Terrace
Picton's Monument, an obelisk commemorating Sir Thomas Picton (1758 – 1815), a Welsh army officer, slave owner and trader and colonial governor of Trinidad (1797 – 1803) where he was known for the brutal torture of many people including a child. Picton died at the Battle of Waterloo. An earlier monument erected in the 1820's was dismantled in 1846. The present 24.2m tall monument was erected between 1847 and 1849 and partly rebuilt in 1988. The monument is controversial due to Picton’s actions in Trinidad, nearly 20,000 people have signed a petition to remove it, there are plans to remove a statue of Picton from Cardiff City Hall’s Welsh Heroes Gallery. However, many residents did not want the monument removed. A plaque attached to the monument commemorates the Rebecca Riots 1839 - 1843.
Use the AR app to see artwork by Thomas Bellingham
