Be Mindful

Barafundle (1997) is the title of a sweet, folky and bit weird album of band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Where does 'Barafundle' come from? It comes from the name of a bay and beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales (UK). One of the top 12 beaches in the world (2004).

There is no road access directly to the beach. It was the private beach (1) of the Cawdor family of Stackpole Court. For easy access to the beach of Barafundle bay they made steps and a wall. The house 'Stackpole Court' (2) was built in the 1730s. At the start of World War II most of the Stackpole Estate farmland was requisitioned for training ground for British troops. This made the estate unviable for the Cawdor family and they returned to their Scottish estate, in Nairnshire, in the early 1940s.

Stackpole Court in 1935

Crippling taxes and lack of money on the empty house meant it was demolished in 1963.

Leaving behind the estate's outbuildings, parkland and beaches which are looked after by the National Trust since 1977. What remains is a remembrance stone.

Be Mindful!

The bigger picture is that after the imposing of death duties (1894), drop of income from the estates, raising of servants' wages and materials, and World War I (1914-1918) the backbone of the country house in the UK was broken. Too expensive. More than a thousand country houses have been demolished since 1920. More (with a lot of details): here.

P.S. I wrote on country houses before: June 2010 and April 2011.