One of Llanelli's most historic properties, this fine example of an early 18th century Georgian Town house which is in a poor state of repair was bought in 1998 by the Town Council with the object of completely restoring it.

Standing immediately opposite the Parish Church it is the former house of the Stepney family, and was built in 1714 by Thomas Stepney, M.P. for Carmarthenshire. It has a chequered history, and it is recorded that John Wesley, the Apostle of Wesleyan Methodism, stayed there on several occasions during his visits to the town.

The house got terrific exposure as one of the properties featured in the 2003 BBC2 ‘Restoration’ series, in which it was championed by none other than the flamboyant Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. It reached the final as the winner of the Welsh heat, and although it lost out to Manchester’s Victorian Baths, the huge support it received from far and wide certainly raised the profile of the project and gave it a huge boost.

The project aims to make the building a community heritage centre, and has been led all along by Project Director William Wilkins of National Botanic Garden of Wales and Aberglasney fame.

Up until June 2008, it had a reasonable measure of success in attracting funding for the restoration work, not least the £200,000 of funding secured through CADW and Carmarthenshire County Council to meet the bulk of the cost of undertaking emergency strengthening works inside the house, which were completed in June.

But at the end of June came the news that everyone involved with the project had been hoping for.  The Trustees of the Heritage Lottery Fund approved the joint funding application submitted by the Town Council and the Carmarthenshire Heritage Regeneration Trust, and granted us £3.4 million plus £146,500 towards project development costs.  The decision was greeted with huge delight and relief in equal measure, as it vindicated the bold decision taken by the Town Council to buy the house for restoration, and the faith shown by members in sticking with the project over a very long period.  It was also a fitting outcome to many years of hard work by a team of conscientious, dedicated and hard-working people, and means that at long last the future of this truly historic gem is preserved for present and future generations.

The work of developing the project to the stage where tenders for the restoration work contract can be invited is now proceeding apace.  Currently it is estimated that work should start on site in early 2010, with completion at the end of 2011.

This page will be updated periodically as the project progresses. For further information please contact Lynn Davies, Clerk to the Town Council.  Alternatively you can ring our special “Phone Llanelly House” service for monthly updates on 01554 858101.