Heritage of Wales
- Places
- Tours and Trails
- Across Time
- Themes
- Gallery
- Hidden Histories I
- World Heritage Wales
- Maritime Archaeology In Wales
- Hidden Histories II
- Houses of the Welsh Countryside
- Hidden Histories III
- Chapels
The collection of paintings recording the standing stones of Pembrokeshire was created by artist J.C. Young over a three year period from 1981 to 1984, using a list of sites published in the Pembrokeshire Historian in 1966. Each of the 53 stones was visited by her in the field and meticulously recorded in the context of the surrounding landscape – an arduous undertaking, which often involved hours of searching and trekking to isolated locations. In addition to producing the paintings, Mrs Young also created a set of notes for each stone, recording any known history and folklore collected through documentary research and conversations with the landowners.
Each original painting is in oil on board and measures 5” x 8”. As well as documenting the stones themselves, they sometimes include delightful details of flora and fauna in addition to the surrounding landscape settings, often in dramatic conditions of weather and light. Whilst forming a charming and attractive collection of images, the paintings also constitute an important pictorial document of a significant site type for which the NMRW has few visual records. The artist’s eye has also captured detail and context which photographic recording would fail to pick up.
As the originals are due for exhibition and sale at Picton Castle from 5th August, 2011, Mrs Young has kindly allowed the National Monuments Record to digitally copy the paintings for their public archive. It is hoped that the paintings are sold as an entire collection, as it is highly desirable to maintain the integrity of such a body of work. However, should the collection be broken up the NMRW is pleased to preserve at least a virtual complete set of the paintings and make them accessible to the public.
.
.
.
.