Editing Gregynog Hall (section)

==Gregynog and the Davies sisters==
[[Image:Gregynog Hall built in its present form in the 1840s.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Gregynog Hall built in its present form in the 1840s]]
Gregynog was bought by Margaret and her elder sister [[Gwendoline Davies]] in 1920 with the intention of establishing a centre of excellence for the arts, crafts and music which would enrich the lives of the people of Wales in the aftermath of the World War One.<ref>White, Eirene  ''The Ladies of Gregynog''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985</ref> It became famous for music, fine printing and for the sisters' art collections which they bequeathed to the nation. These can now be seen in the Davies Galleries of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.<ref>Ingamells, John ''The Davies Collection of French Art''. Cardiff: National Museum of Wales, 1967</ref> 

Theirs was one of the most important British collections of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting acquired before 1920.<ref>Sumner, Ann ''Colour and Light: 50 Impressionist Paintings in the National Museum of Wales'' Cardiff: National Museum of Wales, 2005</ref> Their advisor [[Hugh Blaker]] was the younger brother of their governess Jane Blaker.<ref>Meyrick, Robert 'Hugh Blaker: Doing his bit for the Moderns’, ''Journal of the History of Collections'', Vol. 16, No. 2, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 173–189</ref> The French collection was only one aspect of their interests – it hung at Gregynog alongside Old Masters, prints by Dürer, Rembrandt and Whistler, Chinese and Islamic ceramics, contemporary hand-made furniture commissioned by the sisters, Welsh vernacular furniture as well as contemporary ceramics and crafts.<ref>MacIntyre, Beth ''Sisters Select: Works of Art on Paper from the Davies Collection"  National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 2001</ref> Seen as a whole, the sisters' collections are a tribute to the multiplicity and catholicism of their tastes.<ref>Fairclough, Oliver, Anne Sumner; Robert Meyrick, et al. ''Things of Beauty''. Cardiff:   National Museum of Wales, 2007</ref>

The [[Gregynog Music Festival]], Wales's oldest surviving classical music festival, was established in 1933 by the Davies sisters, with the advice of their friend and advisor, [[Walford Davies|Sir Henry Walford Davies]] (later Master of the King's Music). Many famous names are associated with the Gregynog Festivals, including [[Gustav Holst]], [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], [[Edward Elgar]] and [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]]. The Festival is still held at Gregynog every June. In more recent years, leading international artistes have performed at Gregynog, including [[Benjamin Britten]] and [[Peter Pears]].<ref>Parrot, Ian ''The Spiritual Pilgrims''.  Pembrokeshire: H. G. Walters Ltd., 1968</ref> The sisters also established the [[Gregynog Press]], which still exists under the name of [[Gwasg Gregynog]], and is famous for its limited edition hand-printed books with fine bindings and exquisite wood-engraved illustrations.<ref>Harrop, Dorothy ''The History of the Gregynog Press''. Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 1980</ref>

Gregynog is also home to the annual [[Gregynog Young Musicians Competition|Young Musicians Competition]] which attracts participants from all over Wales and beyond.

;Photos taken in the 1900s by [[Percy Benzie Abery]]
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