History
The Amroth Castle estate has alternatively been known by the traditional name Eareweare. There was a feudal residence here from the early Middle Ages, mentioned by Fenton. In 1670 John Elliott esq. of Eareweare paid tax on five hearths.
The house underwent an extensive rebuild in the early C18 to take its present form. It has windows of early Georgian proportions, plat-bands at the first and second floor levels and roof level, and a massive-looking main staircase of newel type with wide turned balusters and close-strings.
A front porch with main entrance stonework of probably C15 date survives from the early house, plus a vaulted room in the interior. The key to the development of the house is a sketch drawn in 1770 in J Pridden's MS tour of Wales (labelled Carmarthenshire / Laugharne, but patently Amroth). It apparently shows the top two storeys of the house of Miss Owen apparently seen over a hedge, with the crenellated parapet (which still remains) and the top of the two-storey S-facing bay window (which also remains, or has been reconstructed on the same lines). In the porch, the top storey is lit by a Diocletian window, where there is now a C19 sash window. Most interestingly, the first floor has a large pointed opening, perhaps a first floor entrance (as at Picton Castle, Upton Castle or Carew Fortified Rectory). At Carew the stonework of a first floor entrance appears to have been repositioned at ground level, and the same may have happened here. If this is so, the present ground storey with its one surviving vaulted room is the successor of an undercroft.
Colonel Ackland acquired Amroth in 1790 and was there at the time of Fenton's visit in 1810. Fenton details the improvements under Ackland: he preserved the old porch, made additions, converted an old vaulted ale-cellar into a dining room, and turned the mansion into a house of 'luxury and convenience'. The Colonel also entertained Nelson and Lady Hamilton, and added a plaque to the dining room ceiling commemorating the occasion.
Owners in the C19 included the families of Biddulph and Bevan. From about 1851 the house was briefly used as an asylum, under Dr Norton; this may be the time the chapel was added. Bathrooms were added at the rear. In the time of the Fussell family, in 1861, the house is described as having its principal living rooms facing the sea, including a very large dining room and a bay window of two storeys, as now. Lord Kylsant acquired the house in 1898, but does not appear to have made changes. In 1930 it became a farmhouse, was requisitioned and maltreated during the World War II, and in 1969 was acquired by the present owner for dividing into holiday accommodation.