The Gregynog Press & The Davies Sisters

Gwendoline and Margaret Davies were the granddaughters of the wealthy industrialist David Davies. They were enthusiastic collectors of Impressionist art, and much of their remarkable collection can now be seen at the National Museum of Wales.

Deeply socially conscious, they spent part of the First World War working with the Red Cross at the front, running a canteen for French troops. The suffering they witnessed first hand had a profound effect on them, and after the war, they felt strongly that they should do something to enrich the lives of returning Welsh soldiers, and began to imagine creating a centre of music and art in Wales. To that end the sisters purchased Gregynog Hall in 1919, with ambitious plans for pottery, weaving, furniture-making, and more. The only one of these ideas which came to anything, however, was printing.

The Gregynog Press was established in 1923, and produced 42 limited-edition fine press books, the final one being published in 1940. Its first Controller was Robert Ashwin Maynard, whom the sisters had sent to the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He returned with a keen interest in printing and book production, and, as a talented engraver, went on to provide illustrations for the Press’s second book, Poems by Henry Vaughan.

From the outset, the Press was intended not simply as a craft enterprise, but as a cultural mission. Its early aims were to champion Welsh writers and the Welsh language, however from the 1930s onwards its scope broadened.

The Press also produced ephemera, such as concert programmes. Under the Davies sisters, Gregynog became a major centre for music, attracting visitors such as Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst. Their love of music ran so deep that it even appeared in their job advertisements: “Gardener wanted, tenor preferred.”

Holst visited Gregynog during the first Gregynog Festival of Music and Poetry (1933–39) and was so impressed by the choir’s singing that he composed the choral work For Gregynog, later known as O Spiritual Pilgrim. This would be his final choral composition; he died less than a year later.

In 1940, The Gregynog Press was forced to close, as many of its staff were called up to active service in the Second World War. It remained dormant for the remainder of Gwendoline and Margaret's lifetimes, before being revived in 1975 with funding from the University of Wales and the Welsh Arts Council as Gwasg Gregynog.

The April 21st Welsh Sale (Part II) is now online, including nineteen lots from The Gregynog Press / Gwasg Gregynog. View the full catalogue online here.

Viewing can be arranged at our Cardiff auction house by appointment by calling us on 01492 532176