was purchased by the former Rhymney Valley District Council in 1979, and was restored during the 1980s with a view to being opened to the public as a local history museum. After modern conveniences had been added, it was decided to convert it into a living history museum, and it opened as such in the early 1990s. Since the house opened to the public, first-person conversation has been used by the costumed interpreters in the house, who take on the role of the house servants. Consequently, they communicate with visitors entirely in period English (claiming that the Master of the House disapproves of the use of Welsh, a not uncommon attitude at the time), and feign unfamiliarity with post-1645 history and technological developments. Visitors today see the house furnished as it would have been in 1645. All the furnishings in the rooms are accurate reproductions of items from the time of the Prichards and many of the originals can be found in the St Fagans National History Museum, such as a cast-iron firescreen dating from the mid 17th century. The thematic setting for the museum is the year 1645, at the height of the English Civil War when King Charles I visited the house to persuade its owner, Colonel Edward Prichard, not to change his allegiance. Prichard did change his allegiance soon after, and this allows the house to represent the different sides of the conflict at different times in the year. In 2013, it was announced that Caerphilly County Borough Council had been successful in obtaining £943,200 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to replace the roof, install a platform lift for better accessibility, and restore the attic, previously closed to the public, as servants' quarters; the addition of the slate roof was delayed by the presence of bats (a protected species) in the attics. The project started in late 2013, and was completed in 2015. In 2015, First minister Carwyn Jones unveiled the results of the project that has restored the servants quarters to the way they were in 1645. The aim is to attract 80,000 visitors a year by 2020. Watercolour artist Thomas Frederick Worrall lived in nearby Nelson during the early twentieth century, and painted a depiction of the rear of the building from the kitchen garden in 1911 or 1912. The painting is displayed in the reception area of the manor. Media and events