During the Middle Ages, the area around Aberglasney was the centre for bloody battles, including a particularly violent offensive in 1257. Bishop Rudd is generally thought to have acquired the Aberglasney estate sometime around 1600. The house stayed in the family until 1710 when the estate was sold to Robert Dyer. In 1803 Thomas Phillips who died childless in 1824 bought Aberglasney on his retirement. His heirs benefited from his fortune, and his amiable ghost is said to have appeared to a number of gardeners and household staff. In 1872 heiress Marianne Pryse married a young soldier Charles Mayhew, and Aberglasney was let out during most of their married life, but they returned on his retirement in 1902. Aberglasney was commandeered for troop occupation during World War 2. Vandalism, theft and the elements combined to escalate the collapse of the estate until it was offered for sale by Christie's. Its prior removal as a listed building however had constituted an offence and prosecution followed. The publicity raised the profile of Aberglasney and its fortunes were reversed with its sale to the Aberglasney Restoration Trust in 1995.