Dylan THOMAS (1914–1953)
Poet and writer
The Manor House, South Leigh, nr Witney
Dylan Thomas is an acclaimed twentieth-century poet, in the Anglo-Welsh literary tradition. A memorial plaque was dedicated to him in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey in 1982.
He lived in South Leigh 1947–1949 and during that time worked on the text of Under Milk Wood, a play for voices, commissioned by the BBC. It paints in poetic prose a satirical picture of local characters in a Welsh seaside town provocatively named Llareggub. He did not fully complete the play until 1953 during a stay in New York shortly before his death. It was first performed on stage there and only in 1954 put on as a radio play by the BBC, narrated by Richard Burton. Under Milk Wood is one of his most celebrated works and the Blue Plaque marks this time in the village as an event worthy of recognition. Dylan became well known to the locals, not least in the pub, and memories are abiding. Some have thought that local people and names were an inspiration for characters in the play.
Dylan Marlais Thomas was born in Swansea to David John (Jack) Thomas, a schoolmaster, and his wife Florence Hannah. He attended Swansea Grammar School. At sixteen he embarked on a career as a local journalist but writing poetry was already his motivating passion. The poem And Death shall have no dominion appeared in his first published collection in 1934. Half of the ninety poems in his final Collected Poems (1952) derive from this precocious and fertile period of inspiration. He came to the notice of T. S. Eliot and Stephen Spender who gave him an introduction to London literary circles. Another patron was Edith Sitwell. He married Caitlin Macnamara in 1937. The family, now including two children, Llewelyn and Aeronwy, scraped by in wartime London with help from benefactors. Dylan soon became known for his heavy drinking and clowning. The poem Fern Hill was written when he was living again in Wales. After the war he was able to make a reasonable income writing scripts for the BBC and proved to be a popular reader and actor with his vibrant and charismatic voice.
In 1946 Margaret Taylor, wife of the historian A. J. P. Taylor, offered the family a makeshift home in the summerhouse of their garden at Holywell Ford, in the grounds of Magdalen College, Oxford. She then provided the South Leigh manor house, in those days somewhat dilapidated, as a haven for poetic inspiration 1947–1949. During this time his father who was dying of cancer came to stay together with his wife. The poet began to feel that he needed to regenerate his creativity by returning to the land of his fathers. As a lasting benefaction, Margaret Taylor bought for them the Boathouse at Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, which famously remained their permanent residence. It is now a museum.
Invited to New York in 1950, and again in 1952 and 1953, he gave hugely popular readings, enjoying an enhanced and legendary reputation as a ‘wild boy’ poet. His Collected Poems 1934–1952 (containing the late work Do not go gentle into that good night, an elegy to his dying father) were published and he was awarded Foyle’s Poetry Prize. His literary success had often been tempered by bouts of despair and alcoholism. A health crisis occurred in New York in November 1953 when he fell into a coma in part fuelled by alcohol abuse and died at the age of only 39. He is buried at Laugharne.
Source:
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, article by Paul Ferris
The plaque was unveiled at The Manor House, South Leigh on 7 June 2025. The tributes were paid by Professor Emeritus Wynn Thomas of the University of Swansea and Martin Spurrier of South Leigh Manor who had proposed the commemoration. Among those attending were the Chair of Oxfordshire County Council (Cllr Mark Lygo), other members of Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board, the Chair of South Leigh PC, local residents, and visitors (some Welsh).
Photographs taken at the unveiling ceremony:
- Professor Wynn Thomas delivering his tribute
- Louise Spurrier and Professor Wynn Thomas unveiling the plaque
with Mark Lygo, Chair of Oxfordshire County Council, looking on - Martin & Louise Spurrier, Professor Robert Evans, Mark Lygo,
and Professor Wynn Thomas holding the Welsh flag - Film of David Reid of the Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir
singing the Prayer of the Reverend Eli Jenkins from “Under Milk Wood”
Speeches made at the unveiling ceremony (PDFs):
Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board
Poet and writer
DYLAN THOMAS
1914–1953
worked on
‘UNDER MILK WOOD’
while living here
1947–1949
