Genesis studio manor house in Capel Iwan up for £1.1m

Glaspant Manor as it looked in the 1970s

An 18th Century manor house in Carmarthenshire which once hosted the biggest names in the music industry has gone on the market for £1.1m.

Genesis, Black Sabbath and Freddie Mercury all spent time rehearsing and recording at the studios at Glaspant Manor in Capel Iwan.

The home's rehearsal studio, which is now holiday cottages, was used during the 1970s by the world's top musicians.

Owner Paul Sibert said: "It is steeped in history."

The studio at Glaspant Manor is where Genesis made their final album with Peter Gabriel, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, in 1974.

Fashion designer Angela Lyle, heiress to the Tate & Lyle company, moved to Glaspant in the early 70s where she made outfits for many bands using local wool.

Those connections with the music world attracted the biggest names in rock to Capel Iwan.

Genesis recorded a full album there in 1974

Mr Sibert said: 'It is steeped in history, so many stories come with the house.

"I've been told that one night Ozzy Osbourne who was staying here with his band, Black Sabbath, decided to take his Roller for a spin and drove it straight into the lake at the front of the house. He had a reputation for doing that back then."

He added: "We've now converted the old rehearsal studio into holiday cottages and we get the most interest from Genesis fans.

"Back in the 1970s, Island Records installed a mobile recording studio for the band to record The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. So we had five bookings last year for that very reason."

Mr Sibert runs the holiday cottages with his wife Philippa.

"In the 1970s it was very remote and would have been perfect for bands rehearsing for albums or tours," Mrs Sibert said.

"Angela Lyle had musicians come and stay with her and she would cook for them and look after them while they would rehearse.

"However, she was a vegetarian and only cooked them meals without meat. So one band, I believe it to be Black Sabbath, spelt out the word 'meat' in vegetables on the kitchen table, hoping the hint would work."

The couple have decided to sell up and with the mansion recently mentioned in Phil Collins biography, they said there has been plenty of interest.