CEREDIGION County Council is still keeping its most valuable piece of artwork away from permanent public display, a year after the Cambrian News revealed it was being kept in council offices.

Of all the artworks the council owns, the most valuable is Ysguborau Uwch Ben Harlech, by Kyffin Williams, which has a value of £50,000.

But 12 months after the Cambrian News revealed it was being kept in the council’s offices in Penmorfa, Aberaeron, where most residents will never visit, the Cambrian News has learned that it is still there.

The other paintings, which are all on public display, are Thunderball, by Terry Setch, valued at £25,000, A Good Catch, by Buddug Pughe (£10,000), and The Clipper Riversdale, by Lai Fong (£10,000). Figures revealed in the council’s annual accounts also show the council owns heritage assets worth just shy of £2.9m, including Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth, valued at £1.5m, Cardigan Castle (£800,832), Aberystwyth Castle (£170,646), and the chairman’s Chain of Office (£70,000).

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “Ceredigion Museum does not curate its collections based on financial value; the value that we prize in the collection is cultural. On this basis, Ysguborau Uwch Ben Harlech (Kyffin Williams) is one of many valuable art works in the collection.

“Since the article was published we have circulated other important art works from the collection including the unique portrait of David Davies, who owned Castle Green House at Cardigan Castle in the 1830s, and an exhibition of historic maps of Ceredigion."

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