Gwrych Castle

Gwrych Castle (Welsh: Castell Gwrych pronounced [ˌkastɛɬ ˈɡwrɨːx]) is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales.[1] The castle and estate are privately owned.[2]

Gwrych Castle
Castell Gwrych
Abergele, Wales
East wing of the castle
Coordinates53.2833°N 3.6087°W / 53.2833; -3.6087
TypeGothic revival
Site information
OwnerGwrych Castle Preservation Trust
ConditionDerelict, being restored.
Site history
BuiltOriginal building c.14th/15th centuries
Rebuilt 1810 onwards
Built byLloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh(1812-1822), Thomas Rickman(1819–20), Charles Augustin Busby & Henry Kennedy(~1840's), George Edmund Street(~1870's) & Detmar Blow(1914).
In useOpen to public
MaterialsCast Iron, Grey & White limestone.
Listed Building – Grade I

Early History

The Lloyds (Llwyds) of Plas yn y Gwrych were the ancestral owners of Gwrych and could trace their ancestry back to the medieval period.[3] They were part of the royal house of Marchudd ap Cynan, founder of the VIII Noble Tribe of North Wales. The Lloyds also shared co-sanguinity with Llywelyn the Great. [4] Situated within the Gwrych Castle Estate are a pair of iron hillforts, a Roman shrine, lead/silver mines and medieval battle sites, the latter were immortalised on stone tablets at the principal entrance.[5]

The Creation of the Castle

Gwrych Castle was built between 1810 and 1825 by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh (1787-1861), in memory of his mother, Frances Lloyd and her ancestors. It incorporated an earlier house that had been in the ownership of the Lloyds since the late-medieval period [6] From 1894 until 1924, Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald, the Hesketh heiress owned the estate and it became the residence of the Dundonald family (family name of Cochrane). The Countess left the castle in her will to King George V and the then Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII). However, the gift was refused and the castle passed to the Venerable Order of Saint John. In 1928, Douglas Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald, purchased the castle for £78,000, selling the contents to meet the cost.[7]

A Page of Anne Wagner's scrapbook devoted to Mrs.Browne of Gwrych depicting the original medieval building, Plas yn y Gwrych, prior to the erection of the castle, c.1800
Gwrych Castle in 1825, shortly after the Georgian castellated mansion had been completed
Gwrych Castle in the 1920s, viewed from the Hesketh Tower

During World War II, throught the Kindertransport programme, the Government used the castle to house 200 Jewish refugees run by the Jewish Zionist youth movement Bnei Akiva.[8] Following the war, the castle and estate left the Dundonald family and was opened to the public as a visitor attracton.

Visitor Attraction

Gwrych Castle became known as "The Showpiece of Wales" and attracted many visitors.[9] It was also used as a training venue for the English World Middleweight boxing champion Randolph Turpin in the early 1950s.

The restored formal gardens at Gwrych Castle. Built in the 1830s they were based on Queen Eleanor's garden at Conwy Castle

In the early 1960s it was an occasional venue for the famous motorcycle Dragon Rally and in the 1970s it was used as a centre for medieval re-enactments, attracting tourists with such events as jousting and banquets.[10]

Closure and Decline

The castle closed to the public in 1987. Thereafter, it started to decline.[7] It was bought in 1989 by Nick Tavaglione, an American businessman, for £750,000.[9] However, his plans to renovate the building were not carried out. As a result, the castle was extensively looted and vandalised, becoming little more than a derelict shell, although it was used in 1996 as the backdrop for Prince Valiant, a film starring Edward Fox, Joanna Lumley and Katherine Heigl.[11] It is currently open for guided and self-guided tours but part of the site is closed as unsafe.[12]

During the period of Tavaglione's ownership, historian Mark Baker campaigned for the castle to be brought back to its days of glory—a campaign that he started when he was twelve years old.[13] Baker was instrumental in forming the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust, dedicated to ensuring the castle's future. The condition of the property was monitored by the Trust, who lobbied Conwy council to compulsorily purchase the property, eventually placing enough pressure on the American owner, who put it up for sale in March 2006.

Gwrych Castle from the air showing the park and wider estate

City Services Ltd, trading as Clayton Homes and Clayton Hotels, bought the castle in January 2007 for £850,000, after it failed to reach its £1.5m reserve price at the 2 June 2006 auction. On 30 April 2007, Clayton Hotels announced a 3-year project, costing £6,000,000, to renovate the castle and convert it into a 90-bedroom 5-star hotel, creating 100 jobs. The project was subject to planning permission, but had the support of the Trust.[11] Clayton Hotels spent about half a million pounds on its plans, clearing the site and rebuilding areas.[14]

After Clayton Hotels was placed in administration, new developers obtained fresh planning permission in November 2012 from Conwy County Borough Council for the castle to be converted into a luxury hotel with 75 bedrooms and associated facilities.[15]

Rescue of the Castle and Estate

On 13 June 2018, Gwrych Castle and its estate was sold to Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust, enabled by a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. In August 2020 broadcaster ITV reached agreement to use the castle for the 20th series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! after the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the usual Australia location was no longer usable.[16]

Books about Gwrych Castle
  • The Rise and Fall of Gwrych Castle including Winifred, Countess of Dundonald - A Biography by Mark Baker
  • Gwrych Castle – A Pictorial History by Mark Baker
  • Myths and Legends of Gwrych Castle by Mark Baker

The Gwrych Castle Trust Archive and the National Library of Wales hold materials relating to Gwrych, including original plans and designs for the stained-glass windows.

In the media

Television
  • Michael Portillo visits Gwrych Castle and meets Mark Baker during series 9 episode 14 "Liverpool to Dolgarrog" of BBC Television's Great British Railway Journeys, first broadcast on January 18, 2018
  • Gwrych Castle was featured in the season 5 episode "Haunting of Heartbreak Castle" of the TV series Mysteries of the Abandoned which aired on the Science Channel on December 19, 2019[17]
  • In February of 2020, Gwrych was briefly shown on S4C's subsidiary 'Hansh', where a Welsh Artist, Rhŷn Williams spoke about mental health and using his art as therapy to cope, the location was used to show the importance of keeping culture alive. [18]

References
  1. Hayward, Will. "These houses helped shape Wales' history but are now crumbling". Wales Online.
  2. "Gwrych Castle – Abergele, North Wales". Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  3. "Gwrych Castle Estate Records, - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts". archives.library.wales. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  4. https://www.gwrychcastle.co.uk/history/
  5. https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300000232-tan-yr-ogof-lodge-including-adjoining-walls-and-towers-to-s-e-and-w-llanddulas-and-rhyd-y-foel
  6. https://www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/gwrych-castle-217018/
  7. "Castle to be auctioned for £1.5m". BBC News website. 29 March 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  8. "Welsh haven for Jewish children". BBC News website. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  9. "Money boost for castle ruin fight". BBC News website. 11 May 2005. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  10. www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/gwrych-castle-217018/amp
  11. "Gothic castle to be luxury hotel". BBC News website. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  12. https://www.gwrychcastle.co.uk/visit/
  13. "Teenager leads castle preservation campaign". BBC News website. 27 October 1999. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  14. Future of Abergele’s Gwrych Castle remains uncertain by Rob Davies, Daily Post, 12 April 2010. Archived 28 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  15. "Derelict Gwrych Castle to become luxury hotel". The Daily Post. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  16. ""I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!" set to be filmed at Gwrych Castle". North.Wales.
  17. https://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/mysteries-of-the-abandoned/
  18. https://www.facebook.com/hanshs4c/videos/555860268348635/
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