|
|
 |
A Guided tour of the exterior of Gwrych
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Imagine we’ve entered the grounds through the Abergele gates, walked up the main drive, past the steep path in front of the main block. Carry on along the road round the hairpin bend and ahead of you, you see the double gatehouse, the main gates to the nucleus of Gwrych. As you go through these gates there is a gargantuan tower on your right. This is the tallest of the 18 towers of Gwrych at 93 feet high and is known as the Hesketh Tower. We continue walking along the West terrace towards the main house.
|
|
|
 |
|
On our right is the huge curtain wall of the stables block and overlooking the courtyard from the South is the Garage block.
We continue along the courtyard toward the main house keeping to the West side of the terrace and as we approach the Southern edge turn to face the West Wing of the house .
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Looking at the West side of the house, in the Southern (right-hand) corner there is an archway, now blocked up, which led up to the kitchen courtyard and a private entrance to the West Wing of the house.
Next to this was a large six-lighter window designed by Thomas Rickman, which once lit the Morning room / Smoke room.
The Main door is flanked by two tall Rickman windows, which once held colourful heraldic glass, these windows have long since vanished and been blocked up.
Above the main door is a shield which contained the Arms of Hesketh and Fitton.
As we continue looking left we see steps leading down to the front of the house.
|
|
|
The North front of the house consists of four main parts, from left to right; the East Wing, the Central Library Bay section, the Round Tower, and the West Wing.
The ground floor of the East Wing was the Butler’s quarters, above this the three large windows of the drawing room.
The Library section has an unusual arch with a buttressed base. Above this are the huge bay windows of the Library.
The Round Tower is part of Busby’s original design. On the first floor was the Round Study with 2 large windows. The large battlemented parapet once contained a domed cupola, in the shape of a lighthouse skylight. The West Wing at ground level contained the generator room and men’s rooms. These were the “House of Horrors” in the 1960’s
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leaving the front of the house through the small rounded arch we come to the East lawn.
Along the Northern edge of the East lawn there is a low wall and set into the wall are various towers. The first of these is the “Amphitheatre Tower” where choirs sang and plays were staged. This tower is now in a dangerous condition with two large cracks running through the wall, and should not be entered. Turning back to look at the East side of the house, you’ll see that most of the house is hidden behind some large fir trees.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The part of the house that is visible are the rooms on the third floor towards the front of the house. These rooms were the Countess’ suite, whilst the Earl’s rooms were towards the rear of the house.
Leaving the East lawn by the steps near the house in the south west corner of the lawn we are going to climb up to the Nant-Y-Bella drive.
|
|
|
|
|
Turning right, as we reach the top of the path from the steps we find ourselves looking back towards the house. The first building, on the right, is the chapel and then the Nant-y-Bella porch.
This was used as the main entrance to the building, as it leads straight to the third floor, where the duchess had her private suite. Continuing on along the path we pass under the Bothy, with the dairy and wash-house on our left, and into the stables courtyard.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
As we leave the stables courtyard and start to make our way down Stables hill, we find an opening on the right, This leads down into the kitchen courtyard. On our right is the rear wall of the garage block, and as we pass under the second arch we enter the main pathway down into the kitchen court. On the left is an entrance to the West Wing of the house, and as we continue down we reach the main courtyard.
|
|
|
|
We are now in the kitchen courtyard, looking towards the front of the house.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Below us, to the right is the entrance to the cellars, and to our left we have the East side of the West Wing, which contained the billiard room at ground floor level, with bedrooms on the floors above. If we look straight ahead we can see the remains of the South wall of the main house. Part of this wall collapsed a few years ago, and some parts look as though they could fall at any time. We will leave the courtyard by returning the way we came.
|
|
|
|
We are now going down stable hill, heading back towards the main entrance gates. On our right as we pass under the arch is a balcony that overlooks the West Wing of the house. The building on our right was the stable block, which once had stalls for six horses. On the hillside above us (to our left) is the Brewhouse Tower. As we continue down the hill you will notice three faux windows (on the right) which overlook the main terrace. Once we reach the bottom we are back at our starting point, and the tour is complete.
|
|
|
|
|
Pictures © GCPT 2004.
Information taken from Mark Baker’s book “The rise and fall of Gwrych Castle” Used by permission
|
|
