Historical background
A neo-Norman mock castle, built between 1829 and 1835 for
Thomas Williams, a Bangor solicitor, on the site of a farmhouse,
Coed Goleu. The architect is thought to have been Thomas Hopper,
who was currently working on Penrhyn Castle , though it is
possible that Provis, Hansom and Welch were involved. Apart
from a spell as a country club and hotel between 1956 and 1965,
it has been a private house throughout its history. It is unusual
in that its original owners made no effort to acquire any land
beyond the 81 acres surrounding the house itself. The house
and gardens are included on the Register of Landscapes,
Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales .
Key historic landscape characteristics
Nineteenth-century mock castle
This area is dominated by the castle, which shares many of
the architectural characteristics of Penrhyn, though on a smaller
and less forbidding scale. It also includes the present Brynteg
caravan park and the ornamental lake to its south-east. The
gardens remain basically unchanged since they were laid out
in the 1830s and 1840s, though they include buildings from
the earlier twentieth century. The area is situated on the
boundary of the present study.
Back to Caernarfon-Nantlle
Landscape Character Map
