Historical background
This lowland area formed the immediate estate of Plas Bryn
y Neuadd, built by the Roberts family in the seventeenth century
who then bankrupted themselves trying to rebuild it in 1832;
in 1857 it was sold to John Platt of Oldham . Platt's fortune
came from the manufacture of cotton machinery, and despite
his political radicalism he was not slow in setting himself
up as a member of county society. He actively developed the
tourist potential of the area, mainly at Llanfairfechan His
family remained owners of Bryn y Neuadd until 1898 and of the
Gorddinog estate until 1956. Bryn y Neuadd was sold to St Andrew's
Hospital of Northampton , and the plas demolished in 1967.
Key historic landscape characteristics
Parkland , copses, slate fences, ornamental iron railings
The lower part of the landscape, between the main road and
the coastline, is dominated by Bryn y Neuadd itself, where
several of the demesne buildings and historic garden features
survive, even though the house itself has been replaced by
a functional office block. The nineteenth century gentry house
of Madryn and the huge Neo-Norman Penrhyn castle are visible
from here.
To the south of the main road, improved pasture predominates,
and the area is visibly still a highly managed landscape which
preserves the feel of a Victorian estate, such as the fenced
copses in the fields. Field boundaries are made up either of
locally quarried stone or fences of purple slate slab, probably
from Penrhyn Quarry - not a vernacular feature in this immediate
area and probably the result of a conscious decision by the
Platt family, with their strong personal links to the Penrhyn
estate. Dwellings include Llwyn Ysgolaig, perhaps for a senior
estate worker, and to the south a row of workers' cottages,
two-storey with dormer windows. A feature of the area is ornamental
iron railings.
Back to Creuddyn
and Arllechwedd Landscape Character Map
