Coed Coch, in Dolwen,

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

, Wales, is a large 19th-century mansion in the neoclassical style, designed by the architect

Henry Hakewill Henry Hakewill (4 October 1771 – 13 March 1830) was an English architect. Biography Early life Henry Hakewell was a pupil of John Yenn, RA, and also studied at the Royal Academy, where in 1790 he was awarded a silver medal for a drawing of a ...

. The building is

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed, as is its 18th- and 19th-century parkland. The mansion is of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

, originally with two matching, three-bay elevations. At a diagonal, was a "remarkable"

Greek Doric The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of colu ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, with

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. This was removed in the early 20th century. The main elliptical staircase remains within a rotunda and lit by a small lantern dome. The original parkland "survives in its entirety". The Coed Coch estate came to the Wynne family when the Rev. Richard Wynne married Gaynor, daughter and heiress of John Wynne of Coed Coch, in the parish of

Betws yn Rhos Betws yn Rhos ('' en, Chapel house in Rhos'') is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Betws yn Rhos is located about inland between the coastal towns of Abergele and Colwyn Bay. Until 1974 it formed part of Denbighshire, bu ...

. Their grandson, John Lloyd Wynne (1776–1887) undertook the enlargement of the house and estate in the early 19th century. The estate then descended in the male line until the death in World War I of Edward Henry John Wynne (1893–1916). The estate was inherited by Margaret Broderick, his half-sister, who ran a famous

Welsh Mountain Pony The Welsh Pony and Cob is a group of four closelyrelated horse breeds including both pony and cob types, which originated in Wales in the United Kingdom. The four sections within the breed society for the Welsh breeds are primarily distingui ...

stud there that continued under her descendants until its sale in 1978. From the 1940s until the 1970s, the house was a boys' preparatory school, Heronwater School, under the headmastership of Keith Gaskell. The estate is now a private home and is not open to the public. In 1996 the furniture from the library, commissioned by John Lloyd Wynne from Gillows of Lancaster in 1806–1807, was bought by the

Museum of Welsh Life St Fagans National Museum of History ( ; cy, Sain Ffagan: Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, links=no), commonly referred to as St Fagans after the village where it is located, is an open-air museum in Cardiff chronicling the historical lifestyle, culture ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

; it can now be seen in the library of

St Fagans Castle St Fagans Castle ( cy, Castell Sain Ffagan) is an Elizabethan mansion in St Fagans, Cardiff, Wales, dating from the late 16th century. The house and remaining medieval fortifications are Grade I listed. The grounds of St Fagans Castle now cont ...

Notes

References

External links

{{coord, 53.2509, -3.6781, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Denbighshire Grade II* listed houses Country houses in Wales Gardens in Wales