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Vaynol or ''Y Faenol'' (
's ''
The estate's origins are in the 16th century, when the bishops of Bangor sold property belonging to their manor, Maenol Bangor. The estate was developed during that century by the Williams family. It passed to the Crown on the death without issue of 
At the beginning of the 20th century, the estate amounted to of land and had 1,600 tenants. The Prince and Princess of Wales (later King
The Faenol History websiteThe official Faenol websiteThe story of the last family to live on the estateFaenol Festival
{{coord, 53.202, -4.193, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Pentir Houses in Gwynedd Country houses in Wales Tourist attractions in Gwynedd Grade I listed buildings in Gwynedd Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales Grade I listed houses in Wales
Vaynol or ''Y Faenol'' (Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
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) is a country estate dating from the Tudor period
The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...
near Y Felinheli
Y Felinheli (), formerly known in English as Port Dinorwic, is a village and community beside the Menai Strait ( cy, Y Fenai or ''Afon Menai'') between Bangor and Caernarfon in Gwynedd, northwest Wales.
History
Toponymy
Etymologically, its ...
in Gwynedd, North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
(). It has of park, farmland, and gardens, with more than thirty listed buildings
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 ...
, surrounded by a wall which is long. "''Y Faenol''" means "the manor" and is a mutated
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitos ...
form of the Welsh word ''maenol''.
The buildings on the estate include two Grade I listed halls: Faenol Old Hall, much of which dates from the Williams' period of ownership, and Vaynol Hall, built in 1793 and extended during the 19th century. Once Vaynol Hall was built, Faenol Old Hall became a farmhouse and subsequently deteriorated; in 2003 it appeared on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
'' programme, championed by Robert Hardy
Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Sieg ...
. In 2009, the BBC revisited the project, and said that Faenol Hall was now "in private ownership and has been restored". There is also a Grade I listed chapel and a very old barn on the site.
The Vaynol estate should not be confused with the neighbouring National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
land called Glan Faenol.
History
The estate's origins are in the 16th century, when the bishops of Bangor sold property belonging to their manor, Maenol Bangor. The estate was developed during that century by the Williams family. It passed to the Crown on the death without issue of Sir William Williams, 6th Baronet
Sir William Williams, 6th Baronet (– 23 December 1696) of Faenol (Vaynol) was a Welsh politician and landowner elected as MP for Caernarvonshire from 1689 until his death.
Career
Williams was born in around 1663, the son of Sir Griffith ...
in 1696. In 1723 it was presented to John Smith of Tedworth, Wiltshire, and in 1762 passed to his nephew Thomas Assheton Smith I
Thomas may refer to:
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(1752–1828). Assheton Smith was later MP for Caernarvonshire and then Andover
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, and his son, also Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
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* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
(1776–1858) sat for the same constituencies but was known as a cricketer, Master of Foxhounds
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
and owner of steam yacht
A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts.
Origin of the name
The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term ...
s.
Assheton Smith I was the 3rd largest landowner in Gwynedd. This area of Wales is known for its slate production, and the Assheton Smiths profited from slate quarrying as owners of the Dinorwic Quarry, which made a profit of £30,000 in 1856 (). Even after farms were let on long leases to encourage good tenant behaviour, slate remained the family's main economic interest. The Assheton Smiths extended their estate through enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
, despite strong opposition from local farmers, including the enclosure of existing properties at Gallt-y-foel.
The Assheton Smiths remained in possession of the estate until the 20th century. In 1847, it passed to Mary Astley, niece of Thomas Assheton Smith of Vaynol, who married Robert George Duff, a distant cousin of the Earls of Fife. Vaynol passed in turn to their two eldest sons (the first of whom, George William (1848-1904 ), left no son; his wife and daughter had Snowdon Mountain Railway locomotives named after them ) and they took the surname Assheton-Smith instead of Duff. The younger son, Sir Charles Garden Assheton-Smith, was created a baronet in 1911. He sold 30 farms from the estate in 1914. His son and grandson the 2nd and 3rd baronets, reverted to the name of Duff. Sir Michael Duff, 3rd Baronet
Sir Charles Michael Robert Vivian Duff, 3rd Baronet (3 May 1907 – 3 March 1980) was a British socialite who was Lord Lieutenant first of Caernarvonshire, and then of Gwynedd.
Family
Duff was the only son of Sir Robert George Vivian Duff, 2nd B ...
had an adopted son, Charles David.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the estate amounted to of land and had 1,600 tenants. The Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
and Queen Mary
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) stayed there as guests of the Assheton Smiths during a visit to North Wales in May 1902. To celebrate the 1935 Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary and to improve Caernarfon, the town walls and some adjoining property, which belonged to the estate, was handed over to the Ministry of Works. The estate's remaining property in Caernarfon was offered for sale in 103 lots in 1957. In 1967 21,000 acres, including the north face of Snowdon, was sold to two property companies, jointly, for a reputed £1½ million. Vaynol, its home farm and some adjacent property were retained by the estate trustees and Sir Michael Duff. The Dinorwic slate quarries at Llanberis, which were owned by a family company, were not sold. Later in the year, the property companies sold 13,000 acres of Snowdon land to the Welsh Office for £140,000. Further properties were sold to tenants and 138 lots were offered for sale by auction in 1968. Sir Michael Duff's obituary claimed that the 1967 sale was forced on him by high taxation.The Times 20 March 1980
Attractions
In the second half of the 19th century the park had a zoo, but it was dismantled by 1900. The park has been the setting forBryn Terfel
Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and '' ...
's Faenol Festival
The Faenol Festival ( cy, Gŵyl y Faenol) is a music festival organised by Welsh singer Bryn Terfel, originally held annually on the Faenol Estate (Welsh: ''Y Faenol''), near Y Felinheli in Gwynedd, north Wales.
The festival was launched in ...
since 2000, and in 2005 it hosted the National Eisteddfod. On 25 August 2006, Irish vocal pop band Westlife
Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...
held a concert for their Face to Face Tour
This is the 5th world tour of the Irish pop band Westlife seen by 395,000 fans.
This tour set a goal that they will play in smaller venues and for smaller audiences to justify the title "Face to Face". The filmed video album for this tour came f ...
supporting their album Face to Face. BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
's Big Weekend was held at the park in May 2010.
Vaynol cattle
The estate began breeding the rare Vaynol cattle, a type of White Park cattle, in the 1870s. A herd was kept there until the death of the owner Sir Michael Duff in 1980, when the estate was sold and the herd was moved to a series of locations in England.References
External links
The Faenol History website
{{coord, 53.202, -4.193, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Pentir Houses in Gwynedd Country houses in Wales Tourist attractions in Gwynedd Grade I listed buildings in Gwynedd Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales Grade I listed houses in Wales