Plas Newydd (, ; "new hall" or "new mansion") is a historic house in the town of

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and was the home of the

Ladies of Llangollen The "Ladies of Llangollen", Eleanor Butler (1739–1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831), were two Irish nobility, upper-class Irish women who lived together as a couple. Their relationship scandalised and fascinated their contemporaries. The ...

, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, for nearly 50 years. Today, it is run as a museum by

Denbighshire County Council Denbighshire County Council is the unitary authority, unitary local authority for the county of Denbighshire, one of the principal areas of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall, Ruthin, County Hall in Ruthin. Ther ...

History

Plas Newydd is notable as the home where two Irish ladies, Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby (the

) eloped and set up house together in the late 18th century, scandalising contemporary British

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. Plas Newydd was originally a five-roomed stone cottage, but over the years it was enlarged to include many Gothic features. Although originally ostracised by their families, the ladies and their unconventional lifestyle gradually became accepted, and their home was visited by many famous people including

Robert Southey Robert Southey (; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic poetry, Romantic school, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth an ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

Caroline Lamb Caroline Lamb has served as the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland and Director General of Health and Social Care directorates since 2021. Early life Lamb studied at the King's College London, before training as a chartered accountant with KP ...

and

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

and the industrialist

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indu ...

. The ladies also expanded and improved the gardens, adding many Gothic features such as a "ruined" archway, rustic bridges over rushing torrents and a temple that included a font removed from the ruined

Valle Crucis Abbey Valle Crucis Abbey (Valley of the Cross) is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio in Denbighshire, north Wales. More formally ''the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis'' it is known in Welsh both as ''Abaty Glyn Egwestl'' a ...

. Ornate greenhouses grew exotic fruit, and poetic notices were attached to trees. After their deaths in 1829 and 1831, the property passed through various hands and saw a number of changes. General John Yorke added the black and white features on the exterior and filled the interior with oddities from around the world. In 1932 the house was acquired by Llangollen Urban District Council and it is now a museum.

Architecture

The original cottage was expanded by the ladies, and then again by subsequent owners in the 19th century. It is now restored to essentially the final structure left by the ladies. Its most unusual feature is the profusion of pieces of reclaimed oak carvings collected by the ladies and set in

patchwork Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes (which can be different colors) ...

style over much of the exterior of the house. These came from broken-up furniture or church fittings, and range in date from the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

to the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

, but with

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and " Jacobean" vernacular styles of shallow carved decoration predominating, as well as Gothic-style black-and-white trim and carvings. The ladies also added much

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

In popular culture

*The house was used in a 1987 episode of the TV series '' Treasure Hunt''. *It also appeared in the 1989

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

adaptation of ''

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' is a portal fantasy novel written by British author C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1952. It was the third published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Macmillan US p ...

'' (one of the Narnia Chronicles written by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

) as the home of the wizard,

Coriakin Coriakin is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis's '' Chronicles of Narnia''. He appears in '' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader''. Fictional character biography Coriakin was originally a star, who, as reparation for past misdeeds was charged by A ...

(played by

Preston Lockwood Reginald Herbert Lockwood (30 October 1912 – 24 April 1996), known professionally as Preston Lockwood, was an English radio and television actor. The eldest son of bus driver Herbert Lewis Lockwood and his wife Ethel May (née Preston), Lockwo ...

). *In 2003, the home was featured in the TV series ''

Antiques Road Trip ''Antiques Road Trip'' (also known as ''Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'') is a BBC television series produced by STV Studios. It was first shown on BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom ...

''. *It was also featured on a 2008 series 10 episode of the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

series ''

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. ''Most Haunted'' was first shown on Living TV between 2002 and 2010. However, it has since been revived on TV and online, via an official mobile app and YouTube Channel. Pres ...

''. *The house was featured in the UK Channel 5 documentary

Walking Britain's Lost Railways ''Walking Britain's Lost Railways'' is a British documentary television series presented by Rob Bell that first aired on Channel 5 on 21 September 2018. A second series premiered on Channel 5 on 9 February 2020. A third series premiered on Chann ...

presented by

Rob Bell Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker, playwright, musician and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill ...

Gallery

Plas Newydd, Llangollen NLW3361509.jpg, Photograph by John Thomas, around 1875 Plas Newydd, Llangollen NLW3361510.jpg, Around 1875 Porch of Plas Newydd, Llangollen.jpg, The porch Plas Newydd - Fassade 7.jpg, The façade Plas Newydd, tower - geograph.org.uk - 1063730.jpg, The Plas Newydd Tower

References

External links

Plas Newydd
– official site at Denbighshire County Council
IMDb: Most Popular Titles With Location Matching "Plas Newydd, Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales, UK"

"Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (1989) – Filming locations
* Plas Newydd Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Plas-Newydd-532664040096219/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel] {{coord, 52.9671, -3.1655, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Llangollen Historic house museums in Wales Museums in Denbighshire Grade II* listed buildings in Denbighshire Registered historic parks and gardens in Denbighshire