Gwydir Castle

Gwydir Castle stands beside the River Conwy in the Conwy valley, a mile west of Llanrwst and 1.5 miles south of Trefriw. Built around 1500 as a fortified manor house, it occupies the edge of the floodplain with Gwydir Forest rising behind. The name may come from Welsh words meaning ‘low land’ or ‘wet land’, though other old tales link it to blood or glass. The site has held defences since AD 600, when early Welsh kingdoms clashed nearby. By the 14th century a manor house stood here, owned by Hywel Coetmor, a knight who fought at Poitiers, Shrewsbury and Agincourt. Later the powerful Wynn family made Gwydir their home during the Tudor and Stuart periods. The castle’s history includes visits from King Charles I in 1645 and George V and Queen Mary in 1899. Its walls contain reused stone from Maenan Abbey, including a spiral staircase in the Solar Tower dated about 1540. The Wynn estate once covered 55 square miles, but most land was sold in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1921 the dining room’s carved panelling was bought by William Randolph Hearst and later returned after a long search. Fires in 1922 left parts roofless until restoration began in 1944. Inside, the restored 1640s dining room shows its gilded panelling once more. Outside, the Grade I listed garden holds cedars planted in 1625 and a yew called the Giant Yew, thought to be over 600 years old. A Renaissance arch from the 1590s stands on a raised terrace, while the Old Dutch garden contains ancient yew topiary and an octagonal fountain. A causeway leads to the riverbank where the remains of Gwydir Quay can be seen. Nearby, Gwydir Uchaf Chapel has a plain exterior but a painted ceiling showing the Creation, the Trinity and the Last Judgement.