Fairytale White Castle - now sold! (Gwrych Castle)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Gwrych Castle
Date:	25/08/03 (979 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: First gothic folly to be built in Europe

Disadvantages: Been allowed to decay by an absentee owner

*UPDATE*
Finally, I manage to log onto to Dooyoo in order to update this review. Clayton Hotels has now bought the Castle and a large proportion of the surrounding land and have set about clearing the Castle out in order to turn it into an executive hotel. Work progress has been slow but is ongoing. I, for one, am pleased to see it sold to someone who wants to see the Castle up and running again but I was slightly sad to hear it isn't going to be fully restored to how it once would have been. Clayton has said they will try to keep as many of its original features as possible but I do fear that they'll just gut it completely. I'll certainly be going for a nosey when it is all finished!

= = = Introduction = = =

First things first, for you English folk, Gwrych (pronounced gw-reek, kind of, obviously you need to learn how to pronounce 'ch' in Welsh to give it the real pronunciation!). Gwrych means 'hedge' in Welsh.


= = = Where is Gwrych Castle? = = =

Gwrych Castle can be found in Abergele, North Wales. Overlooking the sea and the main route in North Wales (the A55) you can't fail to miss Gwrych Castle as you pass by.


= = = History = = =

The foundation stone for Gwrych Castle was laid on the 13th June 1819 and was built by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford Hesketh.

The expertise of Thomas Rickman was utilised in the design of Gwrych and its many cast iron windows.

Gwrych Castle once had an Outer Hall, an Inner Hall, two Smoke Rooms, Dining Room, a Drawing Room, a Billiards Room, an Oak Study, a Breakfast Room, twenty-eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, several domestic offices, Servants hall, Wine Cellar, Coal Cellar, Butlers sitting Room, Strong Room, electric service lift, private electric supply, Laundry room, cesspit, Gas plant, a Bothy, saddle room, four garages, a pet cemetery, a stable block suitable for six horses, an Ice House, washhouse, and, of course, the 52 step marble staircase. The latter of which was, and still is, one of the most impressive features of the Castle, designed by George Edmund Street and built by Robert Bamford-Hesketh during the 1870?s.

When Lloyd died, the Castle was left to Robert Bamford-Hesketh.

Winifred, Countess of Dundonald, inherited Gwrych in 1894. She was forced into marriage with the Earl of Dundonald. After the Earls many affairs and an affair with the Archbishop of Wales on her behalf, they parted company. Due to these disagreements, the Countess left Gwrych to the Prince of Wales. This offer was refused so Gwrych was left to the Church of Wales and St John of Jerusalem.

It was in 1925 when the Earl of

Dundonald bought Gwrych back (for £78,000) to spite his wife. He sold the Castles? contents in 1928 to cover costs.

It was in 1946 that Gwrych left the families hands when the 13th Earl of Dundonald sold Gwrych to a Mr Rennie. In 1948, Leslie Salts bought Gwrych and opened it up to the public for 20 years.

During the 1970?s, Gwrych became a medieval centre where markets were held and jousting took place on the formal gardens.

Gwrych finally closed to the public in 1985, never to open again.

The Castle passed into the hands of an American businessman in 1989 with the hope of restoring the Castle into a 5 star hotel and opera house. Legal problems persisted though; this dream never became a reality.

Security guards left in 1995, leaving the Castle open to the elements and the vandals.



= = = Gwrych Castle today = = =

There is now a registered charity set up to try and save Gwrych Castle, the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust, founded by Mark Baker.
The Trust is now working towards a feasibility study, which could make the Conwy County consider compulsory purchase.

For more information on the Trust please see the end of this review.

The Castle has been left to deteriorate over the years. New age travellers moved in and stripped Gwrych of its marble dado running alongside the marble staircase along with its fireplaces and chandeliers and any other items that could be sold. Since, vandals have continued to transform the, once spectacular, Gwrych Castle from a grade 1* listed building into a grade 1 listed pile of rubble.

The Trust, being a registered charity, accepts donations and grants towards the restoration of Gwrych. Millions would need to be spent on the Castle to restore i
t fully. The slates stolen from the roof would have cost just £10,000 to replace in 1994.



= = = Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust = = =

A Society For the Friends Of Gwrych (ASFOG) was founded by Mark Baker in 1997. It later became the registered charity, Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust in 2001.
Both societies were founded to raise awareness for the plight of Gwrych and to find possible solutions for the conservation and preservation of the site.

For a glimpse of Gwrych Castle and to learn more about the Castle and the Trust, presented by Mark Baker, please see the video presentation here:
http://www.nwtv.co.uk/pages/wales/denbig/gwrych.h tm

The Trust hold a number of events annually, including fayres and exhibitions. The Summer fayre on July 12th was a great success.

You can join the Trust for just £5 per year. To join the trust and receive quarterly newsletters please see:
www.gwrych.co.uk



= = = Mark Baker = = =

So, who is this Mark guy you keep hearing about? You may have noticed his name cropping up quite a few times in this review by now so I thought it was about time to introduce him.

Mark became interested in Gwrych Castle through passing the Castle on his way to school everyday. He decided to start researching the Castle and its previous occupants. At the age of 13 his first book was published, titled ?The Rise and Fall of Gwrych Castle?:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/09537440 00/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-0 673644-5359630
(Which is now sold out)

He continued researching the Castle and set the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust up in 2001.

His second book, the ?Gwrych Castle ? A Pictorial History? was released in 2000. You can buy these for £7.95 through www.gwrych.co.uk.

His latest book launch, in collaboration with the Gwrych Castle exhibition at Abergele Library between August 4th and 15th saw
his latest books released.
His latest book is a reprint of ?The Rise and Fall of Gwrych Castle? with the addition of ?Winifred, Countess of Dundonald ~ A Biograph
y? which can be bought for £7.95 through www.gwrych.co.uk.

Books are also available in local bookshops too for those who happen to live locally.

Marks fight to save Gwrych Castle has brought him into contact with quite a few high-flying people, e.g. Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Lord Bath, to name just a few.
He has also appeared on a few TV programmes, including the Big Breakfast , Country File and That?s Esther, to name a few.

There is to be a 30 minute documentary about Gwrych Castle on Tuesday August 26th at 7:30pm on ITV1 Wales titled ?If Only Walls had Ears?. They filmed Mark at the Castle a few times and at his house along with at the Gwrych Castle exhibition on Monday August 12th whereby they filmed some of the Trusts? trustees, the librarian and myself (eek!):

http://www.htvwales.com/walls/003.shtml



= = = How I got involved = = =

Like I said earlier, you can?t fail to miss Gwrych Castle if you ever travel along the A55. I?d often wondered about its history. It was when I became increasingly interested in the paranormal I started researching the Castle a little further.

It was a pure stroke of luck that I happened to discover Gwrych had its fair share of ghost stories. Once I knew that there was no stopping me! When I set the North Wales Paranormal Research society up I started making enquiries into doing an investigation at Gwrych.

I sent a few emails to an email address I found on a website but had no replies. I read around a bit, did some google searches for this Mark Baker chap and finally found another email address. Amazingly I got a reply saying he and some members of the Trust would like to join us on our investigation at Gwrych. And, the rest is history, as they say!

(N.B. I've since learned you?re unlikely to get a response if you email the email address on the .org.uk website, you're far more likely to get a response if you email to t
he address on the www.gwrych.co.uk site).



= = = Ghosts of Gwrych = = =

Of course I couldn't write a whole review and omit a section on ghosts. You should know better by now!

I?d heard, on the grapevine, that a paranormal research society had spent a night investigating at Gwrych and had had some interesting results. Our first investigation date was set. We were to spend the night of April 12th at the Castle. Mark and some Trust members were to attend this investigation. I hadn?t realised how knowledgeable Mark was as regards to Gwrych prior to this. He took us all on a tour by torchlight of the Castle and dazzled us all with his endless knowledge of the Castle and its previous residents?. He turned out to be a valuable guest that night!

We had a good time investigating at Gwrych and had some interesting results. Nothing definitely paranormal but we all felt it was worthy of a further investigation. We were to go again the week later. Mark decided he?d like to attend again so April 19th we all met up again to spend yet another night in a cold, drafty, derelict Castle. (Yes, we must be clinically insane!)

As time went on we realised there certainly were some interesting occurrences at Gwrych.

We have since been on six overnight investigations and many shorter visits to Gwrych. We have yet to leave a night with no interesting footage or experience of some kind or another.

Mark has since joined North Wales Paranormal Research and has become a regular member and a committee member nonetheless!

There are plenty of ghosts at Gwrych. The main ones are those of the Countess and Earl though. The Earl isn't a very nice ghost (and he wasn?t a very nice man by all accounts!) The Countess on the other hand is nice, if only she?d show us a full apparition sometime (and preferably on video camera!)

I?m not going to give all the trade secrets away about the
ghosts of Gwrych in this review. If you?re that interested then you?ll just have to join North Wales Paranormal Research!


= = = Interesting facts = = =

· The Castle is important as it is one of the only estates still surrounded by its perimeter walls. The walls are grade 2 listed.
· During the 1950?s Gwrych Castle attracted 4,000,000 people to Abergele.
· During May 1990 a Scout group, the Mayor of Colwyn and Emile Ford were shown around inside the Castle by its American owner. This was before the vandalism kicked in?.
· Queen Victoria stayed at Gwrych during 1832. She stayed in the Victoria bedroom (naturally!). These rooms can be seen from the front of the Castle, situated in the round tower on the first floor.
· In 1996, Prince Valiant was filmed at the Castle starring Edward Fox and Joanna Lumley.
· Gwrych Castle was used as a training camp by boxer, Bruce Woodcock, prior to his defeat of George London for the British heavyweight championship. In 1951Randolph Turpin also used Gwrych as a training camp prior to defeating Sugar Ray Robinson to become World Middleweight champion.
· Only 2% of buildings listed in the UK reach the grade 1* listing.


= = = Links = = =

For the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust and publications website set up by Mark Baker please see:
http://www.gwrych.co.uk


For a further video presentation made about Cefn Ogof, near to Gwrych Castle where the English tried to defeat Wales, please see:
http://www.nwtv.co.uk/pages/wales/denbig/gwrych/c efnog.htm

Summary: A review about Gwrych Castle - its history, is background and now its new owners