Our History
Find out a bit more about us
1600's
As a property, Bryn Llewelyn has always played an important role in the local area. Early records show a payment was made to the Crown Rental Roll for Ardudwy in 1623 by the then owner, Robert Wynn, amounting to an annual payment of 1s 2d in rent. This was acknowledged to be a substantial sum of money, significantly more than large farmlands were paying at the time, indicating extensive lands. Records dating 1688 show the property was affiliated to John Wynn of Melai, Denbighshire.
There was a close link with the Newborough family of Plas Glynllifon who owned a significant amount of land which influenced the naming of several roads in the area.
1800'S
We know that John Baines, a slate merchant was living in Bryn Llewelyn in 1833 as he contacted Lord Newborough requesting a lease for the houses and land. Also, that John James Mason Esq of Cheltenham who had a vested interest in the Manod Slate Quarry was married to Susanah Sophia, eldest daughter of James Stokes, Esq of Bryn Llewelyn in 1839.
It is clear that the owners in 1842 were linked to the Manod Slate Company as the house hosted a feast for their workmen which included a “superabundance of plum pudding” as included in an article in the local paper. In 1844, the local paper also reported the newsworthy event … the then owner, James Meyrick Esq, had a turnip measuring 2ft, 6” in circumference growing in his garden!
Around 1851 and for a couple of years, the house was rented to the Spooner family. James Swinton Spooner was the son of the renowned James Spooner who oversaw the construction of the Ffestiniog Railway – a 12-mile downhill gradient, narrow-gauge steam engine line – as a means of transporting slate from the mines around Blaenau Ffestiniog to the sea at Port Madoc (Porthmadog) using gravity. In later years the steam engines could clearly be seen regularly passing up and down through the valley from the front of the house.
As an Engineer and an Artist, James Swinton Spooner is probably best known for the work he later did surveying and overseeing the building of the Talyllyn Railway with his brother Thomas in 1865.
The house became the property of Miss Charlotte Light, daughter of the late Sir Henry Light by around 1883. Known to be a very kind lady, especially towards the poor and generously giving of her time, she donated a valuable collection of books to the Free Library in 1894.
Having decided to leave, she sold all her household furniture and outdoor effects in 1901.
1900'S
The house became the property of William Charles Wynn and his Kentucky born wife after their marriage in 1900.
In 1903, Lord Newborough and his family would make regular use of Bryn Llewelyn as a summer holiday home, and took an active role in the community, attending fairs and hosting events etc. This home later became a most favourite haunt of Lord Newborough’s son.
Lord Newborough’s son – the 4th Baron Newborough – died at the age of 43 years in July, 1916 of pneumonia, having been in the Western Front trenches during the First World War and it was his lasting wish to be buried facing the views of the Maentwrog valley. It is said that he requested to be buried on Newborough Hill (Pen Ffridd Tŷ Isaf run by A.S.Neill) in the field opposite Gwesty Seren, in a seated position so that he would permanently overlook the views of the Dwyryd River – his favourite vista.
Whilst their main residence was in London, Lord and Lady Newborough were still using Bryn Llywelyn in the 1920’s with newspaper articles recording their arrival in 1922, opening a bazaar in 1928 and also seeking extra staff in 1929.
Since then, the house has been used in several different ways.
It was leased to 2 Monks – Brother Douglas and Brother Charles and became the Home of St Francis in 1932 who allowed the local tramps to be fed, watered and to stay in the property’s stables. The building was later repurposed as a school during the Second World War namely Summerhill School ran by A.S.Neill – a very philanthropically run school. The story goes that the young lads staying at the school would strip and have a swim in the pool in the front garden, so the village bobby would rush to stand on the main road at the top of the village to keep the girls away, so they wouldn’t see or do anything unseemly – records don’t show how successful that endeavour was!
By 1946, Meirionnydd Council purchased Bryn Llywelyn and ran it initially as a Children’s Home for many years before it was turned into an Elderly People’s Care Home in the 1960’s. There are many who still live in the local area who, as children, spent time in the Children’s Home for one reason or another and many stories still resound about the life and times at the home when they were young. Indeed, one of the charity’s Board members himself stayed here as a child with his siblings for several years.
2000's
The Elderly Care Home was moved to a new building in the village and this house finally closed in 2010 before Seren Cyf charity purchased and renovated it as a 3* Accessible Hotel. Bryn Llywelyn has now come full circle back into a residence offering holidays for guests! …
Reproduced with the kind assistance of the Historical Society, with special thanks to Steffan ab Owain for his invaluable insight.