History

Probably early C19 hotel and public house. The building is marked on the tithe map of the parish, 1840, on a plot of land named as Glan William, owned by Maria Shaw and occupied by William Jones Esq.
William Gruffyd Oakeley (1790-1835) was only 21 when he inherited the Plas Tan-y-bwlch estate and set about an ambitious programme of improving the estate. This entailed new building in the village of Maentwrog and rebuilding or improving the existing buildings. In order to do so he opened a quarry near Gelli Grin from which was quarried the large lengths of brown stone present in so many of the village buildings.
Formerly known as Maentwrog inn; George Borrow stayed there during his travels in 1854, by which time it was known by its present name.

Exterior

Hotel, restaurant and public house, built in the Georgian style characteristic of the early phases of improvement by the estate; coursed stone masonry including massive stone lintel across the ground floor openings. Slate roof with overhanging eaves; large stone ridge stack, built to a T-shaped plan, with dripstones and capping. The principal elevation faces the street to the E, a 2-storey 6-window range with the doorway offset to L (S) under a flat roofed porch on timber piers; windows are 12-pane hornless sashes with slate sills. At the far L (S) end of the range is a round-headed arch, a carriage entrance that leads through to the rear of the terrace.
The N gable return is a 2-storey with attic, 3-window range with a door at far L (E) under a deep overlight with interlaced glazing bars; attic windows are unequal sashes of 9-panes. At the rear of the range, the ground falls away and the range is 3-storey with attics, the first floor now has a glazed balcony and the attic windows are shallow 6-pane hornless sashes set under the eaves.
There is a storeyed block built at the NW corner of the range that in turn has a storeyed block built at its NW corner; there is a slate roofed verandah built in the angle between the 2 blocks to SW. Both blocks have modern windows along the rear (W) elevation, the latter being a roughly mirrored pair of cottages with doorways to the centre of the range and windows being modern timber casements.

Interior

The interior has been somewhat modernised but retains elements of the early layout.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a well-preserved large village inn, retaining good Georgian character, and an integral part of the early C19 building programme undertaken at Maentwrog by the Tan-y-bwlch estate..

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• The Grapes Hotel official website
• Wikidata Q29484416

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper