History

Early C17 farmhouse. Dated on a tablet over the doorway 1616 with initials R H W - for Richard Hughes Williams who later married into the Bulkeley family. The house is distinguished by a storeyed porch, a locally recurring feature. In the C19, the farm belonged to Ellen Gwynne's charity, founded in 1733, and supporting almshouses in Llandwrog, Caernarfonshire. The records of the charity suggest that the house was partly rebuilt in the mid C19, referring to the quarrying of stone for a new house and yard, and the erection of a new house and outbuildings according to plans prepared by Henry Kennedy of Bangor in 1847. The farm-buildings can be related to this building campaign, but the house retains its C17 vernacular character.

Exterior

The house comprises the main range with central advanced storeyed porch and offset rear wing with lean-to addition in the SW angle. Built of local rubble masonry with limestone dressing; modern slate roof with tall gable stacks and a lateral shouldered stack to the rear of the storeyed porch.
The principal elevation faces the coast to the N, the main entrance in a storeyed porch with label over the flat arched doorway and small 1st floor window, datestone between the two and gable stack at apex; there is a narrow window in the E wall of the porch with stone lintel and slate sill. In the main range of the house, to R of the porch is a ground floor window with flat voussoir head, the 1st floor casement of 3 lights set directly under the eaves. The L (E) return has an enlarged 1st floor window with label over and the R return has a doorway to the R (S). The rear of the block has casement windows to the W end; a 3-light 1st floor window and single light below.
The rear wing has a single ground floor window along the E wall and a 1st floor window in the S gable with label; a similar window in the lean to addition which has 2 casement windows of 2-lights along the W wall.

Interior

The house has a central hallway with principal rooms leading off, and which leads to the rear wing; a lateral corridor to the rear of the main range leads to the back door and lean-to addition which formerly housed the dairy and scullery.
The interior of the house has been modernised but retains exposed beams and joists in the ground floor rooms which have massive chamfered beams, some with roll moulded angles. The dining room has a massive chamfered bressumer to the inglenook fireplace and the other fireplaces throughout the house have massive stone lintels; the small room over the porch is said, by owner, to have a shaped stone lintel, possibly a reset mullion. The roof has been renewed but retains some parts of older pegged trusses; purlins mostly renewed, those over the porch the original oak pair. The inner doorway to the porch is a round-headed arch.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a substantially early C17 house of traditional type, retaining vernacular character and some fine original features including massive beams, some with moulded angles. Plas Newydd is one of a small number of such sub medieval gentry houses which are a comparatively rare type to be found on Anglesey.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29503630

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

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)