Hafodunos Hall
| Hafodunos Hall | |
|---|---|
_NLW3361604.jpg)
Hafodunos Hall
|
|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Private House |
| Architectural style | Venetian-inspired Gothic |
| Address | Llangernyw, Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°11′18″N 3°41′47″W / 53.1883°N 3.6964°W |
| Current tenants | Vacant |
| Construction started | 1861 |
| Completed | 1866 |
| Destroyed | partial damage 13 October 2004 |
| Owner | Private Owner |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Brick and Stone |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Sir George Gilbert Scott |
Hafodunos Hall is a Gothic revival house located near the village of Llangernyw in Wales. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, it was built between 1861 and 1866 for Henry Robertson Sandbach, replacing a house that had been built in 1674. The house, of Venetian-Gothic design, is considered Scott's second-most important country house after Kelham Hall, Nottinghamshire and arguably his most important Welsh building. Subject to a devastating fire in 2004, the ruins are being restored. The Hall is a Grade I listed building, with many of the buildings and structures in the grounds having their own listings.
Hafodunos Hall was designed in a Gothic revival style by Sir George Gilbert Scott, and built between 1861 and 1866 for Henry Robertson Sandbach, whose family had bought the estate in 1830. The new house was built to replace a much older hall which had been built in 1674. The site had been occupied since at least 1530 but the remains of both previous houses are untraceable. The Sandbach family sold the house in the early 1930s but still farm part of the estate; most recently Antoinette Sandbach has entered public life as the MP for Eddisbury in Cheshire and still lives in what was once the estate foreman's house.
Scott is well known for being one of the most important of the Gothic Revival architects of his time, especially for the Gothic style in domestic architecture. Hafodunos is the only example of his country house style in Wales and the second domestic structure that was built by Scott, the first being Kelham Hall in Nottinghamshire. One of his sons, John Oldrid Scott, who was also an architect, was later employed in 1883 to design the elaborate conservatories.
The Sandbach family sold Hafodunos during the early 1930s, and it has subsequently housed both a girls' school and an old people's home. The hall was requisitioned in the early 1940s by the Kent House school for Girls (Sale Manchester) allowing its pupils to escape the effects of World War II. The gymnasium/theatre and games pavilion were added to the grounds during the school years to extend the facilities. The school closed in 1969 and then became an accountancy college in the 1970s. It was subsequently owned by Caer Rhun Hall. After the school shut down, Hafodunos Hall was converted into a residential home for the elderly. This saw the addition of a lift to the main corridor in the house. The residential home was shut down in 1993 for failing to meet required standards and no suitable long term use was found. The building then fell victim to dry rot which had spread rapidly through the servant’s quarters into the main house. In 1998 Conwy Council were contemplating serving an Urgents Works Notice, however the owner had died leaving the estate in debt. Hafodunos was put on the market again and was eventually bought in 2001 by a property developer from Colwyn Bay. During the late spring of 2004 he unveiled plans for and hotel and adjoining caravan park.
...
Wikipedia