Bearing the date 1893 over the front door, Llety’r Dryw Hall was built by John Eden, having been designed by architects Douglas and Fordham of Chester, inspired, it is believed, by 17th century buildings in northern England.
John Douglas is described in Edward Hubbard’s “Buildings of Wales: Clwyd” as “the most important and active local architect of the period”. Douglas and Fordham were also responsible for the design of St. Paul’s Church (1887-88) and Christ Church, Bryn-y-Maen (1897-99).
John Eden was the uncle of Sir Anthony Eden (Prime Minister 1955-57), who it is believed would visit during his holidays.
Following John Eden’s death in 1929 the Hall was bought by the Wadsworth Family, who had made their money in the cotton industry. The photograph above is from the sale catalogue in 1929 and is reproduced here by kind permission of Denbighshire Archives.
Llety’r Dryw Hall was later bought by Colwyn Council and in the early 1960s was sold to the Denbighshire & Montgomeryshire Joint Fire Service for use as the service’s headquarters.
The Hall was sold again in 1987 and is now used as a Training School by North Wales Police.
The nearby, now empty, 17th century farmhouse building called “The Cottage” was known as Llety’r Dryw Cottage (point 12 on this trail) and was home to the gardener at the Hall for many years. The farm’s barn was converted into a house now called Meadow Lodge.
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This trail is part of the Age Friendly Communities Project which is part funded by the European Regional Development fund through the Ireland and Wales Interregional Programme 2007 – 2013.
