page_title: Bodelwyddan Castle
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bodelwyddan Castle / History
caption_attribution_description: An image from a set of 8 extra-illustrated volumes of A tour in Wales by Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) that chronicle the three journeys he made through Wales between 1773 and 1776. These volumes are unique because they were compiled for Pennant's own library at Downing. This edition was produced in 1781. The volumes include a number of original drawings by Moses Griffiths, Ingleby and other well known artists of the period. Thomas Pennant (1726-1798)
context_page_description: Bodelwyddan Castle, close to the village of Bodelwyddan, near Rhyl, Denbighshire in Wales, was built around 1460 by the Humphreys family of Anglesey as a manor house. It was associated with the Williams-Wynn family for around 200 years from 1690. It is a Grade II* listed building. Having been opened to the public as a historic house museum, as of 2019, it is up for sale.
context_section_description: The castle was bought from the Humphreys by Sir William Williams, Speaker of the  House of Commons from 1680–1681.
   The castle which stands today was reconstructed between 1830 and 1832 by Sir John Hay Williams, who employed the architects Joseph Hansom (inventor of the Hansom cab) and Edward Welch to refurbish and extend the house. The Williams' family fortunes started to decline in the 1850s, due to the loss of the main source of income for the estate, lead mining.  The castle has been described as one of Hansom's most ambitious projects, "being wildly dramatic and owing nothing to its predecessors". At the same time works were carried out to construct an estate wall and formal gardens.
  Further refurbishment work was carried out in the 1880s by Sir Herbert, 7th Baronet, who inherited Bodelwyddan Castle from his heirless cousin. By the First World War the house had become a recuperation hospital for wounded soldiers. During this time, the grounds of the estate were used by soldiers based at the nearby Kinmel Camp for trench warfare training. Traces of these trenches can still be seen.
caption: Watercolour of the house that preceded Bodelwyddan Castle c1781
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