Can You Erddig It? A Road Trip to Wales

What an adventure, we left the country today and didn't need a passport, a vaccination certificate or a PLF! We travelled over the border to Wales, a 69-mile drive from Walsall. Our destination? The utterly glorious Erddig Hall in Wrexham, a 17th Century country house, set amidst a 1,900-acre estate and known to many as The Welsh Downton Abbey although I can't comment, having never seen it.

In 1682 Joshua Edisbury was appointed High Sherrif of Denbighshire and a year later, in November 1683, selected the dramatic site on an escarpment above the River Clywedog to build a home grand enough to reflect his position.

Edisbury commissioned Thomas Webb ‘to undertake and perform the care and oversight of contriving, building and finishing of a case or body of a new house’.Work began in 1684 on a house, nine bays wide. But he overstretched himself and by 1709 he was bankrupt.

A successful London-based lawyer, John Meller, bought up Joshua Edisbury's debts and set about furnishing the house with the finest furniture and fabrics, extending Erddig Hall to both the north and the south. With no wife or children, Meller looked to his sister's son, Simon Yorke, to supervise the completion and delivery of his valuable new furnishings for Erddig. He left the house to his nephew Simon on his death in 1733. The house remained in the Yorke Family until the reclusive Phillip Yorke III, the last Squire of Erddig, bequeathed the estate to The National Trust on his death in 1977.

The eccentric Yorke family had an unusual relationship with their staff. For nearly 200 years, Erddig’s servants were recorded in portraits, photographs and verse. Nothing of such breadth survives anywhere else in the world. If you're a regular visitor to British stately homes you'll know that although livestock is often celebrated in paintings the staff rarely get a mention.

Erddig Hall, unlike many National Trust properties, remains open all year round, only closing its gates on 25th & 26th December. Although the main house was closed for refurbishment the servants quarters were open to the public and we were able to see the extraordinary paintings and photographs of the staff for ourselves.

Like the Harpur family at Calke Abbey , the Yorkes amassed many treasures during their 244-year residency and rarely parted with any of them. The curators regularly swap over the contents of the Hall so possessions can be seen and admired by visitors. If the servants quarters are a taster of the contents of the house, I can't wait to go back in the Spring.

Although we loved the scullery and laundry the kitchen was breathtaking.

The teal blue of the walls is almost identical to the colour of our lounge. When Queen Mary visited in 1921 she waxed lyrical about how wonderful the copper saucepans looked against the walls, she wasn't wrong.

As there was so much stuff already in Erddig Hall when they were bequeathed it, the National Trust didn't need to buy anything else to furnish it. One of the few additions was the ham hanging from the beam. It was ordered and paid for by a customer at the village butcher in 1938 but was never collected and donated to the Trust by the butcher in 1977 (but nobody has been brave enough to try it.)

The outbuildings are full of treasures including vintage cars, carriages, motorbikes and bicycles.

The volunteers told us that the gardens are spectacular in the Spring but even in the depths of Winter, they were astonishingly lovely.

For over 300 years visitors have been welcomed to explore the parkland at Erddig. The Yorkes did not want to hide their beautiful estate away, understanding the value of nature to the health and wellbeing of the local community. In 1779, Philip Yorke I put up this notice at the entrance lodge:

Mr Yorke having at great Expense, and at the labour of many Years, finished the Ground and Wood Walks about Erthig, desires to acquaint his Neighbours, that they are extremely welcome to walk in the same for their Health and Amusement.

The garden is largely the work of landscape designer, William Eames, who worked at Erddig from 1768 until 1780 who installed gravelled walkways and planted trees, many of which still thrive today.

Apologies for the photo-heavy post but Erddig was so beautiful I couldn't resist going mad with the camera!

(If you want to see more of Erddig Hall check out our dear friends, Ann & Jos's 2018 visit HERE.)

It's Wednesday & the rum is calling - see you soon!