Glyn Cywarch

Glyn Cywarch is a Grade II*-listed gentry house within Snowdonia National Park, built by William Wynn in 1616. It is an ambitious building of Renaissance character, distinctive of its region, with a walled garden. It has been the Harlech family seat since the 1800s.

The sub-medieval tradition is evident in the layout, and original detail of a high order remains in-situ. There are numerous features of special architectural significance throughout the main house, the adjoining buildings and grounds.

Glyn Cywarch hall, the gatehouse, the gardens and estate yard ranges are Grade II*-listed as a major early seventeenth-century gentry house and associated gardens and buildings. Its architectural ambition and social status are marked in a fusion of regional traditions and renaissance ideas, retaining original interior detail of exceptional quality.

The Wynn family originally controlled the Glyn Estate and at the time of construction Glyn Cywarch was owned by William and Katherine Wynn whose names are engraved above the main threshold. It is suspected that William Wynn was not the first person to inhabit this estate as a Robert Wynn, who died in 1592, is mentioned in records as ‘of Glyn’. It is known that William’s granddaughter Margaret inherited the estate after marrying Sir Robert Owen of Clenneny and Brogyntyn in the eighteenth century.

In the mid-1780s a grandson of this union, Robert Godolphin Owen inherited the estate. However, for most of the eighteenth century the Wynn family were ensconced at Brogyntyn Estate whilst the house was used by their agent. Both Robert and his brothers died without issue, leaving their sister Margaret to inherit the combined estates; she married Owen Ormsby of Dublin whose mother was also a descendant of the Wynn family. The property advanced to her daughter Mary Jane Ormsby who married William Gore; their children were addressed under the surname Ormsby-Gore thereafter and the eldest male was created Baron Harlech in 1876.

The hall was extensively restored from 2016 to 2023. This was done using a sympathetic methodology of traditional materials and master craftspeople, incorporating techniques such as the use of lime plaster. The gatehouse roof was fully repaired and reslated thanks to a generous grant from the Historic Houses Foundation. Alongside the use of traditional techniques and materials, the thermal insulation of the building was greatly improved, and a renewable heating source in the form of a water source heat pump was added.

Visitors will be met on arrival by the senior housekeeper and light refreshments will be offered. The tour, led by Lady Amanda, will comprise the ground floor of the interior and exterior of the hall, as well the exterior of the gatehouse, the estate yard ranges and the gardens. Photographs will be permitted of exteriors but not of interiors.