Erddig facts for kids
.jpg)
.jpg)
Erddig Hall (also known as Erddig) is a special historic house and estate near Wrexham, North Wales. It's owned by the National Trust, a charity that looks after important places. The house was built in the 1600s and 1700s, and it sits on a huge estate with a beautiful park and even the remains of an old Norman castle.
Erddig is famous because it shows what life was like for everyone who lived there – both the wealthy family and their many staff members. The Yorke family, who owned Erddig for a long time, had a very unusual and kind relationship with their servants. They even created a unique collection of portraits and poems to celebrate them! You can still see the servants' rooms, laundry, bakehouse, sawmill, and blacksmith's shop, which give you a real peek into how people lived and worked from the 1700s to the 1900s.
The main rooms of the house are filled with beautiful furniture, fabrics, and old wallpapers. The walled garden is also very special, being one of the most important 18th-century gardens still around in Britain.
Contents
History of Erddig
The first mention of a castle in this area was in 1161. This castle was probably built on the land where Erddig now stands. You can still see the remains of a Norman castle, built around 1090, in the park. It was built on a steep hill and used parts of an even older hillfort.
The main house was built between 1684 and 1689 for Joshua Edisbury. He borrowed a lot of money for the project, which led to him losing the house in 1716. John Meller, a important lawyer, bought Erddig.
John Meller made the house bigger and better in the 1720s. When he died in 1733, he left Erddig to his nephew, Simon Yorke. This started a long line of Yorke family ownership that lasted for almost 250 years!
In 1771, Philip Yorke I made more changes to the house, including adding stone to the front. Later, in 1861, General John Yorke became the owner of another famous house nearby, Plas Newydd.
After 1922, the Erddig estate started to struggle. The house began to fall into disrepair under Simon Yorke IV, who didn't even install electricity or running water. While this caused some damage, it also meant that Erddig stayed very much as it was, like a time capsule!
In 1973, the last owner, Philip Scott Yorke, gave Erddig to the National Trust. This happened because a nearby coal mine caused the ground under the house to sink by about 5 feet (1.5 meters)! The house was in danger of falling apart. The National Trust received money from the coal company to fix it. They also sold some land to help pay for the repairs. The restoration was finished in 1977, and Charles, Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) officially opened Erddig to the public.
Touring the House
When you visit Erddig, the tour often starts "below stairs," in the areas where the servants worked. This part of the house really shows how much the Yorke family valued their staff. They collected portraits, photos, and even wrote poems about the people who worked for them. This unique collection tells the stories of the servants.
"Above stairs," in the main rooms, you'll find beautiful furniture and old items from the 1700s. Many of these belonged to John Meller, who owned the house before the Yorke family. One interesting painting in the Music Room is of Judge Jeffreys, who was known as the "Hanging Judge."
The Yorke family seemed to keep everything! Because of this, Erddig has a truly unique collection of items, from rare Chinese wallpaper in the State Bedroom to everyday objects. When Philip S. Yorke gave the house to the National Trust in 1973, he made one important rule: nothing was to be removed from the house. He wanted everyone to enjoy this special place, which his family had looked after for many generations.
Gardens at Erddig
Erddig's walled garden is one of the most important 18th-century gardens still existing in Britain. It has rare fruit trees, a canal, a pond, and a beautiful Victorian flowerbed design called a parterre. The garden also has a special collection of over a hundred types of Hedera (ivy).
You can also see amazing gates and railings made by the famous ironsmiths, the Davies brothers, from nearby Bersham. These gates were moved to Erddig in 1908. The garden also has special alcoves in the yew hedges that might have been used for bee boles, which are shelters for beehives.
The large park around the house, covering about 1,200 acres, was designed by William Emes. His work involved removing a part of Wat's Dyke, an ancient earthwork, near the house. In 2018, archaeologists explored this area and found that much of the ditch and bank of this old barrier was still there!
The parks and gardens at Erddig are considered very important historically.
Estate Buildings
Around the Erddig estate, you can explore many old buildings that were essential for running the house. These include the joiners' shop (where woodworkers made things) and the smithy (where a blacksmith worked with metal). There's also the Midden Yard with its saw mill and cart sheds, and the Stable Yard, which has stables, a tack room, old carriages, and even vintage cars and vintage bicycles. Inside the main house, you can see the laundry, bakehouse, kitchen, and scullery (a small room for washing dishes).
The nearby river provided water for the estate. A clever device called a hydraulic ram pumped water uphill to the house. The water entered this ram through a feature known as Erddig's 'Cup and Saucer'.
Even when the Yorke family lived there, the house never had mains electricity. The last owner, Philip, used a portable generator just to power his television! However, the sawmill had its own steam engine to power the saws and other machinery.
Awards and Recognition
Erddig has won several awards! In 2003, readers of the Radio Times and viewers of a TV show called Britain's Finest Stately Homes voted Erddig as "Britain's second finest" historic house. In 2007, it was named the UK's "favourite Historic House" and the "8th most popular historic site" in the UK. Erddig also won the National Heritage Museum of the Year award in 1978, sharing it with the Museum of London.
See also
- List of gardens in Wales
