Vaynol facts for kids
Vaynol, or Y Faenol in Welsh, is a large country estate in North Wales. It's located near a town called Y Felinheli in Gwynedd. This historic estate dates back to the Tudor period, which was a long time ago! It covers about 1,000 acres (that's like 750 football fields!) and has many old buildings, more than thirty of them are considered special and protected. A long wall, about 7 miles (11 km) long, surrounds the whole estate. The name "Y Faenol" simply means "the manor" in Welsh.
The estate has two very important old houses. One is called Faenol Old Hall, and parts of it are from the time the Williams family owned the estate. The other is Vaynol Hall, which was built in 1793 and made bigger later. After Vaynol Hall was built, Faenol Old Hall became a farmhouse and started to fall apart. But don't worry! In 2003, it was featured on a TV show called Restoration, and it has now been beautifully fixed up. There's also an old chapel and a very old barn on the estate. It's important not to mix up the Vaynol estate with a nearby area called Glan Faenol, which is owned by the National Trust.
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A Look Back in Time
The Vaynol estate started in the 1500s. Back then, the bishops of Bangor sold off parts of their land. The Williams family then took over and made the estate bigger during that century.
Later, in 1723, the estate was given to a man named John Smith. After him, it passed to his nephew, Thomas Assheton Smith I, in 1762. Thomas Assheton Smith I was a very important person. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) and owned a lot of land. His son, also named Thomas Assheton Smith, was famous for playing cricket and owning fast steam yachts.
The Slate Story
The Assheton Smiths were very successful because of the slate industry in Wales. They owned the Dinorwic Quarry, which was a huge slate quarry. In 1856, the quarry made a profit of £30,000, which was a massive amount of money back then! Even though they rented out farms, slate was the main way the family made their money. The family also made their estate larger by taking over more land, even though some local farmers were not happy about it.
The Assheton Smith family owned the estate for a long time, until the 1900s. In 1847, the estate went to Mary Astley, who was Thomas Assheton Smith's niece. She married Robert George Duff, and their sons later changed their last name to Assheton-Smith.
Changes Over the Years
At the start of the 1900s, the Vaynol estate was huge, covering about 36,000 acres (14,500 hectares) and having 1,600 tenants (people who rented land or property). In 1902, the Prince and Princess of Wales (who later became King George V and Queen Mary) even stayed at Vaynol Hall during their visit to North Wales!
To celebrate King George V's Silver Jubilee in 1935, the estate gave the old town walls of Caernarfon to the government to help improve the town. Later, in 1957, the remaining Vaynol properties in Caernarfon were put up for sale.
In 1967, a large part of the estate, about 21,000 acres (8,500 hectares), including the north side of Snowdon mountain, was sold to two property companies. The Vaynol Hall, its home farm, and some nearby land were kept by the family. The famous Dinorwic slate quarries were also kept by a family company. Later that year, the property companies sold 13,000 acres (5,260 hectares) of the Snowdon land to the Welsh Office. More properties were sold to tenants, and in 1968, 138 lots were put up for auction.
Fun Things to Do at Vaynol
In the late 1800s, the park at Vaynol even had a zoo, but it was taken down by 1900. Today, the Vaynol estate is a popular place for events!
- Since 2000, the famous Welsh singer Bryn Terfel has held his Faenol Festival there.
- In 2005, the estate hosted the National Eisteddfod, which is a big Welsh festival of music, literature, and performance.
- The Irish pop band Westlife held a concert there in 2006.
- BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, a huge music festival, was held at the park in May 2010.
Vaynol Cattle
The Vaynol estate is also famous for a very rare type of cattle called Vaynol cattle. These are a type of White Park cattle. The estate started breeding them in the 1870s. A herd of these special cattle lived there until 1980, when the owner, Sir Michael Duff, passed away. The estate was then sold, and the herd of Vaynol cattle was moved to different places in England to keep them safe.
