Cymru / Wales – Place Name Research

This page has been created to post periodic articles about the continuing place-name research in to the Welsh uplands that Aled Willams and I are conducting.  This research started over seven years ago and is ongoing.

Visiting Grimsthorpe Castle

Seventy-four years ago the final brush strokes were being added to a portrait of a six year old girl.  Once finished, the portrait was framed and in time hung on a wall, the penultimate portrait of many, all neatly arranged on opposite walls of a long corridor.  Many of the other portraits comprised images of formal sittings, oil on canvass predominated, with an artist’s skill the many faces of aristocracy were forever captured, one beside another, all either ancestors of the six year old girl, or monarchs of the day whose association was direct to her family.

The young girl was born Nancy Jane Marie Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, she is the 28^th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby and is a joint hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain and sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.  When in company she is referred to as Lady Jane or Lady Willoughby.  Upon the death of her father in 1983 the Earldom of Ancaster became extinct and she inherited 75,000 acres of land in Lincolnshire and Perthshire, the former includes the stately house of Grimsthorpe Castle and its grounds, whilst the latter comprises Drummond Castle and its acreage.  Both Castles are periodically resided in by Lady Willoughby. 

Grimsthorpe Castle is placed in a 3,000 acre park comprising lakes, woodland, pastures and ornamental and working garden, some of which was designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and implemented by his patron; the 3^rd Duke of Ancaster.  In the true sense of the word the building is not a castle as castellated architecture was later added which bestowed its current title.  The building is more a stately home, grand in nature and has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516.

As well as the grandeur of Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castles the family also own lands in north Wales, this is the Gwydir Estate.  The de Eresby lands in north Wales were centred on Gwydir Castle (this building is no longer owned by the family and is now a private residence) and is situated just to the west of Llanrwst and just south of Trefriw in the Conwy valley on the edge of Snowdonia.  The building is an example of a fortified manor house or courtyard house built in the traditional Tudor architecture.  Gwydir became the ancestral home of the Wynn family who were descended from the Kings of Gwynedd, and became one of the largest landowning families in north Wales and are related to the de Eresby family through marriage.

Drummond Castle © Copyright Doctor Richard Murray and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Gwydir Castle is a fine example of a fortified manor house built in traditional Tudor architecture

During the 16^th and 17^th centuries when the Wynn family managed the Gwydir Estate the house stood in a deer park comprising 36,000 acres.  In 1678 the Estate was passed to the Barons Willoughby de Eresby, who were based in Lincolnshire, and then from 1892 to the Earls of Ancaster.  Part of the Estate comprised lands in the Parishes of Dolwyddelan, Llanrhychwyn and Llanrwst.  Much of this land was mountainous, with lower ffridd pasture usually bounded to tenant farms and higher, open mynydd land considered poor quality for grazing.  This higher mynydd land comprised the ancient cynefin, or sheep-walk in English, this is the land granted to tenant farms on the basis of grazing rights, which are established through boundary fences, walls or watersheds.  Each patch of land, be it fields, ffridd or mynydd is given a name, and sometimes the names to ffridd and mynydd lands relate to the tenant farms, for example, if the farm of Bryn Coch had grazing rights on bounded mountain land, the patch of land (cynefin) would be known as Mynydd Bryn Coch.  This naming by association to farm name is an ancient practice in Wales, and one that is still used today.

In the 18^th and 19th century the Gwydir Estate and Castle suffered some years of neglect and went in to a long decline.  This was partly based on income, or lack of, from the 30 slate mines on the land, this slate was of poor quality and output was not high, this culminated in 1894 with the sale of the Dolwyddelan lands, followed in the next two years by most of the Estate lands of Llanrhychwyn and Trefriw.  In the early part of the 20^th century the 1640s panelled main dining room was totally stripped and in 1922 the Solar Tower was gutted by fire.  In 1921 the Earl of Carrington sold the house, this was the first time in over 400 years that it had been passed out of inherited ownership.  The current private owners have rejuvenated Gwydir Castle and have restored the original 1640s panels in the main dining room and are undergoing a programme of conservation.

It was inherent for many Estates to document their land, tenants and rents, this usually took the form of an Estate Survey, each detail would be meticulously catalogued in an Estate Survey Book, and usually leather bound these books would form a document of the day and in time become a priceless tool for research.  Many Estate Survey Books are housed in archive centres where access to their treasures is open to the public; others are held in the private archive of the Estate.  Usually within their parched pages are many maps showing the fields, ffridd and mynydd lands of each tenant farm.  Lines across the map would indicate boundaries and letters within the boundary could be cross referenced to an adjacent page where detail of farm, residents and rents were sometimes documented.  Many Estate Survey Books were produced in the late 1790s, before the Ordnance Survey was established as the map makers of the day, and because of this they are a historical document of a bygone time.  However, their importance is not to be undervalued as they form a bridge between the late 1790s through the early publicly available maps produced by the Ordnance Survey to nowadays when research can be conducted via local inquiries and the Internet.  Occasionally accessing these old Estate Survey Maps can confirm a name previously given through local inquiry or one that has never been documented on any Ordnance Survey map.  As well as being a conduit between times after Edward Llwyd and those of the Internet, these old books are a literal work of art, with many maps being composed in watercolour paint, intricate detail of lake, field boundary and parish with different colour used to signify different boundaries; they are a joy to behold.  It was our continuing research in to Welsh upland place names that led Aled and I to the private archive of Lady Willoughby at Grimsthorpe Castle.

An excerpt from the Estate Survey book naming tenant farms and giving their respective rents

This enquiry had originated from research that Aled had conducted at the Caernarfon Archive Centre.  Some of his visits to this archive were based on research concerning the lands of the Gwydir Estate.  Through research via the Internet he found a reference to an Estate Survey document whose reference number comprised the initials ‘ANC’, this refers to the Earldom of Ancaster, the now extinct title inherited by the male line of the de Esesby family.  Aled found that this document was housed at the Lincolnshire Archive; he asked if I could make enquiry to its whereabouts and arrange for it to be viewed by us. Thus began the journey we were about to undertake….

I phoned the Lincolnshire Archives and was told that the document had been there since the 1970s, but had been taken back in to the private archive of Lady Willoughby at Grimsthorpe Castle in 1991.  They kindly gave me a forwarding contact at the Castle’s Estate Office.  I initially spoke to someone called Helen who explained that the Castle was busy in preparation to welcome the BBC’s Bargain Hunt team for filming over the upcoming weekend and asked if I could call back a few days later and speak to Ray Biggs.  When I contacted Ray he proved very helpful and suggested I should put my request in writing and send the letter to Lady Willoughby, as she usually takes an interest in such enquiries.  I thanked Ray and left him my contact details and the reference number that Aled had found for the document.  Later that same day I received an email that informed me that Lady Willoughby had found the document (book) and had invited us to visit Grimsthorpe Castle to view it.  I forwarded the email to Aled and our levels of expectation and excitement started to spiral out of control!  Soon afterwards I received a phone call, “hello” I answered as I picked the receiver up, “hello it’s Jane Willoughby” the voice on the other end gently announced.  We talked for ten minutes or so with Lady Willoughby describing the contents of the Estate Survey Book and inviting us both to lunch, I thanked her for finding the book and also for inviting us to visit.

Aled and I left Welshpool at 6.30am in early morning sunshine and arrived in the fertile lands of Lincolnshire at around 9.30am.  Our first view of Grimsthorpe Castle was from its main entrance gate, with a straight drive stretching out toward a resplendent symmetrical stately house with manicured lawns either side of the drive. The view was made to impress and we were not disappointed.

The resplendent Grimsthorpe Castle

The opposing view looking down the main drive

We drove to a side entrance and introduced ourselves at the Estate Office, where they were expecting us.  We then bade our good mornings at the security gate and were directed toward the Castle.  With blue skies and summer warmth the whole place had a feeling of a lazy day in the surrounds of a French country Château.  Once the car was parked we walked past ornamental landscaped gardens to the side of the Castle and rung a doorbell.  Soon we had been greeted and were in a side room where the Estate Survey Book had been laid on a table.  We introduced ourselves to Lady Willoughby who proved a delight to converse with.  Soon afterwards Lady Willoughby excused herself and left us to our work.  The Estate Survey book is entitled ‘Book of Maps no 86’ and takes in the lands to the Gwydir Estate.  Each map is a small work of art in its own right with detail giving each land boundary highlighted in water colour.  The majority of maps are to the lowlands, and although all were of interest we wanted to examine two or three specific areas to the mountains of the south-eastern Carneddau and areas around the Moelwynion.  The first had proved extremely interesting from local place-name inquiries, whilst the latter was proving problematic for a particular set of closely grouped hills.

Aled with Lady Willoughby looking through documents relating to the Gwydir estate

Each page within the book was slowly opened to show another page of neatly written detail with an accompanying map, many of these were folded as they were larger than the dimensions of the book.  Lakes were edged in blue with pinks, yellows and greens used to edge and signify boundaries, trees as green symbols, almost heart shaped in appearance with an underlying green, mountains as pencilled hummocks, many stretching the length of a boundary.  All had been skilfully crafted and meticulously drawn.  This book is over 215 years old and its contents a prized opportunity for those interested in place-name research.  During our prolonged map gazing the security man asked us if we would like to be shown around the Castle on one of the conducted tours, we thanked him and said yes, he booked us in for 3.00pm. 

An excerpt from the Estate Survey book showing some of the lowlands in the Gwydir estate

An excerpt from the Estate Survey book showing one of the fold-out pages

By the time we had digested the book’s contents it was time for lunch.  We were led to a large rectangular room where a long table had been set for five people.  Lady Willoughby soon arrived and sat at head of table, whilst opposite Aled and I sat two furniture repairers who were working on chairs during the week.  Conversation flowed and centred on our research, the history of the house and the region it was built in, as well as that of Drummond Castle.  The first course consisted of artichoke harvested at the Scottish Estate with accompanying hollandaise sauce, the main course was ushered in after a ringing of a bell signified that plates could be collected, once a tasty fish cake, peas and beans and new potatoes had been finished we had dessert which consisted of fresh raspberries from the working garden and cream.  After coffee we thanked our host and walked back to the room where the Estate Survey Book remained firmly placed on its table.

Cross referencing detail from the old Gwydir Estate Survey book with a current Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map

As 3.00pm approached we were led around the side of the Castle and introduced to the guide who would take us and another four people around the part of the house that is open to the public.  It was fascinating to have been in the company of Lady Willoughby and see the behind the scenes running of the house and be in contact with its occupants and then join a guided tour, full of history and anecdote whilst being led from one ornate room to another with a plethora of priceless artefact and painting, all grandly displayed.  I wondered what the emotional impact must have been through the economical realisation that a house, however grand, that had been in a family’s possession for so many centuries would have to be made accessible to the public for its financial upkeep to carry on.  This was not something I raised on the day but the question partly intrigues me.

Vanbrugh's north front showing symmetry of design

We were shown the Vanbrugh Hall, the State Dining Room, the King James Room, the State Drawing Room, the South and west Corridor, the Gothic and Tapestry Bedrooms and the Chapel.  As we neared the end of the tour we were led down another long corridor with bedrooms to our left where Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall had recently stayed, both walls were awash with skilfully crafted portraits, many of Kings and Queens and titled ancestors.  I looked up at the penultimate portrait, that of a young girl, a very different style from all those preceding it.  From memory the girl’s eyes were looking slightly downward in a shy manner, even then her face portrayed a beauty that would remain with her until later years.  As the tour ended we thanked our guide and headed back in to the private quarters of Lady Willoughby and spent 30 minutes in the inner courtyard, taking photographs as the sun broke through the afternoon’s cloud.

The inner courtyard at Grimsthorpe Castle

We spent a relaxing 30 minutes in the inner courtyard before visiting the ornamental gardens

After this we headed outside to spend time walking around and photographing the front and rear of the Castle, taking time to look out over the pool and park land that stretched westward toward the horizon.  Before going back in to the Castle we roamed around the gardens admiring the beauty of symmetrical pattern and watching a mouse as it positioned itself up a raspberry vine to nibble away at its contents. After ringing the doorbell to gain access back in to the Castle we were invited to join Lady Willoughby in the Library to partake in afternoon tea.  We were again joined by the two furniture repairers, whose names I unfortunately did not note.  Tea was poured, conversation was had and everyone seemed to enjoy the buttered Welsh cakes we had brought Lady Willoughby, along with a baked Bara Brith, which was a small gift on our part for the kindness she had shown by inviting us in to her home.

Much of the irregular south front is due to extensive alteration carried out in later centuries

Part of the ornamental gardens at Grimsthorpe Castle

We left at 5.50pm refreshed in the knowledge that kindness is a part of the human spirit and gratitude expressed can take many forms, ours was partly through our small gift.  The opportunity to view such a document as the Estate Survey Book and to do so in the surrounds of Grimsthorpe Castle in the company of Lady Willoughby is an experience that will no doubt live with us for many years to come.