Vaynol

Vaynol (Welsh: Y Faenol meaning 'the manor') is a country estate (gbmapping|SH536695) near Y Felinheli in Gwynedd, north Wales, dating from the Tudor period. There are 1,000 acres (4 km²) of park, farmland, and gardens on the estate, with over thirty listed buildings, girdled by a wall which is 7 miles (11.26 km) long.

The origins of the estate go back to the 16th century when the bishops of Bangor began to sell property belonging to their manor, Maenol Bangor. ["Dinorwic" by Reg Chambers Jones, Bridge Books, 2006. ISBN 1-84494-33-0] . The estate was then developed during this century by a family called Williams, passed to the crown in 1696, and then was taken over by the Assheton Smith family in 1756. This area of Wales is known for its slate production, and the Assheton Smith family profited greatly from slate quarrying. Even after farms were let on long leases to encourage good tenant behaviour, slate was their main economic interest.

The Assheton Smith family remained in possession of the estate until the twentieth century. In 1847, it passed to Mary Astley, niece of Thomas Assheton-Smith of Vaynol, who was married to Robert George Duff, a distant cousin of the Earls of Fife. Vaynol passed in turn to their two eldest sons (the first of whom left no male heir), and each of these sons took the surname Assheton-Smith instead of his original name of Duff. The younger son, Sir Charles Garden Assheton-Smith, was created a baronet in 1911. His son and grandson, however, the 2nd and 3rd baronets, reverted to the original name of Duff. Sir Michael Duff, 3rd baronet, had an adopted son but left the estate on his death in 1980 to a blood relation, a nephew, and it was then sold.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the estate amounted to 36,000 acres (150 km²) and had 1,600 tenants, although within a few years it became necessary to sell parts off, a pattern to be repeated again later. The last of the family, Sir Michael Duff, 3rd Baronet, died in 1980. The estate was not passed onto his adopted son, Charles, but was put up for auction in 1984; Caernarfon-based Glan Gwna Estates Ltd now owns the bulk of the land.

The buildings on the estate include two halls: Vaynol Old Hall, much of which dates from the Williams period of ownership; and Vaynol Hall, began in 1793 and extended during the nineteenth century. Once Vaynol Hall was built, Vaynol Old Hall became a farm house and subsequently deteriorated in condition to the extent that in 2003 it appeared on the BBC's "Restoration" programme, championed by Robert Hardy. There is also a very old barn building.

In the second half of the nineteenth century the park contained a zoological garden, but this was dismantled by 1900. The park has been the setting for Bryn Terfel's Faenol Festival since 2000 and in 2005 hosted the National Eisteddfod.

The Faenol estate should not be confused with the neighbouring National Trust land called Glan Faenol.

References

* [http://www.vaynol.co.uk/pages/main%20site/history.html Official website's history page]
* [http://www.llechicymru.info/IQPFaenol.english.htm Slatesite: information on the Welsh slate industry]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/faenolfest/pages/facts.shtml BBC's pages about the Faenol Festival]

External links

* [http://www.vaynol.co.uk/ The official Vaynol website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/bangor_life/pages/vaynol_secrets.shtml The story of the last family to live on the estate]
* [http://www.brynfest.com Faenol Festival]