History

Seat of the Bold (or Bould) family, recorded already in the early C15 as prosperous English settlers in the medieval borough town of Queen's Hope. A Thomas de Bolde was constable of Chester castle from 1433 until his death in 1436 and a Richard Bolde is recorded as Prothonotary of Chester and Clerk to the Crown in the middle of the C15. Sir Richard Bolde, perhaps the same man, bought out no less than seven of the Hope burgesses to the W of Caergwrle Castle from 1430 onwards and by 1461 had acquired a sizeable estate. It is possible that the surviving house represents part of that built by him, although it is stylistically equally possible that the present structure is of early C16 date; whether the present house is that of Sir Richard or that of his immediate successors, it is evident from the quality of what survives that the original house was of unusual sophistication in comparison to other contemporary Welsh gentry houses. The house eventually became a possession of the Yonges of nearby Bryn Iorcyn and by the late C17 the Bulls (as the family had become called) seem to have died out altogether. Edward Lhwyd (in 1699) comments that Plas-y-Bwl was 'anciently a house of good note belonging to ye Bulls' and talks of a former chapel. The surviving fragment consists of a much-altered L-shaped range with an attached stair tower containing a stone newel stair cut off above the first floor. Presumably this represents the solar end of the medieval house, the truncated hall section of which is partly incorporated within a modern kitchen/bathroom extension to the rear. As well as the stair, its ground and first floor entrances, together with further inner and outer entrances all belong to the primary house. These are fine, moulded Tudor-arched openings, of a type common from the mid C15 to the early C16. The house was given new openings to the front c1900 and has been further modernised in the last twenty years.

Exterior

T-shaped storied house constructed of squared freestone blocks (with evidence of former render); slate roofs with original kneelered stone gable parapet to the W gable. This has a projecting, gabled end chimney with squat C19 stack; rebuilt former central chimney to main section (now appearing as a lateral stack). Square stair projection to E, reduced in height and with sloping slate roof; crude kneelers. Modern windows and doors to front, contained within c1900 openings. To the rear adjoins a fragmentary former hall (?) range, now truncated and of one storey with lean-to roof. This retains a fine Tudor-arched entrance to its E wall, with hollow-chamfered moulding; this is now blocked up.

Interior

Wide stopped-chamfered Tudor-arched entrances to ground and first floors giving on to a fine stone spiral stair. Two further Tudor-arched entrances visible on the ground floor, one mutilated, the other (externally visible) blocked. Within the right-hand (W) section of the house the jambs and mullion of a 2-light square-headed window are visible. Wide, stopped-chamfered main beams to main first-floor chambers; roof (now boxed in) said to retain early trusses.

Reasons for Listing

Listed Grade II* for the special historic interest of its surviving late medieval interior features.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17743121

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)