History

The original part of the present house (now the front) is of cross-passage plan and probably dates from the C17. A kitchen wing was added to the rear to form an L-plan house, which then had a second, lower wing added to form a right-angled Z-plan. In the early C19 the front range of the house was extended to the right by 2 windows, and a small gabled extension added to rear. The front range of the house was also remodelled, with new windows and a battlemented parapet added. The house was formerly known as Druid's Lodge, and described in an article in the 'Cambrian Mirror' of 1846 as 'the beautiful residence of J.Sanderson esq....one of the prettiest places on the island' (Parry). The house was often visited by Princess Victoria and the Duchess of Kent.

The house was built on land forming part of the Plas Newydd estate. The Plas Newydd Estate was one of the largest estates on Anglesey, passing to the Bagenal family in 1553 and through marriage to the Bayly family in the C18. In 1812 the estate passed to Henry William, Lord Uxbridge's eldest son; Henry was created 1st Marquess of Anglesey in 1815, and his descendants inherited both estate and title. A number of improvements to the buildings of the estate followed the completion of the main house at Plas Newydd in the early C19; by 1873 the estate is recorded as being 3,848 ha size, including scattered lands and land around the mansion of Plas Newydd.

Exterior

Two storey house of irregular plan; main (front) part is a 2-storey, 6-window range, asymmetrically planned with entrance offset to left. Rubble walls with widely slobbered mortar on boulder foundations shaped to form crude plinth. Parapet with broad battlements, stepped in the centre. Cambered brick heads to openings. Slate roof. Tall gable-end stacks with dripstones and capping, that to the left rendered. Windows are 12-pane sashes, mostly hornless. The 2 windows to the right, in the extended part of the house, are narrower. Rectangular fanlight over 6-panel door. Attached to the rear of the newer part of the house is a small 2-storey gabled wing with a square stone chimney. Attached to the rear of the older part of the house is the back-kitchen; a 2-storey wing with massive stone stack to the gable end, serving the inglenook fireplace. Flat-roofed dormer windows and modern small-paned windows. Attached to the N side of the kitchen, and parallel with the main house, is a single storey range with flat-roofed dormer windows. Rubble walls, chamfered plinth with slate capping. Elevation to SE has off-centre door with 2 main windows either side, 16-pane casements, and small buttery window to right end, a 4-pane casement. The NW side of the wing has 2 main windows either side of a smaller window in the centre. Blocked window to gable end.

Interior

Main house with cross-passage plan. Stairs to right of entrance, with room either side. Upstairs in room to right are two, 2 panel doors with sunk and chamfered panels and H-hinges. Crudely chamfered ceiling beams, with chamfered trusses visible in back part. Blocked inglenook to back kitchen. Single storey wing to rear has cambered and chamfered lintel over inglenook; stop-chamfered ceiling beam with lamb's tongue stop one end, plain the other. Six-panel doors.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a C17 vernacular house which is of special interest not only for the retention of some early detail, but also for the way in which it was remodelled in the early C19, combining picturesque detailing and a balanced composition.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29497111

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings