Bryn y Parc
Denbigh was enjoying a heyday in the late Tudor period, and that’s when this remarkable building dates back to. Badly damaged by fire, the renovations have revealed a remarkable late Tudor timber-framed home.

The quality of the woodwork in the ceiling tells us that this was a high status home. The ‘transom’ style window is identical to the type that was installed at Dolbelydr, Trefnant, near Denbigh, by the Salesburys in the same period. We know the date there was the last quarter of the sixteenth century, and that helps us date this building.

Secret Garden Flat
Here we have a complete medieval first-storey hall dating back to the late 15th. The early plasterwork survives, but it is the remarkable cruck blades that make it special.

An unpromising exterior reveals an architectural gem inside. The place doesn’t show in any of the books or established research and isn’t even Listed – it just goes to show you what treasures can slip through the system.

Tŷ Thomas Gee
This was formerly the house of Thomas Gee, the Welsh Nonconformist preacher, printer and publisher. He moved in age about 20, in 1835.

His press was one of the most productive in nineteenth-century Wales, publishing mainly Welsh-language, Nonconformist materials. Gee was the printer of Y Faner and also Y Gwyddoniadur Cymreig, a 10 volume encyclopaedia which has been described as the most ambitious Welsh publishing project of the C19.

There is little unusual in the house but it is a very good quality brick townhouse dating back to the mid eighteenth century. We know that it was revamped by Gee a century later. Judging by the architectural details Gee had one of the finest homes in town – note that the staircase is a good quality late Georgian example.

By the 1830s the famous Gee publishing house was round the corner on Swan Lane. But it is possible that the original press was housed in the unusually decorative red-brick warehouse to the rear of the property.

Forum Café
Behind the famous bylciau in a building which is timber-framed is the Forum Cafe. It was in use as a tavern for centuries, and may well have been built as one. Most of the interior is fairly unremarkable until you come upon the beautiful staircase.

It is a top quality staircase from the second quarter of the seventeenth century decorated all the way up the three stories. There is a particularly rich collection of these in and around Denbigh. Other fine examples of staircases are to be found at 2 Hall Square and at the Bull Hotel, Hall Square.

Great to see such features in such everyday settings!