Llandudno / Bodysgallen Hall

Bodysgallen was built in 1620 by Robert Wynne, and was enlarged periodically over the next 3 centuries in a style consistent with the original house. So although it all looks original, most of what you see is Victorian

It has been argued that the distinctive tall tower is of medieval origin and was a watch tower for Conwy Castle, but this is unlikely. You can see Conwy castle from the top, but a more persuasive argument is that, with its tall tower, Bodysgallen is similar to other near contemporary houses with similar towers (e.g. Plas Mawr, Conwy, of 1580, and Plas Berw, Anglesey, of 1615).

This place runs as a hotel, but they have been very careful to keep the feeling of a country house. So there aren’t signs everywhere and it doesn’t feel at all institutionalised.

The original house is much smaller than you’d imagine looking at what we have today. It is essentially just two rooms – the ground floor hall and the upper solar.

The house passed by marriage to the Mostyn family in 1776 and subsequently became a dower house.

By the end of the 19th century, Bodysgallen had become something of an architectural jumble, with brick chimneys and Georgian sliding sash windows.

Lady Henrietta Augusta Mostyn (a great benefactor of Llandudno) gave the house to her son Henry, who enlarged the house with extensions on the S side in 1884, 1894 and 1905. He gave us a date on each of the new gables. They went to great trouble to match the stonework in.

Lady Augusta lived at Gloddaeth just across the valley – another fine Tudor hall which is now part of St Davids College. This Victorian staircase is a copy of an original at Gloddaeth.

What is unusual about Bodysgallen is that when the house was Victorianised they didn’t ruin it – the new Victorian additions if anything add to the original architecture. As everything is one style they ‘got away’ with more than doubling the size of the property.

The original datestone is '1620 R K W' (Robert and Katherine Wynne). There are 5 other datestones for the subsequent alterations! Fortunately nobody was trying to pretend their extensions were part of the original.

Robert Wynn’s mother was Margaret Mostyn, so the Mostyn family connection here goes right back to when the house was built.

It is the Mostyn family motto that is seen in the overmantle in the first floor solar. Its difficult to explain why the room has two fireplaces as it doesn’t seem like it was ever subdivided.

Listed grade I, Bodysgallen Hall is an exceptionally well-preserved ambitious C17 gentry house with successive additions making a coherent architectural whole of remarkable consistency.