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GWRYCH CASTLE

Conwy County, Wales

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Gwrych Castle - History

Gwrych Castle is a 19th century mock castle near Abergele in Conwy County borough, North Wales. The castle was built between 1819 and 1825 at the behest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh as his private residence.

In1894 Gwrych Castle became the official residence of Winifred Cochrane the Countess of Dundonald, she brought up her children there and sincerely loved it. The Countess died, in 1924 she left the castle in her will to King George V and the then Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII). However, the gift was refused and the castle passed to the Venerable Order of Saint John. In 1928, the Earl of Dundonald purchased the castle for £78,000, selling the contents to meet the cost.

During World War II, the Government used the castle to house 200 Jewish refugees. Following the war, the castle left the Dundonald family and it was open to the public for twenty years. It was called The Showpiece of Wales at this time and attracted many visitors. It was also used as a training venue for the English World Middleweight boxing champion Randy Turpin.

Between 1968 and 1989 the Castle had many owners and many different uses. The library was turned into a bar; Winifred's music room and drawing room were converted into a large bar lounge and the gargantuan dining room into a restaurant. During the latter part of the 1970's Gwrych became a medieval centre where markets were held and jousting took place upon the site of the old formal gardens and conservatory. In 1996 the movie Prince Valiant was filmed at Gwrych Castle, starred Edward Fox and Joanna Lumley.

Clayton Hotels bought the castle in June 2006 for £850,000 after it failed to reach its £1.5m reserve price at the 2 June auction. On 30 April 2007 Clayton Hotels announced a 3 year project, costing £6,000,000, to renovate the castle and convert it into a 90 bedroom, 5 Star hotel. Work has yet to start on the project, several paranormal groups have been given permission to explore the castle and investigate the reports of ghosts at Gwrych.

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Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle Ghosts

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