Plas Gwyn, a handsome red brick villa, was commissioned by William Jones (1688?1755), though it was scarcely finished at the time of his death; he was a barrister, and it passed to his daughter who in 1756 married a barrister who could have finished it ? Paul Panton (died 1797) from Flintshire, later an outstanding Anglesey scholar and authority on Welsh literature. However, the architect of a house that is clearly related to Robert Taylor's early English Palladian villa designs has not yet been identified.

The concept is advanced for c. 1750; the client had the chance to meet the leading architects of houses for professional London men and its component parts, though outlandish in Anglesey, could have been shipped from Liverpool. All the same, a documented explanation has not been found, save that gradual changes could have been made by Panton's son (died 1822), who was more consistently resident there.

It is unique on Anglesey in its assertion of classical architecture and its exterior has a reticent simplicity. The front has two and a half storeys to the parapets, the three centre bays evenly grouped in a slight forward projection under a pediment, the pair of side bays more widely spaced in the astylar facade. The eastern side is similar, but with a half-octagon bay in the centre. The main, northern, doorway has two three-quarter Doric columns carrying a full Doric frieze with triglyphs and guttae, and a triangular pediment. In the hall is a plain lugged doorcase, again with triangular pediment, and two either side of the staircase with depressed arches with key blocks. There are three architectural chimneypieces: the drawing room with a scrolly pediment, the dining room with Ionic pilasters not related to the modillion cornice, the library with a chaste open pediment.

Source: Haslam, Orbach and Voelcker (2009), The Buildings of Wales: Gwynedd. Pevsner Architectural Guide, page 212.

RCAHMW, October 2009





A mid eighteenth century mansion thought to have replaced a sixteenth century house, now represented only by a datestone of 1578.

A three storey mansion of red brick with stone dressings under a hipped slate roof. It was built in 1740-50 and, despite nineteenth century additions and alterations, retains much of its eighteenth century character.
The main front has a slightly projecting central bay and sash windows. The doorway is flanked by three-quarter Doric columns with pediment above. The east elevation features a central built-out bay which may not be original.
Interior features of interest include original doorways in the hall, moulded cornices, and an eighteenth century fireplace in the library with an over mantel flanked by fluted pilasters and broken pediment.

Sources: RCAHM Anglesey Inventory (1937), 138-9
NMR site file AN/Domestic/SH57NW, entry by L Monroe

J Hill 24.11.2003

The house and its extensive grounds and gardens, stand within a large landscaped park (NPRN 265411). The rear range, including the laundry, is recorded separately (NPRN 15813). West of the house is a yard with various stables and a coachhouse (NPRN 31088, 31087), with a farmyard beyond, including a barn and cartshed (NPRN 310106, 310107). South of these is a large walled kitchen garden (NPRN 310108).