The Wynns of Wynnstay
The Williams-Wynn family were major landowners in north and mid Wales and also across the English border. For centuries they had a great influence on the political, cultural, social and literary life of Wales. Although the family owned several houses throughout Wales, the seat of the family was at Wynnstay in Ruabon. The fifth baronet became so powerful that he was given the unofficial title of “Prince of Wales”.
Wynnstay had passed into the possession of the Wynn family (as they were then known) through marriage. The estate, originally known simply as Rhiwabon, was owned by the Eyton family who later changed its name to "Watstay". On inheriting the estate, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn took on the additional surname of Wynn and commissioned the building of a new mansion, to be known as Wynnstay, to replace the original building.
The arms of the Williams-Wynn family show an eagle with the Welsh motto "Eryr Eryrod Eryri" which translates into English as "The Eagle of Eagles of the Land of Eagles", the "Land of Eagles" being Snowdonia and reflecting the family's origins in that part of Wales.
One of Wales’ greatest harpists was under the patronage of the Williams-Wynns. John Parry (“John Parry Ddall, Rhiwabon”) was born in about 1710 on Pen Llyn and was blind from birth. He lived on the Wynnstay estate but spent much of his time at the family’s London home where he performed on the Welsh triple harp for London's cultural elite.
Parts of the grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown and the park was regarded as one of the largest and most important in Wales, containing several important monuments: a column by James Wyatt, erected in 1790 as a memorial to the fourth baronet; the Nant y Belan Tower and the Waterloo Tower.
In 1858 the ‘old’ Wynnstay was destroyed by fire, with many valuable manuscripts being lost. Sir Watkin built a new mansion on the same site. During the Second World War the hall and part of the park became the headquarters for the Royal Engineers Survey, a specialist branch of the RE responsible for providing training for sappers who staffed the mobile Map Production units which were part of all British Army operations. RE Survey moved out in 1946. There was also a fire in the stables adjoining the hall during the Second World War while the hall was used as billeting for officers.
Owing to heavy death duties, the Williams-Wynns moved from Wynnstay to nearby Plas Belan, a house in the estate grounds, and finally left Ruabon forever in 1948, severing a link with Ruabon of over two centuries. Lady 'Daisy' Williams-Wynn continued to live at Belan for much longer than 1948. Much of the estate was put up for sale and the house became a private school, Lindisfarne College (which took its name from the island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland although it had no connection with the island). The school itself closed in bankruptcy in 1994 and the house was converted into luxury flats.
The organ at Wynnstay was built by John Snetzler in 1774 for Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn's London home in St. James's Square but was moved to Wynnstay in 1863. During the sale of Wynnstay and its contents, the organ, and many other treasures, were acquired for the nation and are now displayed at the National Museum in Cardiff.
The woodlands within the estate were taken over by the Forestry Commission and the trees were felled and replaced by conifers. Further destruction took place when parts of the estate grounds were built over during the construction of the Ruabon bypass.
Read more about this topic: Ruabon