History
The court of Llys Euryn (originally called Bryn Euryn) was built in the middle of the 15th century by Robin, the oldest son of Gruffyd Gach, a local Welsh magnate. Perhaps it was created on the site of an earlier mansion or a castle from the 13th century, which was to be built by Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal of the Gwynedd kingdom. The son of Robin, Huw, took the name Conway and married the family in many local noble families, multiplying the property and importance of Conways. In the mid-sixteenth century, in a period of peace and prosperity, the court was enlarged and rebuilt, replacing its originally defensive character with more comfortable housing conditions. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Conway family deteriorated and impoverished, and the manor affected fires twice. Gradually, the building began to fall into ruin, from which building materials were raked, for the needs of other buildings. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Llys Euryn was described as uninhabited.
Architecture
The main element of the fifteenth-century court was the building of the great hall, along with adjacent annexes, and a defensive wall, closing from the west side a courtyard with a plan similar to a square. The building was erected from the local limestone, and its external walls were whitewashed. Thickness of external walls reached 1 meter, internal walls up to 0.6 meter. Inside the hall, it was laid out with timber partition screens. Most of the window openings were narrow slits serving as arrowslits, but there were also larger windows from the side of the courtyard and later from the 16th century from the main eastern side. No traces of well were found, but a rainwater tank could be set up in the courtyard.
A two-storey building of a great hall was located on the south-eastern side. Kitchen adjoined it from the north, in early modern times transformed into private rooms. From the south, private chambers adjoined the hall. Western range were instead mainly stores, pantries and other utility rooms.
In the 16th century, a new range of the west hall was erected on the west side, which blocked a courtyard from the last free side. The old medieval hall started to serve as a kitchen than, the original kitchen adjacent to it has been transformed into a private room, while the southern room has started to play an economic role in connection with the nearby new kitchen.
Current state
Currently, the remains of the court consist of the outer walls of three ranges, of which the west contains the remains of the fireplace and the chimney. In the years 1998/1999, the building underwent thorough conservation works. Most of the vegetation covered the monument were removed, the foundations of internal divisions and a large fireplace were uncovered. Also set up information signs describing the history of Llys Euryn, plans and reconstructions of its original appearance.
bibliography:
Website gatehouse-gazetteer.info, Llys Euryn.
Website wikipedia.org, Llys Euryn.