Plas Pren, Denbigh Moors
Written by Chris Madoc-Jones
On the top of the bleak Denbigh Moors is the Sportsman’s Arms, the only public house between Pentrefoelas and Denbigh. Behind it are a few crumbling walls which are all that remain of a once grand mansion built in 1908 for Lord Davenport (Hudson Ewbank Kearly), a political ally of David Lloyd George, who later became Chairman of the Port of London Authority and Food Controller during the First World War. The hill on which it was built is 1600 feet above sea level and is called “Bryn Trillyn” (The hill of the three lakes) and there are magnificent views in all directions.On a clear day you can easily see the mountains of Snowdonia (Eryri), the Clwydian Hills and, in ideal conditions, the Mountains of Mourne in Ireland.
It was the third building on the same site. The first was a simple wooden chalet for overnight shelter but this was blown down by gales and replaced by a robust lodge Kearly had seen at a trade fair in Oslo. He brought over three Norwegian builders to erect it and named it “Plas Pren” (The Wooden Hall). Although his new Nordic lodge defied the wind it leaked in the Welsh rain and then suffered a fire. Davenport was not a man to give up easily and replaced it with a large house built in the style of a 17th Century stately home, with the Kearly coat of arms over the front entrance.The builder this time was John Jones from Pentrefoelas who brought the bricks up from Denbigh station on horse drawn wagons. Kearly gave it a grand, new name “Gwylfa Hiraethog” (The Hiraethog Watchtower) to match its more imposing appearance, but this never really caught on among the locals, who stuck to Plas Pren, the name they still use, although Denbigh people call it “The Shooting Lodge”. Seen from afar, standing defiantly on the skyline, it was a majestic and unforgettable sight.
For many years Davenport stayed here during August and September with his family. He employed five gamekeepers and hosted shooting parties for family, business and political friends who included David Lloyd George and Edward,Prince of Wales. The annual summer holiday in Wales was a highlight of the year for the family’s three children who travelled up by train from London accompanied by their governess, cook, nurse,two housemaids, a butler and mountains of luggage. They would leave Paddington Station at 7am in a private carriage (Davenport was a friend of the Manager of the Great Western Railway) and arrive in Denbigh in time for tea in the Crown Hotel. After their refreshments the party climbed into a two horse wagonette for the slow, uphill journey to the moors to arrive before darkness fell. On the steepest sections the whole party would have to get out and walk in order to give the horses a rest.
Davenport took a close interest in the life of the area and was a patron of the annual “swper bugeiliaid” in the Sportsman’s Arms, when the farmers and shepherds of Uwchaled enjoyed an evening of singing and poetry. Davenport also gave much of the money for the statue of the little girl in Llansannan, which commemorates the literary figures of the area.
By 1929 Plas Pren’s golden age was over. The house was sold and went into decline. For some years it was lived in by the estate’s last gamekeeper but, when he left, the building went to rack and ruin. It was last occupied in the 1930’s and later abandoned and fell into ruin. In the 1970’s it was sold to a local builder who removed the slates, fireplaces and other items of any value. Vandals and the weather did the rest. The roof fell in, the tall chimney stacks tumbled down and the walls collapsed, and before long there will be little to see. It is now beyond renovation and its only human visitors are curious tourists who follow the track up from the Sportsman’s Arms. I was once told that it was used as the location for a film of Wuthering Heights made in the nineteen thirties. If so,I can see why – on a bleak, wintry day it would have wuthered with the best of them.
One summer afternoon early in the 20th century the Rev James Edward Jones,Vicar of Rhosygwalia and a stranger to the area, set out to walk across the moors from Llansannan to Pentrefoelas. He had been told that he would find a pub on top of the moors where travellers could get a bite to eat. Sure enough, there it was, although more like a hotel than a pub. He walked in, sat down in the comfortable lounge, rang a bell and summoned the barmaid to take his order. Some time later she returned with tea and sandwiches served on the best china on a silver tray. When the reverend gentleman asked for his bill the barmaid refused to take any money and explained that he was sitting in Gwylfa Hiraethog and she was Lady Davenport.
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