Llangoed Hall
Encyclopedia
Llyswen
Llyswen is a small village in Powys, Wales on the west bank of the River Wye. It was formerly within the county of Brecknockshire and now forms part of the Community of Bronllys...
, in Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
, Mid Wales
Mid Wales
Mid Wales is the name given to the central region of Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the National Assembly for Wales covered the counties of Ceredigion and Powys and the area of Gwynedd that had previously been the district of Meirionydd. A similar definition is used by the BBC...
. It is known for its decoration in Laura Ashley
Laura Ashley
Laura Ashley was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She became a household name on the strength of her work as a designer and manufacturer of a range of colourful fabrics for clothes and home furnishings....
fabrics and styles, and was owned by the late Sir Bernard Ashley
Bernard Ashley
Bernard Ashley may refer to:*Bernard Ashley - British businessman and engineer, former widower of Laura Ashley*Bernard Ashley , British, author of children's books...
, the widower of the late designer.
History
The Hall, originally known as Llangoed Castle, was donated to the church in 560 by Prince Iddon in expiation of his sins, and may have been the legendary White PalaceWhite Palace
White Palace is a 1990 film starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader. It is a romantic drama about the unlikely relationship between a young middle class widower who falls in love with a middle-aged working class waitress in St. Louis, Missouri...
, home of the first Welsh parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
. A mansion existed from 1632. It was in the possession of the Macnamara family
Arthur Macnamara
Arthur Macnamara was squire of Billington near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, where he turned a ruinous village into a model Victorian Estate. Today Billington is a small village with no facilities straddling a busy main road...
for two generations until 1847, having been won in a game of cards. In 1912 Clough Williams-Ellis
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC was an English-born Welsh architect known chiefly as creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales.-Origins, education and early career:...
re-designed it as a country house, retaining the surviving Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
porch as part of the south wing. Sir Bernard Ashley bought Llangoed Hall in 1987 and opened it as a hotel in 1990.
The house has a number of curiosities, and is rumoured by local folklore to have a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
named Arginald, a boy who committed suicide in the 1940s. A family cemetery nearby contains the grave of a horse.
Hotel
Sir Bernard Ashley's intention was to recreate Llangoed Hall as an Edwardian house party, replete with high-society Edwardian customs, period furnishings and antique fittings. There is no reception desk, but liveried staff will greet customers and carry their bags. The Picture Gallery includes works of art by Whistler, Augustus JohnAugustus John
Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....
, Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert , born in Munich, Germany, was a painter who was a member of the Camden Town Group in London. He was an important influence on distinctively British styles of avant-garde art in the 20th century....
and other Edwardians. Bedrooms are individually designed and decorated with furnishings from Laura Ashley
Laura Ashley
Laura Ashley was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She became a household name on the strength of her work as a designer and manufacturer of a range of colourful fabrics for clothes and home furnishings....
and Sir Bernard's venture company
Venture Development
Venture development describes economic development activity that is focused on using best-practices and activities of experienced business mentoring and pre-angel and venture capital investing in order to help create venture and angel-capital-ready firms which have the promise to create significant...
Elanbach, which is based in the hotel's grounds. The dining room offers modern classical cooking, with local produce such as Welsh lamb, Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
and laverbread. It won the Best Restaurant in Wales award in its first year. The hotel also caters for conferences and can be hired for special occasions.
In November 2010 it became part of the Von Essen Hotels group.