Уэльстік Erddig сарайы және жылжымайтын мүліктері

Country house and estate in Wrexham, North Wales

Erddig Hall (Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade I listed National Trust property near Wrexham, North Wales. Standing 2 mile (3 km) south of the city centre, it comprises a country house built, during the 17th and 18th centuries, amidst a estate, which includes a landscaped pleasure park and the earthworks of a Norman motte and bailey castle. Erddig has been described as 'the most evocative Upstairs Downstairs house in Britain' due to the well rounded view it presents of the lifestyles of all of its occupants, both family and staff. The eccentric Yorke family had an unusual relationship with their staff and celebrated their servants in a large and unique collection of portraits and poems. This collection, coupled with well preserved servants' rooms and an authentic laundry, bakehouse, sawmill, and smithy, provide an insight into how 18th to 20th century servants lived. The state rooms contain fine furniture, textiles and wallpapers and the fully restored walled garden is one of the most important surviving 18th century gardens in Britain.

The first recorded reference to Wrexham was in 1161 to a castle at 'Wristlesham'. This castle was probably constructed in what is now the grounds of Erddig. The remains of a Norman motte and bailey, constructed around 1090, can be found in the park of the later mansion. The fortress was built on a steep sided promontory and the ramparts were adapted from a prehistoric hillfort and incorporate a section of Wat's Dyke. Joshua Edisbury was forced to borrow large sums to fund the project which resulted in his bankruptcy and, in 1716, he was forced to sell Erddig. John Meller, Master of the Chancery, bought the mortgage on Erddig from Sir John Trevor. In 1861 General John Yorke (1814–1890) became the owner of Plas Newydd in Llangollen, the home of the famous Ladies of Llangollen. The estate began to decline following the death of Philp Yorke II in 1922 as income diminished and staff were laid off. The house began to decay under his successor, Simon Yorke IV, who became reclusive and failed to install electricity, running water, gas or a phone. Whilst causing damage to the property, this period of neglect ensured that Erddig remained remarkably unaltered. In March 1973, the last squire Philip Scott Yorke, a bachelor, gave Erddig to the National Trust. This followed the collapse several years earlier of a shaft from the nearby coal mine (Bersham colliery) under the house, causing subsidence of 5 feet (2 m), which seriously affected the structural security of the house to the extent that, without suitable underpinning, it would have become a ruin. It was strengthened using the compensation of £120,000 the National Trust was able to extract from the National Coal Board. of Erddig Park (out of view of the house) was subsequently sold for £995,000 and this paid for the restoration work on the house. The restoration was completed on 27 June 1977 when Charles, Prince of Wales officially opened Erddig to the public, joking that it was the first time in his, albeit short, life that he had opened something that was already 300 years old.

The estate buildings include the joiners' shop and smithy, the Midden Yard (with its saw mill and cart sheds), and the Stable Yard (with its stables and tack room, carriages and vintage bicycles and vintage cars). In the house are the laundry, bakehouse, kitchen and scullery. The nearby river supplied a source of water, which was pumped uphill by a hydraulic ram, the water entering the ram via a feature known as Erddig's Cup and Saucer. Whilst occupied by the Yorke family the house was never installed with mains electricity, with the last Squire, Philip, relying on a portable generator to power his single television set. In September 2007 it was voted the UK's "favourite Historic House" and the "8th most popular historic site" in the UK by Britain's Best. Erddig was awarded National Heritage Museum of the Year in 1978, a joint award with the Museum of London.