Erddig Hall near Wrexham

Sitting on a dramatic escarpment above the winding Clywedog river, Erddig tells the 250-year story of a gentry family’s relationship with its servants.

A large collection of servants’ portraits and carefully preserved rooms capture their lives in the early 20th century, while upstairs is a treasure trove of fine furniture, textiles and wallpapers. Outdoors lies a fully restored 18th-century garden, with trained fruit trees, exuberant annual herbaceous borders, avenues of pleached limes, formal hedges and a nationally important collection of ivies.

The 486-hectare (1,200-acre) landscape pleasure park, designed by William Emes, is a haven of peace and natural beauty, perfect for riverside picnics. Discover the ‘cup and saucer’ cylindrical cascade or explore the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle. A walk through the estate spans the earliest origins of Wrexham to the technology of an 18th-century designed landscape. All around, tenant farmers continue the work of generations.

Erddig is a place where old memories are found and new memories are made. ‘Where fragrance, peace and beauty reign, Farewell! But welcome here again.’ – Philip Yorke II