Former shellfish research centre, Conwy

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Former shellfish research centre, Mount Pleasant, Conwy

conwy_castle_bank_officialsThe Castlebank Hotel was once a government research centre whose work helped to ensure that shellfish were safe to eat (see below). It is one of a pair of Victorian villas whose land originally stretched down to the railway boundary.

The name of Llys Llewelyn (next door) means “Llewelyn’s Court”, reflecting the connections between Conwy and Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales) in the 13th century.

In 2004 the Castlebank Hotel featured in a Channel 4 television programme called Risking It All, recording the work of Joanne and Henrique Fino to upgrade and reopen the hotel after becoming its fifth owners in July 2003. The programme attracted over three million viewers and was also shown in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

Back in 1923, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) bought Castle Bank for £1,200 to provide office and laboratory accommodation for the scientists working at the mussel purification tanks at Benarth Road (south of Conwy Castle). Some of the officials are pictured right c.1930 – see the Footnotes for their names.

Theconwy_robert_dodgson Benarth tanks were built in 1913 following persistent typhoid poisoning associated with coastal shellfisheries, particularly (but not only) mussels in the Conwy Estuary. In response to pressure by the Conway Corporation, MAF appointed eminent bacteriologist Robert W Dodgson (a doctor from St Mary’s Hospital, London) who devised a simple solution: mussels were hosed clean and held for 48 hours in sterile seawater during which time they purged themselves of the noxious bacteria.

After establishing that his method was robust and reliable for mussels, Dodgson tested it on oysters in the tanks in the summer (when mussels aren’t fished). Not only was his method equally effective on oysters, but they spawned in the tanks!

From this fortuitous observation, Dodgson (pictured left) and his staff established an oyster rearing programme that expanded such that larger premises were needed. The government sold Castle Bank in 1976. Research on oyster and other bivalve shellfish cultivation continued at new premises in Benarth Road (now Riverside Business Park) until the laboratory’s closure in 1999, notably under the guidance of Dr Peter Walne BSc PhD (Bangor).

As well as its research on bivalves, the laboratory established a worldwide reputation as a centre of excellence for shrimp and lobster cultivation, led by John Wickins BSc (Southampton).

On his retirement in 1937, Robert Dodgson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He continued to live at Maldwyn, Cadnant Park, until his death in 1952.

With thanks to Dr Stephen Lockwood

Postcode: LL32 8NY    View Location Map

Website of Castlebank Hotel 

More about Robert Dodgson and his work - Deganwy History Group website

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Footnotes: Previous Castlebank occupants

In 1871, the house was occupied by Thomas Jones, a timber merchant from Llanrwst, his wife Catherine, and their 9 children.

In 1881 the Squires family lived at Castlebank. Horace Squires was an estate agent from Liverpool and lived here with his wife Eliza, 5 children, a governess, a cook and a housemaid.

In 1891 a retired turpentine distiller, Robert Houlgrave from Lancashire, his wife Emma, and sister in law, Claire Dorrington, lived here, with a cook and housemaid. He died in 1894. At some point Emma made a generous donation which contributed to the building of the Catholic Church, St Michael’s, on Rosemary Lane. A plaque at the church entrance recognises her contribution.

Officials in the photo above - Front row: HW Webb (bacteriologist); RW Dodgson (director, bacteriologist); HP Sherwood (deputy director, research scientist). Back row: FG Phipps (laboratory assistant); Commander CE Aglionby DSO, Royal Navy, Retired (admin officer); DH Campbell (laboratory assistant); HW Brown (mussel tank superintendent).