Site of Plas Mawr, Penmaenmawr


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Photo of Gladstones and DarbishiresIn the park called Parc Plas Mawr you can see the foundations of the former home of Charles Henry Darbishire and his family. He ran the quarries at Penmaenmawr. The building was called Plas Mawr, which means ‘large house’ or mansion. It was built by the Smiths of Pendyffryn in the first half of the 19th century.

Members of the Darbishire family bought the Pendyffryn estate in 1877 and took control of Graiglwyd quarry, on the hill behind Plas Mawr. Civil engineer Charles Henry Darbishire (1844-1929) became the quarry’s manager and moved his young family to Penmaenmawr.

Graiglwyd quarry merged in 1911 with Penmaenmawr’s other quarry and the one at Trefor, Gwynedd, to form the Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Company. Charles chaired the company.

Photo of miniature locomotiveHe and his wife Mary brought up eight children at Plas Mawr. Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone stayed here at least seven times. This is where he and his wife came for the last time as a couple, in 1896. The couple are seated in the photo, with Charles and his eldest son Charles William Darbishire standing behind.

A miniature railway ran through the Plas Mawr grounds. The quarry foreman made a scale model of a De Winton quarry locomotive for the family to take rides. The loco (pictured left) was restored to working order at the Brecon Mountain Railway in 2012 and is exhibited at the Steam Museum in Pontsticill. See the footnotes for more.

Photo of wedding party at Plas MawrThe house was demolished in 1960 but the area is now a public park with a small lake. In 2001 Conwy County Borough Council commissioned sculptures from several artists for Parc Plas Mawr. The works include “Sunset through clouds”, in granite and sandstone, by Timothy Leonard Shutter, and several works in wood by Dominic Clare including a kissing bench, a lion’s head and a spiral.

The lowest photo shows a Darbishire family wedding reception at Plas Mawr in 1901 or 1902.

Thanks to David Bathers and Dennis Roberts, of Penmaenmawr Historical Society, and to Janey Forster for the Plas Mawr photos. Thanks also to Ann Ruffell for the audio presentation

Postcode: LL34 6ND    View Location Map

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Footnotes: More about the quarry steam locos

De Winton locos, made in Caernarfon and much used at Penmaenmawr, were unusual in having vertical boilers. The water lay directly above the fire rather than being heated by flue tubes inside a horizontal boiler. One of the original Penmaenmawr quarry locomotives, built in 1895, is on display at Dinas station, near Caernarfon.