Open Doors Ruthin 24 and 25 September 2011

Ruthin Castle
Castle Street, Grade I Listed Building
NGR SJ123580

Like Flint and Rhuddlan, the old Ruthin Castle was erected as part of the English King Edward I's plan to subjugate the Welsh prince, Llewelyn the Last. Begun in 1277, completed in 1284, it survived the attacks of Owain Glyndwr, leader of the last major rebellion against English rule, in 1400. Its royal connections were ended when parliamentary forces almost completely destroyed the building in 1644, during the Civil War. Traces of its five towers, connecting walls and (much altered) gatehouse remain. Meanwhile, most of the site is now occupied by a hotel, built in 1826, extended in 1848-52, notable for its typically Victorian mock-medieval style and for its luxurious long drawing room.

Tours of Castle remains: see Walk and Tours page, pre-booking required.

St Peter's Church and Precinct
St Peter's Square, Grade I listed building
NGR SJ123583

St Peter's Church has been at the centre of Ruthin life since its foundation as a chapel in the parish of Llanrhydd in 1284. The present building started life in 1310, and follows the local practice of having two naves, as well as a chancel and central tower. The timber roofs, decorated with heraldry, badges and carved flowers, were added during the 15th century, but the spire only in 1854. The Old Cloisters, where the clergy used to live, date from 1310, and have a vaulted undercroft. Gabriel Goodman, a Ruthin native who became Dean of Westminster, founded Christ's Hospital for 12 poor people, the precursor of the almshouses, built in 1865, which are still inhabited today. Gabriel also founded Ruthin School in 1574; the old grammar school, in the precinct, was built in 1700, but moved to new premises in Mold Road in 1891.The church gates, with elaborate scroll work, were fashioned in 1727 by Davies Brothers of Bersham.

24 September, 11am-4pm, and 25 September, 11:30am-4pm. Sunday service 10.30-11.30am. Fully accessible.

Llanfwrog Church
Llanfwrog, Grade II* Listed Building
NGR SJ 115 578

Llanfwrog Church is situated on the top of a hill on the western edge of the market town of Ruthin. It still retains a distinct rural atmosphere and there are extensive views of the Vale of Clwyd and the mountains of the Clwydian range from the churchyard. Christian worship has taken place on this site since the 6th century, when Mwrog (a little known Celtic saint) first proclaimed the Gospel in this part of the world. Parts of the present church tae from the 13th century. The building has been restored many times in its long history, the latest restoration being in 1999, when the church was made more 'user friendly' for the new century.

24 September, 10am-4pm, and 25 September, 2pm-4pm. Fully accessible via gate entrance past the church.

Hengoed
Bontuchel, Grade II* Listed Building
NGR SJ 090 581

“Hengoed” is an early 15th Century Cruck Hall House of classic plan and construction, and has been dated between 1438 and 1447. It was only “discovered” in 2005, having been used as an agricultural building for over 100 years. The significance of the building lies in its internal timber framed structure. The site has been occupied as a residence since at least the early 14th Century. The timber framework of the building is remarkably complete, the full complement of five cruck trusses defining the four bays of the house having survived. The dimensions of the hall, particularly the massive arch-braced central truss, are impressive, as is the carpentry employed (per Richard Suggett RCAHMW). This is a very important building representing the heyday of cruck construction in medieval Wales. The oak used was some 500 years old at felling, the oldest recorded in any building in the British Isles.

Accessible via tours only: see Walk and Tours page.

Ruthin Craft Centre
Park Road
NGR SJ125585

The UK's premier centre for the applied arts is now open. This is an exciting Arts Council of Wales Lottery funded transformation of Ruthin Craft Centre designed by Sergison Bates architects. The new centre is located on the existing site, in its own landscape and is a dynamic zinc and cast stone building with undulating roofs to echo the surrounding Clwydian Hills. The Craft Centre now houses three new galleries with changing exhibition programmes throughout the year in a stunning contemporary building. Browse its vastly expanded retail gallery and enjoy a meal at Café R with its courtyard terrace with seating designed by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley and stunning courtyard gates designed by metal-smith Brian Podschies. It also has artist studios to explore; an education workshop and residency spaces and a tourist information gateway point. The craft centre reached the final four in the race for the Art Fund Prize 2009.

24 and 25 September, 10am-5.30pm. Fully accessible.

Capel Bathafarn
Market Street, Grade II Listed Building
NGR SJ124584

Bathafarn Chapel was built in 1868 on a piece of land purchased from R Hugh Burman from Birmingham for £200 to replace Mill Chapel, the original place of worship for the Wesleyans in the town. The new Chapel was built in memory of the Reverend Edward Jones, the pioneer of Wesleyanism in Wales and who lived at Bathafarn Farm, some one and a half miles from town. It was designed by Richard Owens of Liverpool in a sub-classical style and is constructed in red brick with yellow sandstone details. The ‘Edward Jones Memorial Chapel’ Bathafarn was opened on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday September 26 – 28th, 1869 with a Special Opening Meeting. The cost of the new Chapel, Vestry and the land at that time was some £1,500 and there is room for some 450 to sit easily in the Chapel. In 1887, Ty’r Gweinidog (now Bathafarn House) was built near the Chapel for £687.

24 and 25 September, 11am-4pm. Restricted access.

The Old Courthouse (NatWest Bank)
St Peter's Square, Grade II* listed building
NGR SJ123583

This building has presided over Ruthin town centre since 1421. The lordship court at Ruthin appointed officials, administered the leasing of lands and mills, and prosecuted the owners of animals who trampled the lord's cornfields. Constructed from a boxed frame, below are the old dungeons, and outside, on the west gable, the remains of a gibbet. The last execution was in 1674, that of Charles Mahoney, a religious dissident. The National Provincial Bank bought the Courthouse in 1925-6, and restored it well. Its successor, the NatWest, has recently financed the renewal of some external timbers.

Saturday 24 September, 10am-1pm. Access to public banking area only.

Ruthin Library
Record Street, Grade II* Listed Building
NGR SJ124581

Like the Old Courthouse, and Ruthin Gaol, the building that now houses Ruthin's public library has a past associated with crime and punishment: it was built in 1785 to house records of the Courts of Great Assize, but it seemed natural also to use it as a County Hall, not, as in modern usage, the headquarters of a local authority, but as a courthouse. As the building grew in prestige, a portico complete with Doric columns was added to the front during the 1860s. The court last sat here in 1974, but continued as a Magistrates' Court until 1986; it was converted to a library during the early 1990s.

24 and 25 September, 10am-4.30pm. Fully accessible. Tours of the library at 11am and 2pm on both days. All Library services will be available throughout the weekend.

Nantclwyd y Dre
Castle Street, Grade I Listed Building
NGR SJ123581

Halfway along Ruthin's most handsome street, Nantclwyd y Dre has undergone extensive restoration. We now know the precise season in which the wood for the hall house was felled (spring 1434) and the name of the man who was, in 1435, granted the land on which the house was built - Goronwy ap Madoc. Nantclwyd y Dre has been much extended and altered, most notably by Eubule Thelwall, who, in 1693, added the front porch which for many is the house's most characteristic feature. The restoration has made clear the nature of the hall's original construction - pairs of curved timbers extending from the floor to the apex of the roof (cruck construction). Demonstrations of the traditional building skills used in its renovation will be on display during both days.

A free event can be pre-booked: see Walk and Tours page. Casual visitors will be charged an entry fee.

Ruthin Gaol
Clwyd Street, Grade II* Listed Building
NGR SJ121582

The most prominent of Ruthin buildings historically associated with crime and punishment, the gaol originated as a 'house of correction' in 1654. In 1774, the local magistrates 'sensible of the miserable state of the ancient prison, in compassion for the unfortunate' built a new prison, which was extended in 1803 and 1812. A four-storey block, modelled on Pentonville Prison in London, was added in 1867-8. The building ceased to be a prison in 1916 and was used, among other things, as a munitions factory, but has recently been restored and renovated. It is now open as a visitor attraction and is home to Denbighshire Archives Service.

24 and 25 September, 10am-5pm. Free entry. See Exhibitions and Events page. Fully accessible.

Capel Pendref
Well Street, Grade II* Listed Building
NGR SJ124582

Between 1801 and 1851, it has been estimated, a chapel was completed in Wales every eight days! Capel Pendref (Congregational), built in 1827, arrived at an auspicious time; the following year, nonconformists were, for the first time, legally allowed to stand for public office. Pendref ('Top of the Town'), the oldest chapel in Ruthin, reached its present form in 1875 and has an elegant bow front constructed from large even blocks of ashlar and a Tuscan porch. Inside, a gallery runs on three sides under a floral ceiling.

24 September, 11am-4pm, and 25 September, 10am-2pm. Service 2.30-3.45pm. Restricted access.

Capel y Tabernacl
Well Street, Grade II Listed Building
NGR SJ125582

This Welsh Presbyterian chapel, originally home to Calvinistic Methodists, was built by Thomas Williams in 1889-91. The minister then was the Rev Robert Ambrose Jones (Emrys ap Iwan), a famous advocate of Welsh self-government and the Welsh language. Welsh remains the language of worship at Y Tabernacl. Inside, pews are arranged like a horseshoe. The chapel has traceried windows under a broad hammer beam roof and there is an impressive array of organ pipes. The importance placed on preaching is emphasised by the ornamented pulpit; below it is the 'Sêt-Fawr' - Deacons' Pew.

24 September, 11am-3pm, and 25 September, 1.30pm-4pm. Sunday services: 10am and 5.30pm. Fully accessible.

English Presbyterian Church
Wynnstay Road
NGR SJ124582

The foundation stone of this church, built of local Eyarth stone by a local builder, Samuel Owen, was laid on 28th July 1892. The church is pure Gothic, with a porch, a belfry and two transepts. The left transept houses the vestry while part of the right transept contains the organ works and pipes. The east window, visible from the porch, is dedicated to the Rev H L Morris, minister from 1926 to 1949. Immediately below the window is an illuminated cross in light oak, carved and presented to the church by Mr S Dyer-Gough of Nantclwyd y Dre.

24 September, 11am-4pm, and 25 September, 11.30am-4pm. Sunday service 10.30-11.30am. Fully accessible.

Tŷ Gwyn
Llanfwrog, Grade II* listed
SJ112 577

The timber framework of Tŷ Gwyn, built around 1560, is visible externally at the front and back of the building resting on stone plinths. The house originally comprised a large hall with two service rooms leading off (there is an exposed wattle and daub section visible in the partition wall) and sleeping chambers above (one with an ornate open ceiling). In the mid 17th century it was extended when stone gables and chimneys were added, possibly for Colonel William ('Bluestockings') Salesbury of Rug, friend of Charles I and staunch Commander of the siege of Denbigh Castle, who may have lived in the house in 1652 after the Royalist defeat in the Civil War.

Accessible via tours only: see Walk and Tours page.

St Meugan's Church
Llanrhydd, Grade I Listed Building
NGR SJ140577

Out of the way but well worth looking for, St Meugan's is the mother church of Ruthin, long predating St Peter's in the centre of town. There may have been a church building on this site from the 7th century, and we know the name of the first rector, Bleddyn ap David, installed in 1390, but the present building dates only from the 15th century. The Thelwall family, also connected with Nantclwyd y Dre, owned nearby Bathafarn House, and the monument to John Thelwall (died 1586) and his wife Jane (1585), with their ten sons and four daughters each holding skulls is very fine, if rather gruesome.

24 and 25 September, 1pm-3pm. Sunday service at 3pm. Fully accessible.