Levelling Up Fund: Plas Newydd

Project background

Plas Newydd is a historic house in Llangollen that was once the home of the Ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, for nearly 50 years. Today, it is run as a museum. The ladies also expanded and improved the gardens, adding many Gothic features in the Dell, a sheltered area below the house running along a stream. This secluded area was a favourite spot of the ladies, and the project activity will focus on improving access to it, as well as opening up the potential for future public access to another historic building, the Weaver's Cottage.

This project will create access from an existing path at Plas Newydd to the Weaver’s Cottage, replace damaged railings of 70m in length to the sloped north entrance to the Dell (with designed infills at various points for safety) and create a viewing platform to the right-hand side of the north entrance to the Dell for less abled-bodied people who may not be able to access down to the Dell itself.

Key points

This project activity has been included within the Clwyd South Levelling Up Fund application with the intention of delivering user / visitor movement connectivity improvements within the 11-mile Llangollen Canal World Heritage Site. This in turn is intended to increase visitor dwell time in Llangollen with associated economic and social benefits for the local area.

In addition, improvements to Plas Newydd will support the following benefits:

• Improved tourism offer.
• Growth in visitor numbers.
• Increase in time spent on site by visitors.
• Improved access to key attractions.
• Future access to a historic building, which will enable critical preservation to be carried out and facilitate future development and growth of the property.

This project will also contribute to the outcomes noted in the Clwyd South Levelling Up Fund application for the area. These include:

• The improvement of access in and around the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Llangollen Canal World Heritage Site and the associated visitor locations in Denbighshire, such as Plas Newydd.
• Investment in these sites to make them premier, family-friendly, visitor attractions and safeguard and enhance their amenity value for local communities.
• Safeguarding a historic building (the Weaver’s Cottage).
• Enhancing visitor experience at a historic house and garden (Plas Newydd).

Current position

So far, this project has:

• Improved the access to the path to the Dell, including the installation of a new railing reminiscent of the architectural style of the time of the Ladies of Llangollen.
• Created a small viewing area at the top of the Dell footpath.
• Made access to Weaver's Cottage possible for staff to allow for future refurbishment to take place.

Next steps:

• Improvement works to the network of paths at the site.
• Clear up parts of the site and additional planting of ferns and foliage.
• Installation of improved signage and interpretation boards.

Gallery

Improvements to Dell path and new handrail: