Tŷ Newydd (Welsh:[ˈtɨːˈnɛuɨð]) is a historic house inLlanystumdwy, nearCriccieth, inGwynedd, north-westWales. Since 1990 it has housed the National Writing Centre ofWales.[1] The centre specialises in residentialcreative writing and retreats. The courses are in both theEnglish andWelsh languages, and cover many genres, forms and styles. The centre also holds regular seminars and forums.
TheGrade II* listed building[2] was built in the fifteenth century. The nameTŷ Newydd translates literally from Welsh as 'New House'. The house has six bedrooms, a large dining room, a kitchen, a conservatory and two libraries. The outbuilding, Hafoty, is the tutors' quarters, and has six extra rooms for guests. Other architectural features of the house include a "Chinese Chippendale" balustrade, a panelled front door with fluted pilasters and afrieze, and a vaulted ceiling in the library.[2]
David Lloyd George, the Welsh politician who served as British Prime Minister during theFirst World War,[1] owned Tŷ Newydd from 1942 until his death in 1945. He had asked for his bed to be moved to thelibrary, and died in that room.[3]
The grounds overlookCardigan Bay and provide a scenic setting considered conducive to literary creativity. During the 1940s these were restyled by the architect SirClough Williams-Ellis.[4]
David Lloyd George (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British Liberal politician and statesman, and Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government (1916–22). Lloyd George grew up in Llanystumdwy in Caernarfonshire. As a child, he was educated in the local Anglican school, Llanystumdwy National School. Tŷ Newydd was originally a farm, whose land extended to the road adjacent to Lloyd George's other home, Brynawelon. Brynawelon was later the home of his daughterMegan.[5] In 1942, Lloyd George and his wifeFrances bought Tŷ Newydd and initiated a major renovation by the architectClough Williams-Ellis (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978). Under his direction, new additions such as the library window and the front window finals were made. Like the rest of the house, the library extension was built of local stone rubble and externally whitewashed.[2] In 1944 the couple moved into Tŷ Newydd.[6] Lloyd George died in 1945, aged 82, and was buried beside theRiver Dwyfor in Llanystumdwy, only a short distance from the house. Amonument designed by Williams-Ellis was erected around the grave.[6] This bears anenglyn (a strict-metre stanza in the Welsh language) engraved on slate in his memory, composed by his nephewDr William George, an accomplished poet who won thecrown at theNational Eisteddfod in 1974.[7]
Robert Minhinnick, who, withGillian Clarke, was a tutor on the first course run at the house after it was converted to a writers' centre, credits Sally Baker with the idea for the project. During work carried out in preparation for the opening of the centre, a medieval "post and panel" screen was discovered; it is considered the most historically significant feature of the house.[4]
52°55′18″N4°15′51″W / 52.9217°N 4.2641°W /52.9217; -4.2641
