Gregynog Hall

History

A settlement has occupied the site since the twelfth century. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century the estate belonged first to the Blayney family and then to the Hanbury-Tracy family. In 1960 Margaret Davies, granddaughter of the industrialist and philanthropist David Davies of Llandinam, gave Gregynog to the University of Wales as a conference and study centre. The Davies sisters had used the house as a base for their private art collection, much of which later passed to the National Museum of Wales.

Architecture

The house has been altered across several centuries of ownership, and its present form owes much to remodelling carried out during the Hanbury-Tracy era in the nineteenth century.

Worth knowing

Gwendoline and Margaret Davies founded the Gregynog Press here in 1922, producing hand-printed books that are still prized by collectors and libraries. The sisters assembled one of Britain's finest private collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, later bequeathed to the National Museum of Wales.

Gardens & grounds

The gardens and park at Gregynog are listed Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The estate also holds National Nature Reserve status.