page_title: Architecture of Wales
section_title: Renaissance houses
hierarchical_section_title: Architecture of Wales / Renaissance houses
caption_attribution_description: English: Brymbo Hall 1794
context_page_description: Architecture of Wales is an overview of architecture in Wales from the Medieval period to the present day, excluding castles and fortifications, ecclesiastical architecture and industrial architecture. It covers the history of domestic, commercial, and administrative architecture.
context_section_description: Renaissance architectural styles and influences start appearing in the eastern corners of Wales during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.  In Glamorgan an early example of Renaissance alteration was made to the facade of the outer gatehouse of the now ruined Old Beaupre, near Cowbridge in 1580. This was followed by the more striking Porch in the inner courtyard of 1600 at Old Beaupre.
  A later and more developed example of Renaissance architecture is Ruperra Castle, built in 1628 for the Welsh soldier Sir Thomas Morgan  and the design ideas may originate from his travels on the Continent. The castle is rectangular in layout with round towers at the corners. A feature of Ruperra is the rectangular three light windows with drip moulds, with the centre light higher than the side lights. These windows appear on other Welsh Renaissance houses. The Castle is rectangular with round corner towers and a Porch with a classical doorway. As the result of a fire in 1941 it now stands partly ruined. In the north-east of Wales a very important surviving Renaissance house was Plas Teg near Mold. Rectangular in form with rectangular corner towers it is the typical form of Renaissance house seen over much of Europe. A close parallel would be the first phase (unfinished) of Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland. Another important Renaissance house, demolished in 1973, was Brymbo Hall near Wrexham. The house was built for John Griffith in 1625 and a Baroque wing was added later in that century. The core of the house was in brick with a fine classical doorway. Fortunately a watercolour by John Ingleby in the National Library of Wales records this building. A further example of the Renaissance classicism was the Banqueting Hall at Margam Abbey. This was recorded by Thomas Dineley in 1684, but only the stone facade now remains, erected in its present position in 1835. It is three bays wide with fluted Ionic columns carrying richly detailed entablatures.
caption: Brymbo Hall, Wrexham
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