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A walk around the beautifully gothic Plas Newydd is like walking around a who's who of Regency and Georgian Britain.

Curious ? well let me explain..

Back in 1780, two ladies from the Irish landed classes, met and realised they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Both lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby were desperate to get away from the unwanted approaches of hopeful suitors and made the decision to elope from the land of their birth for North Wales and the scenic town of Llangollen.

Once there they purchased a small house high on a hill above the town and quickly began making it their home for the next 50 years. Apart from extending the building, they began decorating both inside and out with some of the most ornate wood carvings imaginable.

These came from things like old church pews and chests, canopies and even bedsteads! No doubts others came from ships and possibly remnants of the once great abbeys that decorated the countryside until Henry VIII did away with them, such as the nearby Valle Crucis Abbey.

Indeed, there are two fonts within the beautifully restored grounds that are rumoured to have come from Valle Crucis - find them for yourself and see what you think.

The Ladies of Llangollen became a part of national celebrity during their life-times, with regular visits from the great and the good such as the Duke of Wellington, Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth. They even used to bring bits of carved wood with them as gifts, which were duly incorporated into the building!
The celebrated lives of these remarkable ladies came to a close with the death of Lady Eleanor Butler in 1829 with Sarah Ponsonby following two years later.

They are buried in Llangollen churchyard with their faithful servant of many years, Mary Carol, with their memorial being one of the many attractions in the town.