The history of Trefriw and Crafnant House

Our village, Trefriw, in Eryri | Snowdonia, North Wales, has an unexpected fascinating history which we delve into here!

Crafnant House in Trefriw itself was built in 1870 and also has an interesting past - Jasmine has recently researched it and written a book about the occupants and history.

We bought the house in 2017 and have been welcoming guests to our B&B ever since!

The history of Trefriw

The name Trefriw is derived from two ancient Welsh words meaning ‘healing town’.

The area has been known since Roman times for its sulphur and iron-rich waters which are believed to have curative properties.

The Trefriw Wells Spa pump room and bath house was built for Victorian visitors to ‘take the waters’.

Although no longer open to the public, the Spa still uses the nutrient-rich water in its Spatone products.

Prior to the introduction of the railway in 1868, the village had been an important trading centre and at one time was regarded as the biggest inland port in Wales.

General merchandise was brought up river from the coast and the boats returned full of slate, ore and timber from the surrounding hills.

Trefriw was also an important centre for the wool industry and the current Trefriw Woollen Mill is now one of the main visitor attractions in the area.

It is one of the few surviving mills in Wales and it still produces beautiful traditional Welsh fabrics and blankets.

At the turn of the century Trefriw was a popular Victorian spa resort with attractions, shops, and hotel accommodations.

Rowing boats and pleasure steamers sailed down the River Conwy, with daily trips from the nearby holiday destinations of Llandudno, Deganwy and Conwy.

Up to 1000 people a day landed at the quayside in Trefriw and were transported onwards by horse and carriage to enjoy the spa waters, fishing, climbing, painting and golf, and see the waterfalls and lakes.

Many shops lined the high street to cater for the promenading visitors, of which only a few remain.

The steamer service was abandoned during the second world war due to heavy silting of the river, and at this time there was a general decline in the attraction of Trefriw as a spa resort.

Remnants of the quayside are still visible though opposite the Princes Arms hotel (previously known as the ‘Belle Vue’), not far from us at Crafnant House.

Remarkably the village today doesn’t look that different to how it did over 100 years ago!

Whilst there are not as many shops and businesses now there is still a butchers, post office, pubs and a cafe, and remnants of other previous inhabitants are visible on various buildings all along the main street.

The history of Crafnant House

Our home was built in 1870 by the Gwydir Castle Estate - who owned many of the buildings in Trefriw at that time - and leased by Mr Hugh McDonald.

It was described as:

“the most splendid in Trefriw, and its owner is one of the most reformist that our area possesses, and he leads the singing with the Independents, and he is zealous and patriotic”!

In 1897 the house was purchased by Hugh McDonald during a big sale of assets owned by the Gywdir Estate.

Crafnant House was advertised in the sales brochure as follows:

“situate in the best position in the village, and containing 4 sitting-rooms, 10 bedrooms, kitchens, wash-houses, cellars etc etc, large garden at the back well-stocked with fruit trees, also an extensive hot house, well stocked with fruitful vine trees”

Mr McDonald died in 1898 and by 1901 Crafnant House had new inhabitants.

The owner, Robert Evans, advertised Crafnant House as holiday apartments in 1907. He was also a garage proprietor who:

“made arrangements to meet the steamers at the… landing stage with a Charabanc, also Waggonettes, Landaus etc, to convey passengers to Betws-y-Coed, Swallow Falls, Crafnant Lake, or any other places”…..!

In November 1933 Crafnant House was purchased by William Williams who ran it as a farm, including adjacent land on what is now the cob / flood plain behind the house.

The original dairy now forms part of our cellar. The Williams family lived in the house until the 1980s.

In 1934 Mr Williams divided the property to create Crafnant Villa as a separate dwelling from the main house - we were lucky to have obtained a copy of his plans from the Conwy County Archives.

The original internal doorways from the hall into the front parlour (now our snug) and kitchen were sealed, as were those off the landing into what are now guest rooms 1 and 2.

A staircase was put in from the kitchen up to a new passageway leading to the two bedrooms. The front door of Crafnant Villa was off the side driveway.

If you look closely when you stay you will see the door frames for the snug and guest rooms 1 and 2 are slightly smaller and in a different style to those in the rest of the house!

Crafnant Villa was re-incorporated into Crafnant House during the 1980s, and the internal doors reopened. The house then settled on its current role as a bed and breakfast.