Tu-Hwnt-ir Bont

Llanrwst, North Wales

The name means “Beyond the Bridge” in Welsh Gaelic.This depicts the 15th century house beyond the bridge in Llanrwst. The house became a court house in the 16th century about the time the present Gwydir Castle was built. The castle is on a nearby hill and can see the house and bridge from its vantage point. The house was given by the Llanrwst Urban Diistrict Council to the National Trust in 1945 when it was restored and is now let as a tea room and shop.

The bridge’s name is Bont Fawr (Big Bridge). It was designed by Indigo Jones and was built in 1626 under the direction of Sir Richard Wynn to replace an existing bridge that was described as being “in the greatest of decay”. This bridge is the main crossing of the River Conwy south of the river mouth. The construction was paid for by the people of the counties of Denhighshire and Caernarvonshire. The center arch collapsed 10 years later because the central locking stones had been put in upside down, an error which was attrivuted to the addiction of the workmen to mead (a fermented honey drink) which they received as part of their wage. The men engaged to rebuild the central arch were, accorind to repute, condemned to drink only buttermilk until the job was finished; therefore, the ridge is still sometimes called the Buttermilk Bridge.