2 minute read
A House with History
Visit Erddig and step back in time
Erddig is a much-loved home, garden and estate which tells the 250-year story of a gentry family’s relationship with its servants.
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The Yorke family took a curatorial attitude to their possessions. The house’s diverse contents were lovingly handed down over time. As a result, Erddig has the second largest collection in the National Trust, with a total of 30,000 items to care for.
Even Erddig’s servants were recorded in portraits, photographs and verses, and celebrated for their loyalty and hard work. With their working areas almost unchanged, Erddig is a place where servants are not forgotten.
Outdoors lies a fully restored 18th Century garden, with fruit trees, herbaceous borders and avenues of pleached limes. The beautiful gardens welcome families to play today, as photographs show the Yorkes doing a century ago.
For over 300 years, Erddig’s parkland has been open to the local
community as a place for tranquillity or adventure. Secrets wait to be discovered here, from the earliest origins of Wrexham to the technology of an 18th Century designed landscape.
Don’t miss
Erddig’s Chinese State Bed was once a place reserved for the home’s most privileged guests. It was draped with delicate Chinese silk satin textiles, embroidered with Chinese figures, pagodas, birds and
flowers. In 2019, National Trust began a six year conservation project
to restore the bed, to provide visitors the rare opportunity to see the exquisite detail only those lucky enough to sleep in the bed would have experienced. This autumn, visitors are invited to see the newly restored Chinese silk embroidered curtains on display. n
Things to see and do
Are you looking for ways to keep the family busy this half term and over Halloween? Look no further. Erddig is back for the 32nd celebration of its annual apple harvest. The National Trust grow over 200 apple varieties, many rare and historic, which is no doubt worthy of celebration. Join them on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October to enjoy the apple harvest display, tours and talks and kids’ crafts. And taste the fruits of their labour with scones made with home-grown apples.
Throughout half term, follow the spooky trail through the garden. Watch out for Y Ladi Wen, the White Lady, who might try to catch those who stayed out too late!
Then, on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October, spooktacular tales await brave children because award-winning storyteller, Jake Evans, is back. And, if your little monsters still have energy to spare, then fly on the rope swing and balance across beams in Wolf’s Den, Erddig’s natural play area.
